Backyard Nursery as a Retirement Activity

[@burklandgardens643]

Great video, Jason. I started my nursery when I was 72 years old. I am now 77 and going strong. Keep up the good work.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks Gil. That's wonderful to hear - and I just checked out your channel. Wow! Great nursery, and just about neighbors. I'll be binge-watching your content!

[@Growing-Our-Retirement]

Gil, Love your channel and just subscribed. 👍👍👍

[@Growing-Our-Retirement]

We really enjoyed speaking with you Jason and sharing ideas. Starting a nursery or plant business for your retirement is such a great topic! Thank you again! Hope to work together again in the future, Larry & Martha

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks to you both for being so generous with your time and knowledge!

[@gwbuilder5779]

Martha and Larry, Great conversation with Jason! Having a plan as we approach retirement age is a very important part of actually being ready to retire not only financially, but mentally, emotionally, and physically. Aloha from the Western most state in the Union, wishing you folks the greatest success on your adventure!🤙

[@Growing-Our-Retirement]

Thanks so much for your kind message GW! Yes, we are planners and can’t imagine being unproductive. How many people get to do something they really love! 🌲🌲🌲

[@gwbuilder5779]

@@Growing-Our-Retirement As many as plan for it.😉

[@Bandaid17]

This was a great collaboration. Love to practice propagation and have learned so much from you both (and Mike). I share my plants with my family, friends, and fellow garden club members. I’m 70 and wanted to at one time do the same but I’m pretty set in my retirement and treat gardening as a leisure pastime now. We did move to a low tax state after being in NY for many years. Love watching your videos.

[@AJsGreenThumbLLC]

Fabulous video Jason and Larry/Martha. I recently subscribed to Larry and Martha's channel. Wealth of useful information.

[@lorip2109]

Thank you Jason! I enjoyed this interview very much and learned a lot. I love the variety of topics you cover on your channel. Much success to Martha and Larry!

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks so much Lori

[@bbsaid218]

This is exactly what I’m doing. I’m a few years away from retirement, but this is what I’m doing now to prepare. I only have a small garden and sell everything on eebayy. I just germinate seeds and grow them to where they are big enough to sell. You just don’t need a big space, or even a garden. A roof terrace, concrete yard or balcony could work. Just sell small plugs with a high turnover.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks. I had a recent comment on one of my other videos - asking if it could be done on a smaller scale.

[@prubroughton1864]

I started an organic herb and veg seedling business in early 2002. I was 54. My husband suddenly died just as the first plant went into pots. Not having a lot of money and passionate about what I was doing so ran the nursery until about 2018 when I retired. At 75 last year I moved to a house on a plot over run by an invasive grass., so started my veg/food forest now have more veg than I can eat and about 40 fruit trees which I am summer pruning. I always say getting your hand in dirt is the most positive activity for mental health and the exercise keeps my body fit. Never to old to start a garden 😊😊

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks for sharing your successes! Wonderful to hear

[@roselove2313]

I love this! Very good topic!! Thank you Jason for making the videos and asking all the good questions 😊 I love your channel ❤

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Very much my pleasure. Thanks for watching

[@popandbob]

They've got the right attitude! So many these days seem to approach retirement with the mindset of quitting the income generation, and taking it easy when its that mindset that will cause faster aging... Keeping the mind going on income generation and keeping busy keeps one healthy for far longer.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Well said!

[@will5286]

Hey Jason, your videos (along with those of Mike's backyard...) have played a big role in the success of my budding nursery-Thank You.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks so much Will - good to hear it!

[@keppykep5230]

Makes sense.. Thanks again for your expertise and prompt reply 🙏🙏🌹

[@maygibbs4573]

Hi Jason! What an informative and wonderful interview with such an amazing couple-sincerest thanks!

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Our pleasure! Thanks for watching

[@suz4keeps]

Inspiring thanks

[@ycq1ycq788]

Interesting topic! I accidentally found your channel just because I watched quite some rose growing videos from another channel in a different language. So Jason you are absolutely right that your competitors will actually give you traffics.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks! Which channel, if you don't mind me asking?

[@ycq1ycq788]

@@FraserValleyRoseFarm It’s this one: youtube.com/@laohe?si=q1rIspZfcc66VU_Y

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks

[@gwbuilder5779]

Well Jason, A much broader topic than just retirement because even the smallest hobby gardener can quite easily grow a few plants and create quite an interest in their own neighborhood. This is actually one of those activities that can cross many boundaries without even trying. As a child I remember trying to grow seeds and my success rate was absolutely awful, but the joy of seeing the midget watermelons actually mature to be edible was absolutely thrilling even though everything else I planted died. I was 5 or 6 years old and those green on the outside and yellow on the inside watermelons were a huge accomplishment that I later learned were the most difficult thing to grow of my entire seed choice collection.😅 I have never forgotten that experience because I did it all on my own, no-one even knew I planted any seeds. We have talked about this before and it deserves repeating; Anyone can grow plants no matter how small of an area you might have. A small table or nightstand near a window can grow amazing plants. Yes, some might fail and others succeed, but that is just the nature of growing things. Wonderful conversation.🤙

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks so much!

[@johnmartin9090]

Wow two of my favorite channels hosting!😊

[@alancummings5008]

Thanks for bringing this great content. Gives me a new idea for my retirement

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

So glad you found it inspiring!

[@stephenhoy6692]

My dream!

[@geraldinefields1730]

Thank you.

[@Maggie-Gardener-Maker]

That was fun and enjoyable Jason, I always enjoy your channel videos! I'll check out their channel too. I bought a homestead-homebase in 1993 that was zoned agricultural and at the time is was very rural. I had a very small nursery there many years ago but I was still working full-time and having to travel for work limited my endeavors so it ended up being more of a hobby than a business and I knew that realistically I couldn't make enough in the nursery to replace the income from my job but I always kept up my nursery license and sold a few plants and extra produce each year. I've always gardened in one way or another all of my life, it has always been my de-stress activity. When I was still working and traveling for work, I had the dream of retiring, selling my property, and then being able to travel for fun, in a nomadic offgrid way, I really thought I wanted to be a fulltime RVer but when the time came that I retired and I had my SSA income, everything was going commercial around me and I really wanted the peacefulness of a more rural setting. I finally sold my property to a commercial developer after they hounded me for years to sell, but instead of traveling I realized I wanted a home in the country where I could garden and remain debt-free. I found a property that was farther north in a rural farming area that was zoned agricultural with an old house built in 1939 that needs a lot of TLC, no one had lived in it for over 30 years! It used to be part of a large farm many years before. I made them an offer that I could afford for a AS-IS cash sale. I bought the property in 2021, I was 69 years old then and some thought I was crazy to buy a dilapidated old house and think I was gonna start a farm. Here it is almost 2024 when i will be 72 years old and I am happy I made the decision I did. I been working on the house as I can afford to without going into debt, with my only income being my SSA retirement. I've been slowly but surely developing the property with fencing and my own food garden. I have frontage on a major highway so it is a great location for a farmstand to sell not only produce but plants as well. I still have my state nursery license, and I applied with FSA for a farm number then I applied for the USDA-NRCS grant for their high tunnel initiative. I am very hopeful I will receive the grant in 2024 so that I can put up at least one high tunnel to grow crops in over winter and to use as shade house to grow crops during summer. I have made a small stand on wheel that I can roll out front when I have produce or plants to sell. I hope to have enough plants that operating by spring 2024. I've been documenting my journey on my youtube channel, I look back often to see how far I've come because some days I feel like I haven't accomplished much until I look back at the videos when I first bought this place and realize I've come a long way. Hopefully I will make a little extra income from my garden and nursery business in the future to supplement my SSA because I would still like to travel for fun but only if I can remain debt free.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

That's really inspiring Maggie - and a wonderful to see you taking on new challenges in a more relaxed setting, and within your financial comfort zone.

[@rosemarythyme6351]

Excellent interview! I've considered a backyard nursery as our small town property is just shy of two acres, and we are visible from the main highway, but my retired husband isn't on board. He likes gardening but not to the point of making it a business and investing a portion of our nest egg. If he were, I think we would probably grow specialty plants for nurseries or garden centers rather than sell to the public. I've also thought of designing a garden specifically for wedding photo ops, but I'd have to do a lot more research on that idea to see if it's viable or not. I would probably have three seasonal gardens for Spring, Summer and Autumn.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks! Always best to dabble a bit and see what approach (if any) makes sense as a business. In the end, if it just ends up being gardening and dreaming, what's the harm?

[@ginigarden789]

Awesome video❤

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks so much!

[@johnman559]

I love Mike Kincaid channel the Elvis Presley of plants! Almost as good as Jason's channel❤

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Lol. That's perfect!

[@patblack2291]

My issue with my backyard-ish scale nursery is how much it ties me down in retirement. If I go away for more than a couple of days, someone has to water the container crops. While that might seem easy to get a neighbor to do, properly watering container crops is actually a highly skilled task. Both overwatering and underwatering can cause crop losses.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

I hear you on that, and honestly I'd advise anyone to consider the whole picture before leaping in. Myself, I have a lot more freedom in the fall when the watering needs are much reduced. We've left it to watering timers and crossed fingers some weeks, but now that we have more $ on the ground, we feel better with human supervision. Another set of skilled hands on the farm is something we've budgeted for, but I know that's not a solution for every scale of nursery. A good consideration to plan for.

[@keppykep5230]

Hi kinda off topic I apologize Long time watcher and really appreciate the information you provide about roses. You are very knowledgeable so thank you for your hard work and dedication. Any way just curious can you force a plant to go dormant. Just curious if you could propagate In winter once rooted grow them in 1 gal then once roots are established force them to go dormant to put outside so don’t have to mess with them. Just curious if you have any experience with this or if it’s possible or would kill them? Thanks again 🌹

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Yes, roses can be transitioned into dormancy with exposure to cold temperatures. The problem with this method and freshly propagated roses is that they may not be "bulked" enough, or have enough stored energy in their tissues to survive the dormant period. So let's say you decided to begin propagation now from cuttings... approx. 3 weeks for initial rooting, and another 4-6 weeks for light rooting to the sides and bottom of a quart sized pot. That may bring you to beginning of February. Depending on your climate, you might be within just a few weeks from spring temperatures. So you're left with a tough decision on whether to grow them through in warmer temperatures for a while, or to try and force dormancy and risk the lightly rooted plants. At that point, I'd probably just keep them warm until spring.

[@douglasthompson9482]

I have been doing this for years. Firstly with my parents and then on my own. The problem that I really encountered was sales…. I find that so many people would rather go to a nursery and buy their plants. I tried advertising on marketplace and many other ways. Geraniums, boxwood, etc. I usually get paid in cash….people are so fickle and are not loyal. Any thoughts… I also thought of Christmas trees in pots as here in BC, they are very expensive and getting harder to get.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Hi Douglas. And thanks for the comment. It's funny to say, but I feel like this topic needs the context of both sides of the story: not just the assumption that potting (x) number of plants will yield (y) amount of profit, but also to hear that it can be challenging to sell through. I've seen people "crack the code" of how to drive sales in different ways: Mark's Plants (in Maple Ridge - I featured him in a tour video) specialized in edible/fruiting plants, and does a great job driving sales through Facebook Marketplace ads. Pam Erikson (Erikson's Daylilies) is a legendary front-yard plant seller who has mastered outreach to the gardening clubs and community. Others have gone the mail order or selling events route for selling, and don't sell from home at all. Not one-size-fits-all, that's for sure. Potted Christmas Trees is an idea I've heard a couple of times, but I never really processed it all the way through. At first blush I wonder if there might be some logistical hurdles to overcome (delivery & collection, policies, etc.)

[@carmenbailey1560]

👍❤️😊

[@joeramirez9430]

Thoughts on how to identify what plants to grow, are popular in my area?

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

For the locally popular it might just be a matter of visiting some garden centers or looking at what landscapers are using. I do have an (older) video on selecting plants to grow and sell: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3zGhnWIhdijrrMsi=H_jBpByAxoEn97B9

[@ericjorgensen8028]

Ran it back 2x... Arborvitae don't get eaten by deer. Im guessing they don't have deer...?

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks Eric. Western cedar is one of those that shows up on searches as "less preferred" by deer, which locally means "they don't eat it until they do!". It's one of the common hedging plants here in the Fraser Valley as well, and those in quite developed areas may not see a lot of damage, but in rural areas like mine you can often see a distinct change in the shape of the hedge at max deer height and below.

[@ericjorgensen8028]

@@FraserValleyRoseFarm thanks for responding... I saw pics of Thuja o. Around here Thuja x p. Is the one they don't eat, as much. I've heard of green giants being eaten around here - suburban NYc but they have not been deer food for me. Thuja o. They eat here like candy in the winter