Unique side hustles?

[rocksnstumps]

Every dahlia grown from a seed is a brand new, unique variety. Breeders have to plant about 50 seeds to get 1 worth producing for sale. Our farm released 3 varieties for growing in 2026, and they sold out at $25 each.

White River Acres

Online dahlia tuber store

whiteriveracres.com

Interesting about that 1 in 50 statistic. Feel it's about the same odds if you take 50 Siberian or Dolgo crab seedlings you get like one or two that are probably worth grafting more with. Maybe not stellar attributes but solid performers for decent fruit size, hang times, and tree growth.

It's not as rare as all the plant nurseries like to claim about their own named crab varieties that only they sell. But yes you do need the space and waiting time like 5-7 years to pick em out.

Also smart choice by you and the wife on something related to potatoes but worth a lot more. See plenty of taters grown in the central sands region where you are.

 

[Barndog56]

Dahlias have 8 sets of chromosomes, so hybridizing really is a lottery. There are breeders who create their own specific crosses, and we're dabbling in that a little bit, but for the most part we just plant the ones we want to use for seeds in the same bed and let the bees take it from there.

The majority of large dahlia farms are located in Washington and Oregon, but small farms are scattered all over. There's probably a dahlia farm located within an hour drive of every member of this forum, but they don't need a lot of space so you may never see it.

 

[BuckSutherland]

I am curious if anyone has come across any farmers with a unique side hustle? I see a lot of the same with road side selling of eggs, flowers, veggies, farmers markets.....some farmers become dealers for smaller brand implements and seeds. Anything unusual or interesting that you saw as a good idea?

I farm a little. My side hustle is playing poker when I'm not running my construction business. I've had 6 trips to the card casino in 2026. Up a little over $2,500 for the year. Been playing real solid and had 6 winning sessions. I'm sure at some point I will lose $500+ in an evening, but that's pretty typical. If I make a couple thousand dollars for the year I will be having fun. Gets me out of the house and helps keep the mind sharp. I play at Canterbury Down in Shakopee. Probably one of the toughest places on the planet to play. There are a lot of good players there. Wish I had someplace close by to play no limit. The game I play is limit game so its really tough to get all of someone's stack.

 

[bigboreblr]

I have a property management company that got off the ground last year, primarily to plant food plots for others semi-locally.

It started as my neighbors asking me to do work for them and expanded from there to a legitimate LLC that will be a sustainable business when I retire from my main job in a few years.

Brian,

Assuming there is no clean up, clearing, stump work. Just a field that was a foodplot last year. Give us a quick rundown of what you do n price for lets say an acre. Twisting the oldest kids arm to do some tractor hustlin' to make a house down payment.

Also, fewer folks are mechanically or general repair inclined. Even though the internet helps some, many are intimidated, don't have the tools, space, patience, or time to fix things. Offering small engine / tractor repair, driveway maintenance, landscaping work, trail making, or just hauling stuff with your truck. We got a wide range of demographics here.

Used to build koi ponds in a different century..... Many on here do rural property flipping. Clean it up, make it attractive to hunters, count the cash.... maybe add a cabin or general household repair work.

General property management too. People pay you money to go to the house and turn the heat on, check in on things once a week, plow the driveway, fill the whitetail warbler bird feeder........

 

[Brian662]

Brian,

Assuming there is no clean up, clearing, stump work. Just a field that was a foodplot last year. Give us a quick rundown of what you do n price for lets say an acre. Twisting the oldest kids arm to do some tractor hustlin' to make a house down payment.

Also, fewer folks are mechanically or general repair inclined. Even though the internet helps some, many are intimidated, don't have the tools, space, patience, or time to fix things. Offering small engine / tractor repair, driveway maintenance, landscaping work, trail making, or just hauling stuff with your truck. We got a wide range of demographics here.

Used to build koi ponds in a different century..... Many on here do rural property flipping. Clean it up, make it attractive to hunters, count the cash.... maybe add a cabin or general household repair work.

General property management too. People pay you money to go to the house and turn the heat on, check in on things once a week, plow the driveway, fill the whitetail warbler bird feeder........

I don't charge by the acre, I charge by the hour plus inputs. I tell my clients what to expect and what my rates are. If I'm running my tractor, it's $125/hour. If I'm running my tractor plus a planter it's $150/hour. Loading time, travel time, drill calibration time, etc all billed at $100/hour. Only exceptions are for my direct neighbors close to me whom I do some small consulting on and food plot design work, etc..then I'll go to $75/hour.
Also $75/hour for me to pick up seed or fertilizer if they prefer I do that in addition to the cost of seed/fertilizer.
$100/hour plus chemicals to spray with my side by side. That includes the time I spend loading water, travel, etc.

Shit is expensive, I have nice equipment and I'm not going to beat the hell out of it for nothing. Lots of maintenance time/costs the clients don't see to keep everything orderly.

To tie this into the stock market thread, guess who are my employees who help wash/maintain equipment so they will have earned income in the family business? My kids...100% legit and teaching my kids work ethic while setting up their lives to be 5x easier than mine.

Oh yeah...I forgot to mention..and all my equipment gets depreciated!

 

[Maddog66]

I have accumulated an ungodly collection of used but good hunting / fishing gear that I’m not using and don’t want to store. Maybe a few tools too.

So I’m going to have an outdoorsman’s thrift sale this spring right next to my wife’s regular thrift sale. My own tables separated from all the junk we men arent interested in and I’ll be serving venison hot dogs.

I’m going to use that money to buy a live scope

***but what if someone organized 100 guys like me with all manner of used outdoor stuff….and rented a space for them to set up and sell that kind of stuff? A man’s flea market!!!!

The target market is cheap outdoorsmen ….and god knows there’s a million of us!

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I ordered a hundred elderberry for this spring myself, and ten juneberry. I really want to make juneberry work.

Plan on lots of bird netting. Juneberry is said to be a popular crop in various places. Tons of vitamins, anti-oxidants in them. Taste like blueberries & look much like them.

A guy near my hometown started a blueberry patch of right around 3/4 acre. Soil needs to be acidic, though. He installed poly water lines, trellises for bird netting supports, planted them all himself, and mulched them too. In about 3 years, he was selling blueberries to pick-your-own folks. Now, his bushes are big and he has enough berries to sell to other local stores & roadside stands. Nice gig for extra $$$ for retirement income flow.

Farmers local to us grow peppers too. Sweet bell peppers and several hot varieties. Good market for hot peppers - people put them up in jars for the year, as well as fresh use. You could grow plenty of peppers on 3/4 acre. Dad and I used to grow peppers in our home garden. Easy to start in flats or peat pots, easy to grow, and they produce heavily with ample water. I grow several varieties in pots here at our house every summer. They produce until frost.

Pumpkins are a big seller in SE Pa. in the fall. Depends on folks having disposable income to spend though. Used for jacks - not eating by the public.

 

[bigboreblr]

Local fish n game clubs have annual yard sales. Rented a table every few years and gunshot is there for ffl transfers. Local gas station has a sale just like that too. Just park n put your stuff out. That'd once a year too

 

[bigboreblr]

Your equipment and time is worth money.

People ask me how much a car repair should be. What you do for yourself can be 20% the price. Building contractors often price materail and then bid 3x the price as the total cost.