Your Backyard Can Make You Money

Found Money In Your Backyard

Some of the simplest answers to increasing your family’s income lies in your backyard or on your land. Making use of what you already have is like found money. A typical backyard can generate considerable money and if your home is on land of more than a few acres the possibilities really expand!

If the thought of making money from your backyard instead of just spending money on your backyard intrigues you, read on! There are so many ways to monetize your outdoor space, probably some you have thought of before but we are going to give you some money-making ideas that will help expand your cash flow possibilities this spring.

Your Backyard Can Be a Private Campground

If your property is close to historic centers, national, state or regional parks, or you just have amazing views from your land, then creating a private campsite or campsites on your property can be a great way to generate extra cash. There are many people looking for private access to tent camping to parking their trailer rather than being at a crowded public campground.

Sites such as Tentrr, the Dyrt, Outdoorsy, PitchUp, Hip Camp, Home Camper, and more connect would be campers with private campsites. If you have an RV or trailer you aren’t using, that’s an added plus since you have a ready-made place for people to stay. If you don’t mind sharing your land with other people, it’s a great way to make extra cash and meet some new people.

Make Money Off Your Extra Backyard Produce

Many of us have vegetable gardens these days, some small and others of us have extensive backyard vegetable gardens. People will pay a premium price for locally grown organic produce. It’s as easy is planting a little extra of all the vegetables that grow well in your area. If you live on a well-trafficked street you can set up a vegetable stand out front of your address and sell your extra produce that way. Also, many fruit and vegetable stands will buy from local sources as will local restaurants, I have done both and made a steady extra income.

Create Edible Landscaping for Extra Money

Adding fruit trees to your backyard and also berry bushes is a great way for your family to have fresh fruit but also enables you to sell the bounty from your trees and bushes. If space is an issue, plant dwarf fruit trees instead of full-size fruit trees, they also tend to bear fruit quicker than the larger varieties. Instead of planting shrubs between your neighbor and your yard, think of planting blueberry bushes in different varieties so they are able to be harvested over a long period of time. Organic blueberries bring a premium price and if you don’t sell your whole crop you can always freeze them for your own use.

Build a Guest House to Make Money

Guest houses in your backyard or on your property can serve so many purposes, which we have discussed before on our website about Building a Granny Unit or ADU. Due to the housing crunch that most areas are going through nationwide, many counties have relaxed zoning codes for creating new living spaces in backyards to deal with the housing shortage that is a challenge in many towns.

If you live near a college you have a built-in source of rental possibilities. In many counties it is now legal to turn your garage into an apartment or granny unit in your backyard. It’s worth doing some math to see what rents for a studio or one-bedroom cottage are going for in your area and how long it would take you to earn back your investment in building a guest house or turning a shed or garage into living quarters. Even in rural areas your guest house could generate $800 a month to more suburban and urban areas your guest cottage could generate close to $2000 a month. An alternative idea is to list your guest house on Airbnb and have weekend or weekly guests that also generate a goodly amount of cash flow.

Chickens are a Backyard Money Maker

Even before the last outbreak of bird flu egg prices had continued to climb and now with the current market, chicken eggs are a viable source of extra income if you have room for a small chicken coop in your backyard and your local zoning allows backyard chickens. Raising backyard chickens comes with lots of added benefits, such as fresh eggs and a great way to create healthy soil from chicken manure. Check your local economy to see the going price for chicken eggs to see if the investment in a small coop and a few hens would make a good investment for extra income for your family.

Start a Tree Farm for Extra Money

Whether you want to bring out your inner arborist by starting to grow a variety of landscape trees to sell or you want to plant Christmas trees to sell as cut-your-own Christmas trees during the holidays, trees do make good money. Growing trees for cash is more of a long-term investment because of the length of growing cycle, but in many counties having a substantial amount of your land in tree, vegetables or farm animals also can bring some healthy tax breaks too!

Rent Your Land to Beekeepers or Raise Bees

Raising bees or renting your land to beekeepers is a double-win in so many ways. Not only do your plants get pollinated, but your also help the environment with increasing the bee population that has been at risk for years. Selling bees and honey can make a good deal of money.

There is a whole movement built on local honey for many of its health benefits and many people love buying local honey. You can also trade a beekeeper for use of your land for the trade of honey for you and your family or to sell to the locals. Many of our local grocery stores and fruit and vegetable stands feature local honey from small beekeepers. Honey has really gone up in price especially for organic, so just do the math on what a couple of hives and bees would cost and see if this is a good option for your backyard or land.

Dog Boarding Makes Money

The idea of dog boarding really works if you have a few acres and like dogs. It’s amazing what dog boarding costs have grown to over the last few years. In many areas dog boarding costs $60 a night and upwards. Outdoor kennels are now really easy to assemble and the cost is reasonable considering how much money can be made boarding 4-6 dogs a night, just do the math.

If you also add a dog walking service, pack walks these days in urban and suburban areas go for $45 an hour average nationwide for walks in a group and usually the owners need to sign up for at least two walks a week. So, if you walk 6 dogs twice a week that is an extra $540 a week in income. Add in dog boarding also and you have a backyard that is generating some good cash flow for your family.

At Shed Windows and More we are a family-owned small business that deals with some of the same issues in our families as you do with yours. We understand that generating a few extra hundred to a couple of extra thousand dollars a month can really make a difference for many families. So, we are not only your source for DIY builders and small contractors for windows, doors, shutters, window boxes, and more at great prices with outstanding customer service but we are also there with helpful ideas for your family and home.