Starting an organic garden
Food is taking an important turn towards its origins, where everything was natural, without preservatives or additives. We are talking about the times when apples were the size of an apple and were very tasty. The tendency is to leave aside transgenic products and start eating the same way our grandparents did: with health, natural products and zero chemical products that alter the composition of the food. To achieve this, it is essential to have an organic garden, from which many of these foods will come directly to your table.
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Reasons to start an organic garden
Before starting any venture, it is indispensable to ask oneself why, and then we will see if there are consistent reasons to support the opening of the business. In the case of an organic garden, these are the reasons that support its installation and opening:
Healthy eating: the vast majority of the vegetables we consume today have been altered in one way or another: pesticides, transgenic or other components that make the product look spectacular, but have properties of doubtful benefit to our health. However, thanks to an organic garden, you can offer a natural and healthy product to the market.
Business with high demand and low supply: Being a product that is in high demand and few establishments that offer it, it is clear where the balance of trade will be turned and that place is your pocket, thus demonstrating that an organic garden is a profitable business.
Daily cash: to further emphasize the previous point, we have that an organic garden markets products that have a daily outflow, so you will have daily cash.
Requirements for setting up an organic garden
Fertile land: you will need to have a land with fertile soil in which to grow the products you are going to market.
Orchard tasks: you will have to carry out tasks such as preparing the land, dividing up different sectors for different crops, digging up the soil, fertilizing, among many others.
Permits and authorizations: when working with food, your organic garden will require permits and authorizations that the Ministry of Health will give you. So make the registration and opening of your business and then process these documents.
Housing and shed: the organic garden requires the property to have a house in which you or the landlords you hire to carry out the project can live. The shed is a comfort to keep the tools.
How to start an organic garden
Starting an organic garden has two possible macro investment options. We describe them below so that you can evaluate their advantages and disadvantages and make the best decision:
From scratch: this option is about acquiring a piece of land, preparing it with fertile soil and building the house. The costs are those corresponding to the purchase of the land, the construction materials, the labor and the permission to build. The advantage is that you can design it to your taste and needs.
Already ready: through this option you acquire an already working orchard and you will have to pay for an already prepared establishment.
Advantages of having an organic garden
Working with vegetable gardens can require a significant physical effort, but it is easy, you just have to do the daily obligations and wait for the harvest, once offered to the distributor you get a high amount of money without much investment capital.
Working with the land can be almost free, since all the elements that are needed without including the tools of work and the inputs, are obtained directly from the land, only it is necessary to have knowledge in agriculture and the natural elements that allow their yield by hectare.
Tips for setting up an organic garden
It is advisable to hire professionals in agriculture, so that you have the knowledge in this matter, to know how to make the most of the land where you sow and the elements that you get from it, because absolutely everything is useful, you just have to know how to use it.
Attend agricultural conferences, organized by the university of your sector, to learn more effective techniques for the cultivation and treatment of the land, in order to progressively optimize the agricultural methods used and implement new ones.
Success stories
A successful company is La Huerta de Leo, which is a family cooperative in the sector of agro-ecological production, contributing to the recovery of the traditional garden and promoting the consumption of healthy food, without chemicals, respectful of the environment and offering great tasting agricultural products, with vegetables and fruits
seasonal crops grown in an organic way.
El Valle Ecológico, organic fruit and vegetables, is also another successful company, because although they also deliver to some consumer groups, shops and restaurants, the main distribution channel is the beehives, which make direct sales possible.
Problems that can arise
Many times you can have problems with the preservation of the crop, so it must be sold before, otherwise you can have losses or lack of income to the business, therefore it is important to have sales strategies after each harvest.
You need a lot of space if you want to ensure a good profit margin, so the acquisition of it can be very expensive, if you rent the land also this represents monthly losses, not to mention the expense in water that can represent a high receipt, due to the need of it to cultivate.