Pay Dirt: How To Make $10,000 a Year From Your Backyard Garden

by John H. Tullock

There's gold to be dug in backyard gardens! But to turn dirt into dough, amateur farmers need some business tips. In the face of rising food prices and food poisoning scares, people want locally grown food, giving small gardeners the chance to turn a profit—a healthy, green (not to mention good-for-you) profit. In this practical, step-by-step guide, you will learn how Packed full of gardening, marketing, and selling tips and tricks, this book shows you how to develop your own small plots of land (less than an acre) into a money-making resource. A good garden is full of greenbacks!

Genres: Gardening

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

John Tullock, originally from Eastern Tennessee, is a lifelong gardener with special interests in orchids and environmentally sound aquarium fish-keeping. John taught college-level biology after graduating with his Master's Degree in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Tennesse. He founded the Aquatic Specialists (1987) and the American Marinelife Dealers Association.
John continues to practice and promote 'sustainable, self-sufficient living in the urban environment.'

Reviews

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

“In my experience, the most capable gardeners all seem to share only one trait: extraordinary powers of observation. They are in touch with their gardens on all sensory channels. The smell of the warming earth, the trill of a woodpecker, the elegant symmetry of a dicenta blossom, the wriggling of and earthworm scooped up in a handful of soil–” John Tullock in Pay Dirt. This book has captivated my attention for the past week. If you have even the slightest inkling that you want to enter into the world of making a profit from your land; read this book! Pay Dirt has given me insight and interest in the world of selling plants and crops for a profit. From selling flowers from your cutting garden to selling 4 tons of tomatoes a week to a Kroger supermarket this book has you covered. John Tullock helps you “look in the mirror” and examine yourself and your assets to find your selling niche. He covers how to build a business plan, financial plan and even a garden plan to help you succeed in the your gardening business. I highly recommend!

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tons of Informatiom

Pay Dirt is teeming with ideas to grow some cash. Turlock gives an overview of many types of plants the backyard farmer might grow, with enough information to figure it out. He also details different ways to sell and market your products.

Even with tons of information, there isn't much attention on the day to day of running a nursery. He provides a technique for determining the price per square foot, but neglected to calculate the farmers time and effort as clearly.

Overall, Pay Dirt is absolutely worth a read for those thinking about starting a backyard farm or nursery. This book and David the Good's "Start a Home-Based Plant Nursery" have earned their space on my Kindle "shelf."

[Nicole Bieri · Rating 3 out of 5]

It provided a broad overview of different plants and how to sell them. But it lacked real life stories and practical ideas.

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid enough information, but nothing new. If you already know how to run a small business and you already garden, there's little here for you in the way of fresh ideas, but it is a cheer-you-on sort of book. I like Tullock's commitment to organic gardening, and his knowledge of all things veggie is impressive. Making any money at all from a garden strikes me as a hard, dirty, thankless task which is no doubt why I didn't love this book so much.

[Denise Klein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great resource for backyard 'farmers'. It gives great advice on the entire process. This is a book that should be the 'go to'
resource for all small farms.John Tullock

[Gemma Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing. Hmmm,let's see, I have about 1500 sq ft of potential planting area....

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book, but not for me. I'm just trying to grow food for myself at this point, not make a bunch of money by backyard farming

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not at the point I want to turn my hobbie gardening into serious work, but I have land and it is an interesting read. So I will be picking up the book again.

[tammi thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good overall information

A great quick read for a novice Gardner looking to break into the local market, whether by nursery, food or flowers.

[PRI Cold]

TDF one copy