Grow culinary and medicinal herbs for fresh sale, drying, or value-added products. Herbs offer high value per square foot and appeal to cooks and wellness-minded customers.
Consider these related business ideas and specializations:
Grow culinary and medicinal herbs for fresh sale, drying, or value-added products. Herbs offer high value per square foot and appeal to cooks and wellness-minded customers.
Consider these related business ideas and specializations:
San Juan Islands-specific considerations for this business:
Test this idea before investing heavily:
Plant a 100 sq ft herb garden with 5-6 varieties. Sell fresh bundles at farmers market and approach one local restaurant.
Which herbs sell fastest? What quantities do restaurants need? How much can you harvest before plants decline? What value-added products do customers ask about?
Restaurant asks for regular weekly supply and market customers return every week for your herbs.
Expected startup and operating expenses:
Areas where quality investment pays off:
Herbs dried too slowly mold; too fast and they lose color and oils—proper drying is essential
Good enough: Dedicated space with good airflow and low humidity; dehydrator for wet climates or basil
Light and air degrade dried herbs quickly—proper storage preserves quality for months
Good enough: Glass jars with tight lids stored away from light; doesn't need to be fancy
Areas where cost-cutting makes sense:
Financial timing and planning notes:
Strategies to reduce risk and increase odds of success:
Join shomby today and start selling to your local community. We provide the platform—you bring the passion.
We build shomby around your business—not the other way around. If there's a feature, integration, or tool that would help your herbs & specialty crops business succeed, we want to hear about it.
Grow and sell fresh, local vegetables directly to consumers. Even a backyard garden can produce significant income when focused on high-value crops with strong local demand.
Grow beautiful blooms for bouquets, events, and subscriptions. Local flowers offer freshness, unique varieties, and sustainability that imported flowers can't match.
Propagate and sell plants, from vegetable starts to ornamentals. Spring seedling sales and year-round houseplant demand create multiple revenue streams.
San Juan Islands-specific considerations for this business:
Test this idea before investing heavily:
Plant a 100 sq ft herb garden with 5-6 varieties. Sell fresh bundles at farmers market and approach one local restaurant.
Which herbs sell fastest? What quantities do restaurants need? How much can you harvest before plants decline? What value-added products do customers ask about?
Restaurant asks for regular weekly supply and market customers return every week for your herbs.
Expected startup and operating expenses:
Areas where quality investment pays off:
Herbs dried too slowly mold; too fast and they lose color and oils—proper drying is essential
Good enough: Dedicated space with good airflow and low humidity; dehydrator for wet climates or basil
Light and air degrade dried herbs quickly—proper storage preserves quality for months
Good enough: Glass jars with tight lids stored away from light; doesn't need to be fancy
Areas where cost-cutting makes sense:
Financial timing and planning notes:
Strategies to reduce risk and increase odds of success:
Join shomby today and start selling to your local community. We provide the platform—you bring the passion.
We build shomby around your business—not the other way around. If there's a feature, integration, or tool that would help your herbs & specialty crops business succeed, we want to hear about it.
Grow and sell fresh, local vegetables directly to consumers. Even a backyard garden can produce significant income when focused on high-value crops with strong local demand.
Grow beautiful blooms for bouquets, events, and subscriptions. Local flowers offer freshness, unique varieties, and sustainability that imported flowers can't match.
Propagate and sell plants, from vegetable starts to ornamentals. Spring seedling sales and year-round houseplant demand create multiple revenue streams.