Put your greenhouses to work for you by growing more than what you and your family need and selling the excess vegetables. Do some planning beforehand so your gardening-for-dollars endeavor will be successful. Before you get started, determine the capacity of the greenhouses to hold all the plants you'll sell. You may have to add shelving, lighting and storage space. Visit gourmet grocery stores to see what vegetables they carry.

Specialty markets, such as Hispanic and Asian markets, carry off-the-beaten-path vegetables. Research farmer's markets for which vegetables sell. Talk to the vendors, and make notes of what sells and who are the customers. Ask organic restaurant managers what vegetables they have difficulty obtaining and when they have that difficulty.

List the vegetables that are most in demand and not in plentiful supply. Cross-check the list with vegetables that do well in your greenhouses.

If, for example, you have a heating source for the greenhouses in the cooler winter months and adequate lighting, it's possible to grow warm-season crops such as colorful tomatoes and peppers during winter. Obtain the required licensing and registration. A business license is required by the state, and your city may require a license as well. Sales tax may not be due on vegetables because they are food, but check with the state and city for that issue as well.

7 Market Crops You Can Grow in a Greenhouse - Hobby Farms

Obtain an employer identification number EIN from the Internal Revenue Service. Set up a business bank account using the EIN. Process all sales and business expenses through the business bank account rather than your personal bank account. If possible, set up separate utility meters for the greenhouses so you can track their heating and electricity usage.

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Decide whether you will market to end-use customers -- the general public -- or to stores and restaurants. Create a brochure about your vegetables. Describe in your brochure each vegetable and why it's unusual, the freshest, organic or the best-tasting vegetable; show photographs of your greenhouses filled with your vegetables.

Include ordering information in the brochure. Set up your vegetables in a booth at farmer's markets and food markets if they are among your target markets. Devise a miniature greenhouse using solar power to attract customers to your booth.

Explain the advantages of growing vegetables in a greenhouse. Those advantages could include vegetables picked at the peak of ripeness, limited use of pesticides and controlled growing conditions.

Contact restaurants and groceries to set up sales-call appointments if they are among your target markets. Price your vegetables so the retailers can mark up the price and still make money after paying you. A rule of thumb is that the retail price is twice the wholesale price.

Growing Greenhouse Tomatoes Can Be Profitable

Skip to main content. Home Guides Home Home Finance Buying and Selling. Home Guides Home Home Finance Buying and Selling How to Make Money Growing Vegetables in Greenhouses Put your greenhouses to work.

Tips Consider selling vegetable plant seedlings you started in the greenhouses as well as selling vegetables. Supplement the vegetable sales by selling herbs and fruits.

Warnings Price your vegetables so you make a profit and are still competitive with other vegetable sources. If you promote your vegetables as organic, follow the governmental rules for organic produce. For example, the soil has to be organic, as do the seeds and growing methods. How the Farm-to-Table Movement Is Helping Grow the Economy Entrepreneur: Herb Farm -- Business Idea Center Harvest to Table: Related Articles Different Types of Greenhouses DIY: Framing Material for a Greenhouse.

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