l am in need of an income because the project l spent a lot of money on did not generate any business.So what l thought of doing to make a living.ls to grow Christmas trees.l worked out how many trees l can grow from the land l have.And what l'll do is have a crop rotation.
When the trees reach aprox. 4feet from one section of the land,l'll harvest those and let the others grow in the other section until the height of 5 foot,then harvest those,and the next section of 6 foot and harvest those.But every harvest from one section will be saplings replanted for the next generation of trees.lt is a continuous flowing income.lt will be a crop rotation of 4 years and every year will be a foot higher.So to start with 4 feet and the last harvest will reach 8 foot.l will also allow certian trees to grow bigger for those special occasions for festivals and squares in the market etc.

l would also organize a family day out to search for that special tree they wish to harvest.And for them to come back in the new year to replant their harvest tree if it is still alive.That can be their own tree every year to harvest on a rental basis.Chocolate drinks will be available and the chance to come and take cuttings off the cut tree they bought from me to plant them for rooting the following year.These cuttings will be named after them .And when the cuttings mature to the right height,they can come and harvest one tree of theirs.

Just a thought.But l am thinking of everything to make an income.This is just one idea of mine

I would see this idea as a supplemental income to something else? I don't think you will sell enough of them in Bulgaria to make a living of any sort. For example you will be competing with the Bulgarians themselves and then there are the supermarkets who eventually will push out the Bulgarian growers. I think if it was a supplemental income with something else that you know will sell then possibly I would say you have a small chance.
Sorry to sound negative but this is only my thoughts .

[size=85:rxr5t4tt]info from Google search



Hello Snail seems like there is a lot more to growing Christmas trees than we think. I found this on google.

Advantages of Growing Christmas Trees

Most agricultural and horticultural crops require larger investments and more intensive management than timber production.

1) Christmas tree production is a compromise between short-term, intensively managed crops and long-term timber production.
2) Christmas tree rotations are much shorter than timber rotations. It takes six to 12 years to grow a marketable Christmas tree.
3) Christmas trees can be grown economically on small acreages. Christmas trees can be and are sometimes grown on farms of 1 acre or less.
4) Christmas trees require less ground cover disturbance than that needed with many agricultural crops.
5) The economic returns of growing Christmas trees are favorable,

Christmas Trees as an Investment

The decision as to whether or not to grow Christmas trees can be partially decided by economic considerations. Much time and some money must be invested in order to produce a crop of trees.

Experienced growers estimate that once the trees are above 3 feet tall, each acre requires about 40 man-hours per year of care. Furthermore, many cultural treatments must be done at certain times of the year. Shearing is often confined to a five-week period during early summer;
mowing is required as needed throughout the growing season. Frequently, growers will plant too many trees and find they must hire outside help in order to keep up with all the cultural practices that need to be done in later years.

There are many costs of producing Christmas trees that must be borne during the early years of the plantation. It is not until some trees are large enough for harvest and sale that a positive cash flow begins to develop. Production costs can include the following:

equipment (mowers, sprayers, shearing equipment, etc.)
labor (planting, pest control, shearing, harvesting, etc.)
seedlings
chemicals (herbicides, insecticides, fertilizers, etc.)
miscellaneous items (signs, flagging, road maintenance, gates, etc.)

For all of these items, cost estimates can range form $3,000 to $12,000 per acre. Total costs will often depend upon the size of the operation. For example, a small grower with less than 10 acres may invest only in a small riding tractor or walk-behind, self-propelled mower;
a backpack sprayer, and shearing equipment.

:Good luck:to you.

Oddy

Now that you mentioned it.l had no idea how the production of Xmas trees was going to be a problem.l'll skip that one.
What would be the best investment for growing produce.
l was thinking of growing parsnips.l heard the Bulgarians are getting a fond taste of the white root.Also rhubarb and any other plant that would help me in gaining a livable income

Personally I don't think growing anything in Bulgaria is going to give you a living? We all know that the Bulgarians are pro's when it comes to growing and if it grows and there is a need then they will have already grown it so I think you need to look at something else? although what! I don't know? There are many who have come to Bulgaria with the intention of making a living from the land and sadly fallen flat on their faces, you will perhaps be aware that there are loads of people now selling imported food stuffs to Brits and Bulgarians but again this market in my opinion is very competitive so its not one I would go into. Good luck with your search.

Snail farming Snail! It's all the rage with the Babba's!

A news link to snail farming in Bulgaria!
[url:97i9y65b]http:
//www.
bbc.
co.
uk/news/world-europe-15517221[/url:97i9y65b]

Snail farming is suppose to be very lucrative and I hear that Bulgaria has the best in the world and supplies some of the top restaurants in France.

It'll be lucrative for the distributor and not the grower.

This is always the case with anything once the big boys get their hands on anything they then command the buying price which then leaves the grower a very poor person.

The farmer receives a fraction of the price for his produce - that the supermarkets then sell it for. The supermarkets are profiteering from us - they tempt the shopper with BOGOFs on cakes, crisps and other less essentials, whilst essentials are going up through the roof. Whilst it is costing more to produce many of these items - it is the producer as well as the shopper who are picking up the costs - not the supermarkets. Customers have little choice of where they shop since the independent sector has been crucified and the suppliers have the choice of back the offers or lose the business. We are told so often that customers are listened to and the supermarkets react accordingly---absolute rubbish!!

In recent decades supermarkets have grabbed 80% of the market share nationwide at the expense of many small local businesses such as bakers, greengrocers and butchers. 25 years ago supermarkets only accounted for 20% of food sales. Anyone who has lived in a small town for more than a few years will have seen the continuing demise of these establishments at first hand, as in virtually every other town in the country. The demands of supermarkets have caused hard-pressed farmers to cut corners leading to health scares in recent years such as BSE, Mad Cow Disease, E.Coli and others. Likewise genetically modified crops have been introduced in the name of increasing profits, which have caused further damage to the environment and nobody knows the long-term consequences of producing or consuming these crops. Independent shops are part of the local economy and often support their local community. Many independent stores buy their supplies locally and use other local traders, and this can help the local economy. Supermarkets in contrast siphon as much as 95 per cent of their takings away from local areas to shareholders and distant corporations.

This is a brilliant topic but it does look as though its moved away from the op? There is some very interesting points raised here and what you all saying is what we all know but never really think to much about it! Farmers are in an extremely weak negotiating position. They used to have some bargaining power on the basis of seasonality, but imports and glasshouses have destroyed this advantage. Now farmers are squeezed by a limited number of buyers, big suppliers and global oversupply.

If you have a lot of land and want to grow something legal then grow either cabbage or willow trees.The villagers buy lorry loads of cabbage when the harvest is in at 40 stinks a kilo.This year they were like Piranha's outside the village bar.A friend and I were left to look after the bar while the manager got stuck in too.No kidding,a Luton van loaded to hell was empty in 30 mins.Willow grows quickly and is coppiced every couple of years.This will keep you in wood and you'll have some to sell on.If you are secluded and want to be a bit naughty then grow tobacco and sell it at 30 lev a kilo.Seeds are readily available on a well known auction site.Go for Golden virginia and the local oriental blend.Funnily enough I was being told today that tax from tobacco in BG has halved since the ciggy tax hikes.There seems to be loads of the stuff floating around our village.I'm just too lazy to roll or make them.Might be an idea to look at the BG guidelines on home grown tobacco before starting any project as I wouldn't like to get anyone into trouble.If anyone does know then please post here as I would like to know too.My seeds are in the freezer poised ready for planting!

Obviously, the greatest benefit of buying locally grown food is that it tastes delicious because it doesn’t have to travel across the country in order to get to your table. It also hasn’t been factory-washed and sealed in plastic, which detracts from the freshness and flavour. Another benefit of buying local food is that these small farms most likely don’t use harsh fertilizers and pesticides, which can have harmful effects on your health. Big corporate farming conglomerates, want to produce as much as they can as fast as they can, meaning that they probably use unnatural chemicals in their soil in order to mass produce. These chemicals are not only harmful to the human body, but also to the farmland as well.