Although I hate picking mesclun, I think it is going to be my first crop. Because: it is easy to grow, I have a ton of experience with it and can make a salad + edible flowers mix to rival and best anything in the store, several of the components can be left to grow larger and be harvested later in the season, and it is very, very early, which will give me an early return. I have no money to make it through the summer other than what I have now...unless I get a job...so that part is pretty important.

Also, it has a relatively high value per lb compared to other stuff. One bag of *nice* greens will go for $4 easily...and I don't know how much is in a bag...a fourth of a lb maybe? Considering time from seed to harvest (as little as 30 days for some of the plants) that isn't too bad at all. Onions take all season and they go fr what, a dollar a pound? Winter squash has the advantage of being very low labor and readying the ground for next year's crop, but I might not grow there next year. And then, like I said, some of the stuff, like swiss chard, kale, certain herbs....will also be harvested when larger, because I'll be picking leaves, not entire plants.

So, OK. mesclun/salad mix. First crop. Later crop from same ground, chard, beets (for family), kale, herbs (basil especially). Then what? Strawberries? Let's say I get a pound of strawberries per plant. They sell for....thinking...a dollar and a half per pound when there's a glut....but never that little at a farmer's market. Hmmm. OK. $2-$3 oer pound then. Is it worth my time to buy the plants, plant them, and pick them for $3 a plant? Ummmm.....they either need to produce more or sell for more. I'll have to look up prices and production.

NOBODY had nasturtiums last year, and I do mean nobody, even when I asked for them. :-( I could probably defray some of my own costs for seed starting by selling plants for things I was already growing anyway. It doesn't take much more time to plant ten pots of one variety than it does five.

Thinking....thinking...