Im way off. The profitability is closer to .50 per sqft for a CONVENTIONAL garden. Is that right?

Mindyw3, some crops like green/yellow beans will net you more on a purely square foot method as they can be grown 2 rows of beans in a 2 ft. wide row. Lettuce and spinach we grow 3 rows in a 3 foot wide row. same with green onions,radish,etc. Beets we grow 2 rows per 2 foot wide row, also. But ! other crops like Cukes and pickles,melons will net you a lot less on a square foot basis. Sweet corn being the most unprofitable for the space it consumes. Sweet jumbo onions are quite profitable as are new red potatos. Snow peas are easy to grow and also give a decent return but are labor intensive as with green beans.

It should average out on your 1/4 acre of growing area to around .25 to .75 cents of net profit per square foot.
Get as much free organic matter as you can(leaves, grass clippings, etc.)
Mark

Mindy, the sq ft figure will not work if you have different veggies. Some will give more and some less. I would not estimate near that high. As a beginning garden, it will be totally unknown of what kind of production you will get. Anyone that has done this type of business before knows that you will never be able to estimate how much you'll produce. And if you try, believe me, nature will change things.

A friend stated that growing for market is just like a crap shoot.

Marla

6-7k hmm. I never pay for mulch or compost or manure and get a lot of seeds free. But my garden is about that size.
I use row cover for deer and bug protection then use fishing line for deer too.
My costs this year:
about $450 for seeds and plants
$1000 for row cover, plastic, poles, seed starting mix, sprays, trays, jab planter and that kind of thing
$450 for drip irrigation

I don't think you're asking for expenses, but for profit, right? The expenses are the easy part to estimate, the yield is what's hard.

She asked: is that high or low? regarding expenses. I have no idea about yield but retail is very different in different places- even in the same state. If I sold into the metro or brought the CSA shares there for delivery I would make a lot more money.
I am estimating bringing in a net of as much as $10000, less about $4000 in expenses. I have about .45 an acre.

Sorry, I went back and read it again.

She was wanting both expenses and value of yield per sq ft. The expenses are easier to figure versus what yield you might get from year to year depending on the weather.

I estimate 10# of good saleable fruit per tomato plant, I know you can get more, but I rather estimate low and be pleasantly surprised. Tomatoes are probably the one fruit that I sell the most of.

I hope to double my expenses for the actual sales as a minimum. So for your example of $4000 in expenses, I would expect a minimum of $8000 of sales over the season. A few years I did better than that, but as a average 2x worked.

Marla