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The main aim of the thesis is to contribute to an increased understanding of the development of the horticulture industry, especially the market gardens in Sweden during the period 1900-1950. Market gardens produced vegetables, flowers, berries, fruits, and annual bedding plants. It was a resource-intensive production on open-field, in hotbeds and greenhouses. Changes of the strategies and competitiveness in the market garden businesses are described and discussed, during a period when the number of companies and imports both increased considerable.

Four case studies of market gardens in Stockholm County form the foundation of the thesis. They represent the two most common types of market gardens at this time: sole trader market gardens (often family businesses) and manor gardens (run with the help of employees). Primary source materials consisted of accounting records, business and personal correspondence, diaries and photographs. The collection of such material constituted part of the thesis. Theories and concepts are taken from economics and entrepreneurship and have been used to visualize, clarify and discuss developments in the case studies. Some of the issues relating to the production and trading of the garden products are resources, strategies, competitiveness, range and flexibility. Some of the topics covered in greater depth is the gardener's knowledge and knowledge acquisition, cultivation techniques, the range of produce, the market gardens localization, trading and marketing of horticultural produce, social, political and economic changes in society that affect horticulture and its operators.

During the time period 1900-1950, the demand for garden products increased rapidly and both domestic production and imports of these products increased. During the two world wars imports were rationed, which favored the cultivation within the country. At the beginning of the century market gardens were often established in or nearby cities, where the necessary resources were available that contributed to their competitiveness compared to others who grew and sold garden produce. The hot beds demanded a great deal of fresh manure and other waste in the cities, which was a problem, and thus a resource that was easily accessible to the gardeners. Market gardens thus became part of the city´s cycle, using waste to create an important resource for the production of food. More efficient transport, new more robust varieties, better handling after harvesting, suitable packaging and reduced need for labor meant that the significance of place changed. For customers, the producer increasingly became anonymous. Many growers sold their produce to wholesalers, who subsequently sold it to grocery stores or local shops. Wholesalers were interested in uniform produce in a standardized range and demanded other qualities of the produce than customers whom gardeners met at markets did.

Gardeners at manor gardens enjoyed a high status at the beginning of the twentieth century. Just over fifty years later, most of the manor gardens had either been leased out or closed down. Times were also hard for many family-run businesses after the Second World War, but it would take another couple of decades before most of these closed down. Originally, a lot of production in manor gardens had been for resident families’ personal demand for utility and ornamental plants. Gardeners were also in charge of the cultivation of more pleasure-focused aspects of gardening that were an important part of the environment and functioned as a demarcation of status for the resident family. As the production of plants for sale increased, the demands on revenue increased. At the same time, some of the old demands lived on; for example, with respect to parkland and other cultural values that should be maintained, and families had specific requests about what should be grown. That meant that certain services and products were demanded regardless of whether these were profitable or not, and that made it more difficult to rationalise the crops to improve competitiveness.