I Grew Microgreens For Money So You Don’t Have To

We lay out a simple path to turn a small garden into a resilience engine for home and business, using low-input systems and smart barter to protect cash flow. Global shocks set the stage, but the focus stays local with practical steps that work without constant power or spend.

• just-in-time risks and why buffers matter
• choosing low-input methods like no-till and wicking beds
• what to grow for profit and trade beyond microgreens
• edible landscaping for yield and curb appeal
• using barter networks to swap goods for services
• realistic costs, family value, and tax cautions
• small, repeatable steps to start and scale

Whatever you do out there, be good or be good at it

Transcript

Just-In-Time Risks And Covid Lessons

Travel Disruptions And Supply Chain Anxiety

My Gardening Constraints And Goals

Barter Ideas: Microgreens, Herbs, Flowers

Global Headlines As Prep Signals

Regenerative, No-Till, And Low-Input Systems

Power Reliance vs Wicking Beds

Edible Landscaping And Smart Tactics

Capital Costs, Family Value, Aquaponics

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hello and welcome to the Trading Post Podcast, where we unlock the secrets of business-to-business trade, dive into powerful networking strategies, and share my exciting journey of using a podcast to market my business instead of relying on SEO. I'm your host, Trader Stew. Hello everyone, and welcome to another eye-opening episode of The Trading Post, where we unlock the hidden power of barter, networking, and smart business moves that fill your pockets without draining your cash. Imagine turning your backyard into a profit center amid global tensions, like the recent U.S. strikes in Nigeria and Russian advances in Ukraine. Prepping through gardening isn't just survival, it's your next business edge. So, what are we talking about today? Prepping your business as one would also prep maybe their garden or a backyard, or I don't know, if you're into freeze drying or stocking food or canned foods or buying extra food while you're at Costco or Sam's Club or BJ's insert, you know, bulk bulk buying supply warehouse here. You know, you could have an extra space and shelving in the basement and just buy, like, say, you know, 20 cans of sardines at a wholesale place, and then just you know, go through them gradually. That right there is being ready. I mean, that's just having a back supply. That's not being just in time purchaser, just like our you know, United States has for their grocery stores. It's called just in time. If you didn't know that, I'm sure you do if you're in business. Just in time purchasing or supply. So basically, you know, they only have to they only have a couple days worth of food. So if there's a run on grocery stores like you saw in COVID, I know I did anyway. Metro Detroit and Michigan, the shelves were empty except for maybe a couple pasta boxes and some stale or rotten fruits or veggies and like one packet of open chicken, and that was it in in Meyer. So that was in, like I said, Metro Detroit. So anyway, let's get into it. As President Trump's strikes hit ISIS targets and airlines scramble from disruptions. If you didn't hear about that, that was crazy. The the airlines with COVID, not only that, but then then you got the Delta Airlines is behind 33%. I believe they said in Manning. And so the recent issue with weather during the holidays was pretty rough on them. Tons of cancellations, especially the Northeast. Anyway, families everywhere whispering what if supply chains snap, like we're talking about. You're already feeling that pull to prep. Gardens are bursting with edibles, vertical towers saving space, which I need to get into. I don't, I really haven't got into my journey yet, but it's a lot of failure. I wasn't brought up gardening, my stepdad gardened, but it was kind of like his time away and his his thing to do. So he didn't really teach me anything or do anything with them. I just occasionally I would pick corn, you know what I mean? But no big deal. I would watch him, you know, but he did a tilling, so he tilled the soil, and we were next to cornfields and stuff like that. So I grew up in the country, and that's you know how he did it. I'm trying to do it more in a cost or not a space-saving area. I have a suburban lot, so I'm trying to see what I can do with the amount of space I have and still let the kids have room to play. And also I'm battling what do you call it? Shade, shade from the trees. I have tons of shade in the backyard, so I really only have you know a small, maybe I don't know, 30 by 20 area, which I know is pretty big, but given the size of my third lot, third acre lot, it's not much. So and it's already tight with what with the tree that's there. So anyway, I'm getting too too off tangent here. So the thing is do uh regenerative soil building, resilience, but what if you could barter you know your homegrown microgreens, which I tried doing that? That's a ton of work. Don't do microgreens maybe for yourself, but don't try and sell them and make money. It's not cost efficient. You got to do them by the trays, not by the individual serving, like my wife and I were trying to do at family or at farmers markets. Then you got herbs, which I heard is very profitable, and so are flowers, and heirlooms for services, turning a hobby into a revenue stream. So that's the freedom that both prepping for your business and prepping for yourself and your family can provide. So on December 25th or 2025, headlines screamed uncertainty. Russian forces claim Provost Ku Rock Guinea Bisu and economic crisis grip Pakistan with IMF bailouts. Businesses feel the squeeze. Indigo slash his flights, gun violence, spikes stateside. I don't really believe in all that, but you know, I've kind of I got I did a little bit of research here and I just kind of pulled some uh articles and I've mishmashed them all together to provide you with some idea on what's going on in the world, how to correlate that with prepping for you and your business. I say you and your business, your your home life and your business. And then so yeah, I'm just kind of like pulling from uh several different items. This one's from On the Grow and a couple others. In this chaos, preppers rise, planting regenerative gardens with no-till methods, which you know, with me and the kids, I want something that's as little uh input as possible. So no-tilling is good, regenerative garden. I already got a really cool raspberries and blackberries going, and I need to have more pollinators, so pollinators havens using native cone flowers and milkweed and vertical hydroponics. I tried that with a mixed mixed success. I did it in my greenhouse. I tried doing I forgot what you call it now, where you have troughs, and the troughs ran along the top of the greenhouse and then down, and then I did it into a vertical tower, then I went into a wicking bed. Did okay, but it got ignored as usual, and there's a lot of maintenance. Like, I don't like how you have to rely on a pump. If there's the whole point of this, is like SHTF, right? The power goes out, whatever, the grid goes down, and relying on power, even if it's solar, even if it's wind, I don't know. I just I don't like that. I like the whole idea of wicking beds though, because it saves a ton of water. You lose nothing to evaporation, and the roots always have water, you never have to worry about remembering to water the garden. So, anyway, that's I'm focusing on this year. I'm gonna try that. So, your family camps, you know, self-reliance wins, and now scale on the via barter for need seeds tools and marketing without cash outflow. I also like that I can maybe even sell that stuff on the side or barter with that, you know. Even with your business, if you have something that's barterable, you know, have have some something on the side for that. If it all goes down, buggles haywire, man. If we go sideways this uh winter, which they're kind of predicting it might with all the tensions in the areas. Simpson's predicted a blackout this winter. So 2026, I think it was. I forgot what episode it was, but it was a blackout. Kind of like we had in the northeastern. If you were in the Michigan, Canada, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio area. I was actually deployed, not deployed. Was I being deployed? I can't remember now. I know I was definitely in Kurdistan when I saw on the news in the chow hall that there was no power in the States for a week. Anyway, my dad was affected by it. So prepping gardening power, envision your gardens as a fortress. Edible landscaping swaps, lawns for blueberries, beans, nostrums, and beauty you harvest. Trends explode. Microgreens pack nutrients grown hydroponically in racks for a quick cash crop. Smart sensors automate drip irrigation, slashing efforts. Companion plant basil with tomatoes for natural pest control. Build soil with compost and mulch, resilient against droughts or disruptions. Ask a disabled vet who's been through it. Embed this prep now, prosper always, blending family fun with business savvy. And that's the thing that people understand is that gardening isn't about, for me, definitely is not about saving money. The payback on a garden for especially the way I want to do it with very low input, it's a huge capital expense, especially if I want to try doing something with aquaponics where I can raise some shrimp or tilapia, preferably shrimp, because they're just easier to eat and clean. You don't have to flay them and stuff like that and clean them like tilapia. I know I'll eat more shrimp than I will tilapia. Anyway, that's good. It's a huge capital. You got pumps and liners and tanks or whatever, right? And so anyway, but the family will love it. I know my son will love helping out this summer. He already loves helping around the house. So family time. So business through barter. Join uh any trade association near you to trade excess produce for plumbing, ads, or salon services, save cash or payroll, and gain loyal cash clients later. Salons take trade for facials, venues, fill seats with barter tickets, introducing your gardening business to networks, craving local prep goods. Start small, list seeds on trade platforms, upsell workshops, deduct expenses, tax smart. I can't really do that because I already take the standard deduction, which what from married and two kids? I think it's like 25 grand. So I can't be careful when you see tax write-offs. I'm sure if you're in business, you already know what I'm talking about. But if you have an LC, of course, that's different. But if you're a sole proprietor or individual, you have a long way to go to write off anything that exceeds 25 grand. So just watch out for that. And check your local taxes. I know in Michigan, I don't know if it's different federally or whatever, but that's that's about what it was. I remember last year for me, it was I think it was in the 20s, to before you could even consider writing anything off. So expand your reach so your buyout dream accelerates as members, network kids, including events, and feel the momentum. So anyway, that's it for this week. I wanted to at least get something out there. I know I've been uh talking about prepping, and I want to get into that for you know the channel. Uh, unfortunately, in Jan, it's January, or almost January here in Michigan, and there's not a whole lot of gardening one can do, even in a greenhouse for me, because my greenhouse is up on our balcony, which is cool for uh, you know, not OPSEC or Comsec, whatever. I think we uh not operations, just security, right? I mean, no one can come up my balcony and steal my food. I guess they could be the ladder, but I mean, there's not much food to be had up there. There's nothing up there, actually, right now. So, but but some of the gardens you see online that they are using the ground to help heat them and things of that nature, but I am again not heating a greenhouse in the middle of winter in January. To I already tried it with strawberries and it was stupid. I don't know how much money I wasted, but you know, it's a hobby, right? So, anyway, there's that aspect of things too, don't forget. So, and that's it for this week. Whatever you do out there, be good or be good at it.