How to Profit from Spare Space on a Small-Scale Farm
If you’ve got a bit of unused land around your property—maybe a corner paddock, an empty garden bed, or a quiet patch behind a shed—it doesn’t need to sit idle. With a bit of planning, these spaces can start pulling their weight and even turn a profit.
Here are a few ideas that have worked for us or are worth considering if you're running a small-scale or hobby farm in Australia.
Keep Bees
Bees don’t take up much space and offer a lot of value. With a couple of hives, you can harvest your own honey, make candles or lip balms from wax and even sell starter colonies or nucleus hives once you get confident.
Great for pollination — helps boost fruit, veg, and flower production.
Low maintenance — especially once hives are established.
Regulations vary — register with PIRSA (SA) and follow your local biosecurity rules.
Raise Chickens for Eggs
A small flock of laying hens can keep your family stocked with eggs and give you enough surplus to sell or swap locally. They don’t need much space and they’ll happily clean up veggie scraps while fertilising the ground.
Sell eggs from a roadside stand or to neighbours.
Excess roosters or retired layers can be processed for meat (self-use or via a butcher).
Keep housing secure — foxes and birds of prey are always watching.
Meat for Self-Use or Sale
If you’re raising animals like chickens, turkeys, sheep or goats for meat, there are strict rules to follow.
You can’t sell meat processed on your own property. That’s for self-use only.
To sell meat legally, use an accredited butcher or processor.
Alternatively, sell live animals for others to process legally on their own property.
We always recommend checking state regulations before selling anything—what’s fine for a neighbour might get tricky if you advertise publicly.
Animal Manure for Compost
Manure from goats, sheep, chickens and even horses can be a valuable input—either for your own use or to sell. People are always looking for well-composted manure for their gardens.
Bag it up and sell locally.
Combine with garden waste or bedding straw to create rich compost.
Worm farms using animal manure can also be a great option for small-scale production.
Propagate and Sell Plants
Spare trays, old pots or a basic greenhouse setup is all you need to start propagating herbs, vegetables, flowers or native plants.
Sell from a roadside stand, at markets, or to other local growers.
Focus on high-demand plants: seasonal flowers, hardy perennials, veggie seedlings.
You can use offcuts, divisions or saved seed — it’s a low-cost way to grow extra income.
Roadside Farm Stand
Even a basic table or honesty box can start to build awareness of your farm. It’s an easy way to move small quantities of whatever you’re producing — from eggs to honey to fresh flowers or seedlings.
Keep it tidy and shaded, especially in summer.
Label clearly and offer change or use a QR code if you want to accept digital payments.
Update signage as your offerings change with the season.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need a big setup or a commercial farm to make the most of your land. With a few practical ideas and a bit of effort, you can turn unused space into something productive.
We’ve done most of the above ourselves—some things started as a hobby and slowly grew into side income. If you’re working with a small farm or lifestyle block and want to get more out of it, these ideas are a good place to start.
Got a spare corner and unsure what to do with it? Let us know what you're working with—we're always happy to share ideas.