How One Packet of Tomato Seeds Launched A Gardening Business

As a new gardening season begins, I’d like to share how my passion for gardening and helping gardeners succeed grew from a fun hobby into a flourishing business.

Reflecting on my fourteen years of growing and selling heirloom vegetables, I can’t help but cringe at my early growing techniques and the many mistakes I made.

There were so many.

Though I don’t consider myself an expert, I have considerable experience growing vegetables from seed. Like all gardeners, I’ve made plenty of blunders and continue to learn from them each year.

My journey to success, both in growing plants and in business, was filled with countless trials and errors, a testament to the growth and learning that have brought me to where I am today.

A Seed Was Planted

My gardening joy was initially straightforward: I grew a few basil plants from seeds, but most of the plants I grew in my small garden were purchased at the Farmers’ Market. I had no idea my love for gardening, specifically growing heirloom vegetables, would grow into a thriving business.

The journey began in the spring of 2011 with a single packet of tomato seeds. I’d succeeded with growing basil from seed, I was ready to branch out to tomatoes.

Naturally, I planted the entire packet of seeds. Why not?

The result: Dozens of tomato seedlings—far more than I could grow in my own garden. Most gardeners understand how difficult it is to thin plants, and I’m no exception, but what would I do with 45 tomato plants?

Thankfully, friends and co-workers took the excess plants for a nominal “rehoming fee.” Once all were rehomed, I realized the small fee covered the cost of the seeds and supplies, but more importantly, my “customers” were genuinely pleased with their plants. This sparked another idea: Why not grow tomato plants to sell?

I began growing in earnest the following year without a greenhouse, grow lights, or heat mats. Although I had a heated garage, it remained unused because I thought it was too cold for plants to thrive. What I had was a large south-facing window, a spacious dining room table, and a desire to succeed.

I was incredibly naive and so inexperienced.

But that didn’t stop me. For the next eight years, I started thousands of tomato seedlings in our dining room next to the south-facing window. I’m amazed that I managed to grow plants in my home for all those years and still remained married.

The Indoor Farm

Every March through May, the dining room transformed into my “indoor farm.” Tarps and newspaper covered the floor and table, bags of soil piled up, and hundreds of paper cups surrounded me. Looking back, I can’t believe I started and transplanted plants indoors—calling it a mess would be an understatement.

Despite these challenging (and ridiculous) indoor growing conditions, I successfully sold plants each spring at the Farmers’ Market. Here, I discovered my passion for discussing gardening. I wasn’t just selling plants; I aimed to help people cultivate their best gardens.

In the early stages of my growing endeavor, seed germination was slow, and the plants grew leggy because I didn’t know the importance of heat for successful germination or the required 12 to 16 hours of light necessary for proper seedling growth.

After struggling with germination, I became savvy enough to start using heat mats. I also bought a portable, tent-like greenhouse for the yard. Both were game-changers for my budding business. To my delight, the seeds sprouted faster and more robustly with the heat mat, and they could go outside for additional natural light during the day.

To my husband’s delight, I finally moved the “potting-up” process to the garage, but I continued seed-starting in the warm house.

Learning and Trusting the Process

In 2017, I became more “educated” as I fulfilled a bucket-list desire to become a Certified Master Gardener through the University of Idaho Extension’s program. During each class session, I recognized how little I truly knew and was amazed that I managed to grow anything!

My newfound knowledge and understanding deepened my passion for growing heirloom vegetables, and I sought to grow and sell unique and unusual varieties.

It was indeed a lightbulb moment when we installed a bank of LED lights suspended from the garage ceiling above a rough table made of plywood and sawhorses. After germinating in the house, I moved the seedlings to the garage, where they flourished, growing stocky and lush under the lights. I was starting to fully understand the significance of heat and light for proper seed starting.

Yet the following spring, I was still starting seeds indoors. Even with the right equipment, I couldn’t trust that the seeds would germinate in the garage’s cooler environment. I feared losing all my seedlings, but I knew I couldn’t keep growing in the house; my tiny business was growing and required more space than my dining room would allow.

With great trepidation, I seeded a few flats of peppers in the garage. It was a cozy 60 degrees; the flats rested on heat mats beneath LED lights. I felt as though I held my breath for five days straight as I anxiously watched and waited for the first green signs of life to emerge from the soil.

Lo and behold, the pepper seeds germinated. One of the most challenging vegetables to start from seed sprouted (and thrived) in the garage, and my fears and doubts about growing there disappeared. That was the year we reclaimed our dining room, and there would be no more growing inside the house (ever again).

Growing Online

With healthy, vibrant plants, my Farmers’ Market business grew. I often sold out of plants early in the Market season and began taking plant orders from my blog. It was a reservation model, where customers reserved in early spring and picked up plants in May. This helped me plan what and how much to produce.

The reservation system became popular, and I gained more customers who liked reserving plants to guarantee they’d get what they wanted. With this success, I realized it was time to move to an e-commerce platform. In the late fall of 2019, I redesigned my blog into a website with an online store, which enabled me to manage inventory and sales more effectively.

I was really looking forward to the 2020 growing season when I would launch my new online store and sell at the Farmers’ Market.

But we all know what March 2020 brought— the world as we knew it forever changed. While everything was shutting down due to the pandemic, I declared that “gardening was not canceled.” I began promoting my online store with curbside pickup of plants from my garden.

It was just what people wanted.

Dressed in a mask and gloves, I passed hundreds of heirloom tomatoes and vegetables over the gate to eager gardeners waiting at the curb, wearing the same. I sold out of my entire stock before the Farmer’s Market opened, the first year in nine that I hadn’t sold at the Market.

It was the worst of times. It was the best of times.

I felt grounded in that uncertainty. I was doing something good and cherished each brief customer interaction. The customer’s eyes twinkled; I knew a smile was behind their mask as box after box of heirlooms went over the fence to new gardens.

From that point on, there was no turning back. My online store was easier to manage; I could operate from my garden, eliminating the need to haul plants to the Farmers’ Market. While I loved the camaraderie and atmosphere of the Farmers’ Market, it was time to grow in a new way.

Growing On

Much growth has occurred at The Coeur d’Alene Coop during the last five years. From late winter into spring, the garage transforms into a full-scale grow operation. We’ve added a dedicated seed-starting and potting station, storage for soil and supplies, and several lighted shelving units that hold up to 120 growing flats or about 4,000 seedlings.

After years of saving and planning, my dream of a permanent greenhouse became a reality, adding another dimension to my business. It has provided me with more opportunities for learning (i.e., mistake-making!) and new ways to develop my business.

Where do I grow from here? Even with the greenhouse, I’ve reached capacity on my small residential lot. However, my passion for learning, growing heirlooms and unique vegetable varieties, and helping gardeners succeed continues.

Admittedly, it’s a lot of work for one person, but it’s my labor of love—one that makes my heart beat a little faster every time I open a packet of tomato seeds and ponder the possibilities.

I hope you enjoyed my journey and that it inspires you to embark on your own gardening adventure!