Growing specialty crops is the perfect way to turn your gardening skills and knowledge into extra income.

Unlike commonly grown crops like grain and vegetables, specialty crops are not widely grown and bring higher prices for growers. It’s not unusual to find growers earning as much as $60,000 per acre with these unique cash crops.

All of the 10 specialty crops listed in this article are easy to grow and produce above average income from a small plot of land. Best of all, most of them can be grown without working full-time. If you can spare just a few hours a week, and a few hundred dollars for seeds or seedlings and supplies, you can grow any one of these profitable plants. Here are ten specialty crops worth growing:

1. Lavender. Lavender farming can produce above-average profits for small growers, as it is such a versatile crop. The fresh flowers are sold in bundles or used for lavender oil. The flowers are also easy to dry, for sales to florists and crafters to make wreaths and floral arrangements. Lavender is also used to make value-added products such as sachets, herbal pillows, aromatherapy products and skin care products like soap. That’s the charm of growing lavender…nothing is wasted.