I am a stay at home mom after losing my sister from complications in childbirth... At 44 it is much more difficult than when my 2 girls were little. Anyway I am a true believer in being home with your children when they are young and as much as we are trying to keep it this way, in this economy it is tough. I have decided to take my love of gardening and try to turn it into a profitable little business. We live in sunny Calif. my husband built me a nice size greenhouse and I have a misting bed I built myself for propagation. I am doing everything with recycled materials, free pallets and donated items, because extra cash we don't have... Anyway my long winded story is over what I would like to ask is if anyone has cuttings of anything that I could grow out for potential profit later... or any other help and advice.. I have some things here I could trade.. but they are unknown varieties as they were most likely donated from local growers. Lynwood gold foresythia, thornLESS rasberry unknown, unknown lavender, hybrid poplar op367(fast grower), boxwood unknown, peach tree, orange tree, weeping willow. 

Thanks for any help... Heather

Heather, you will find, this is a hard way to make any profit. for me, here in the nw,  I have spent more in postage trying to acquire and propagate these special plants, only to a year later find out that if I had put that money towards buying the trees, I should have fruits by now... instead... hum, it is a hobby that I cannot afford.  It is fun, however.  In California, you have your sunny weather to your advantage... if you work hard, anything it is possible.  All the cuttings I sent to my Cal. friends have taken roots  and even fruits.  Also, there are so many trees locally, you should not have difficulties getting cuttings locally.  
I wish you all the luck with your journey.

Grasa,

 Thanks for the advice I realize it will be a testing of my patience starting with little capitol to purchase mature plants but I have been able to add 200.00 this last month to our family income with rooted cuttings of the plants I have and know that if I focus on building a stock plant collections I will be able to provide better as the years pass... I wish I would have started this years ago when we had 2 incomes but hey life sometimes throws you lemons and its up to you to make the lemonade or let it rot... my solution is to make the best of the situation and trust that it will happen will diligence and patience. Thank you for kind words and wisdom, as far as the trees locally don't know where to start... that is why I am searching the internet for help.

Heather, welcome to THE forum :)
You DO have a moving story and my heart goes out to you...
Here you will find a lot of help with either advise or cuttings for your needs, lots of good people...

The question I have for you is this; How big of a space you have to grow Fig trees?

You need to give them good space to produce good branches and fruit for you to profit from. This is the honest truth about figs.
They are the best bargainers in plant world...Give me to give you back theory ;) Give them good space, soil and nutrition and they will reward you with yummies..to eat and sell.
 
It is easy to attain cuttings, but (the other question!) What will you do with them, How would they make money for you.

Something to consider before you get carried away.
Good luck with your decision, no matter what it is, we can support you :)

I have plenty of land and I plan to grow them out and sell rooted cuttings when they are big enough. Along with other mother plants I am aquiring to sell the cuttings from when they are ready. I realize everyone is feeling like this is not a significant source of income but the importance to us a s a family is being home with our girls, so we live simply and teaching our girls how to grow food and plants and make any kind of income is a valuable lesson. teach a man to fish... That is the philosophy. I appreciate your sympathy and kindness I am not looking for a handout just a hand up... i am willing to pay for shipping like flat rate priority box...  I am not getting carried away I am expanding what I already do and making our land continue to be able to profit from in the following years. Thanks

Heather,

What is your zip code? Some of us locals have the potted trees but shipping them is kinda a pain..

You may find that not all the varieties are that profitable, having a lot of really nice Black Missions would not get you far (although I think they are superb figs, esp. in CA).
I would do some research over here and try to acquire some particular varieties.

Good luck!

I respectively decline.

You should check/post on Craigslist, avoid the hassle of shipping, plenty of local figs and other plants in CA

Good luck

If you remember, contact me this winter and I will send you some family tree cuttings.  Good luck this year!

my zip code is 95977 email if you want my full address  

It's great that you have the space for your plan, it's important, the rest is easy, just root them :)

welcome to the forum and good luck. 

I salute you.

Welcome to the forum and I wish you all the best.

Welcome to the forum!  Heather, there's a blessing in your storm!  You don't see it yet but its there.  Be patient and be blessed.  Reach out to our Administrator of this forum.  His name is Jon.  He's a great source of information and might be willing to assist.  I echo what my buddy, Grasa said, if you can start with existing trees.  The trees might be little but will grow fast if given weekly caring and feeding.  Then you will be able to sell some in a few weeks.

Best of luck to you!  Hang in there!

Thanks to all well wishers... Thank you Dennis I am working on how to find existing trees locally and I have been checking craiglist to no avail... Any help is appreciated and I know the blessings are soon to come I have faith in that! Thanks for the encouragement though... God Bless!

Welcome.

I'd guess the cuttings biz is a tricky one. If there's a ready niche in the fig world, it would be supply of Negronne/Violette de Bordeaux 1 gallon rooted plants. This is a great variety that is respected by fig folks whose popularity is beginning to grow among a much larger crowd of general gardeners and "regular folks" who want something better than average.  Certainly there are many people who won't pay $75 for a piece of chopped up branch (Not everyone thinks like we do :P) But they will pay $30 for a decent looking potted plant that guarantees a fine fruit. Currently all the major nurseries are sold out of Negronne/VdB until 2015. If I were looking to concentrate efforts into a fig business, that would probably be my best bet. The more rare figs (cuttings) often carry with them some level of importance based on who is selling and where they come from. There's some skepticism at play when an unknown person enters that arena. Potted plants, however, is another story. It's certainly more labor intensive and costly to bring a potted plant to market, but I think a potted Negronne/VdB will be in demand for a good while and will probably endure as a favorite top-shelf- yet-affordable variety for decades to come. And since nurseries are selling out, you won't be stepping on toes...just supplementing the market.  Just my two cents.

Best of luck in all your endeavors.