Gardening-Related Odd Jobs

Putting up Christmas lights by dmswart

I know that this is a Garden blog, but TheGardenLady thought that at this time of the year there might be a need to earn a few extra dollars. This is a time to do something extra special for someone and for yourself. So this column will be a few suggestions, related to gardening- of course, that might bring in some extra money or might work into a full time job for you and will help people in your neighborhood.

Here are a few job suggestions. If you have any other ideas, especially ones that have been successful for you, please share them with TheGardenLady readers.

Someone asked me if I knew of anyone who could put up Christmas lights around the house because her ladders were too short.

So, if you have long ladders and are able to put up outdoor decorations, let people know. And let them know that you are available to help put up Christmas lights around the roof or to decorate outdoor trees. (You should have insurance for this.) I know that there are people out there who need this sort of help.

Offer yourself as an indoor holiday decorator if you enjoy this type of work.

Many people will be going away for the holidays or during the winter. So offer the service of caring for plants of people when they are away. If you offer to keep the plants at your home while the people are away, be careful transporting them in this very cold weather. Plants don’t like the shock of being taken outdoors in frigid weather.

Many restaurants like saying that they use locally grown vegetables and herbs.

If you have a sunny enough area in your house where you can raise herbs, contact local restaurants to ask if they would be willing to buy your herbs.

If you have a sunny site in your gardens, ask local restaurants what herbs they would buy if you grew them. Then start planning to raise these herbs in your garden.

The same thing goes for vegetables that retaurants might be willing to buy from you and plan your next vegetable garden around the restaurant’s needs. Or if the restaurateurs ask you what you would want to grow, consider heirloom vegetables.  See here.  Not only may these vegetables be tastier for the chefs to use, they also have snob appeal.

Some of these vegetables and herbs do not need a lot of space to grow. And getting rid of your lawn to grow these vegetables and herbs may not be such a bad idea. Lawns take lots of work and water- so people are getting rid of them anyway.

If you are in an area that allows it, put a produce stand in your front yard to sell produce you grow. If you have a strawberry patch, sell strawberries. If you don’t sell the strawberries by the end of the day, make strawberry jam.  See here.  If you have a banner crop of zucchini or Swiss chard, sell the excess. Or perhaps you have lots of flowers, sell those to neighbors or ask restaurants if they would buy some.

In the spring, offer to help in peoples’ gardens. This is a job that can last all growing season long. There are lots of jobs that you can do that does not take a professional to do or that lawn services don’t do. Weeding has to be done constantly so that if you know the difference between the weeds and the plants, you can do this job. There is mulching. Then in the fall there is the job of putting the garden to bed. These jobs do not need training. But if you have training, you can be really in demand for jobs like planting or pruning. I have known young women who have started their own business of caring for people’s gardens. When they develop a good reputation for reliability and good work, they seem to have more work than they can handle.  Take the Master Gardener training course and volunteer for the organization. Then you will gain gardening knowledge and get a good gardening reputation.

If you know how, offer the service of re-potting indoor plants. People are often afraid to do it, that they are doing the wrong thing.

To advertise what you are willing to do, tell your friends or your local professionals like your doctor or dentist that you are looking for these jobs. Put up signs in local stores, businesses or your local library in your town and neighboring towns or put a cheap ad in your local paper. Many people who love plants are the elderly who need help but often don’t know where to get people to help them on a small time basis.

Please let TheGardenLady know if any of these suggestions worked for you.