Saving Money by Growing Vegetables

[Anonymous]

Nope. Our soil has some lead issues so we don't grow in the ground. Between soil and containers and nets and everything else...nope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Our soil has some lead issues so we don't grow in the ground. Between soil and containers and nets and everything else...nope.

How did you find out about the lead issues, PP?

[Anonymous]

Nope, don't save any money, but what I grow tastes 100x better than anything from the store.

[Anonymous]

I had a great garden when I wasn’t working full time. Now I just grow herbs in containers. Mint, especially, needs to be in a container or it will take over!

[Anonymous]

My wife blows a couple hundred bucks a year growing vegetables that we could buy for $50 at WHOLE FOODS. She enjoys doing it.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Who BUYS compost? You create compost. We still buy a lot of produce though.

[Anonymous]

This only works if you have a big garden and you preserve a lot of what you grow for year-round consumption.

[Anonymous]

It IS possible to save money by growing your own vegetables, but you have to be smart about it. It's time consuming more than anything. You need to start your own plants from seed, not buy seedlings. You can make your own compost. I add just a tiny sprinkle of granular fertilizer (~15 bucks for a giant tub that lasts me several years) twice a season (at planting in ground, and mid-way through). I don't usually use any pesticide, but if things are looking really bad, I use a small amount of Sevin dust (don't remember what this costs- have had a small canister of this for over a decade) on just the affected plants.

The biggest benefit of growing your own is the flavor -- you just can't buy produce in a supermarket that tastes nearly as good. Farmer's markets are close, but at ~$3/lb for tomatoes, ~$6 for a pint of okra, ~$3/bunch for kale or collards, the economics of growing your own start to look good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My wife blows a couple hundred bucks a year growing vegetables that we could buy for $50 at WHOLE FOODS. She enjoys doing it.

+1 Some people buy handbags. Other people garden

[Anonymous]

I don't grow a lot of things but somethings are cheap and easy to grow in containers and you do not need lots of them.
Herbs, fenugreek greens, green beans, squash, gourds, microgreens, tomatoes and okra. My mom used to grow herbs in little tin cans on the window sill, and she always had a "table plant" of hot peppers. She would just pluck the pepper and eat it with some salt during her meals.

I grow a ton of dill, milkweed, black eyed susan, poppies and echinacea to attract butterflies.

[Anonymous]

I save some by growing blue berries, strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes. Cheaper than buying and I also avoid buying other food. Perhaps only a few hundred a year. But healthier too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not at all. We joked that each cherry tomato our garden produced cost 2$ each. We do it for our kids to have experience with things growing in nature, and because we like it.

+1. The soil in our yard is garbage and everything we have to buy to make it workable outpaces the cost of any actual produce in the end.

Silly people - compost your kitchen scraps, coffee grounds and tea bags and make good garden soil. I just toss it in the garden and bury it (when feasible) because I’m lazy and it works. If you want to be fancy compost it in a separate container area then add it to the soil during the spring season. Each year your soil will be better.

http://gardenclub.homedepot.com/how-to-compost-in-winter/?mi_u=12311842&mi_job_id=3307621&mi_zip_preferred=20817&sfalias=V1_HERO&cm_mmc=hd_email-_-A-_-20190301_20190301_GC_FW04_MAIN_3307621-_-V1_HERO&et_rid=12311842&mi_weather=snow

Plant petunias and marigold flowers around the edges of your garden to ward off white flies, mosquitos and tomato worms.

Grow a garden, keep the roundup away from your family. It tastes a lot better too.

[Anonymous]

Vegetables, no. But I think you can save money growing herbs, especially if you just set up a few containers. I find mint, basil, rosemary and chives especially useful to have. Recipes often call for a small amount so it's nice not to be wasteful and just use what you need.

[Anonymous]

I have definitely saved money. raised garden bed with good bulk soil was my main upfront cost. Less than $100. I start from seed with each organic pack costing 1 or 2 dollars. seeds can be used for at least 2 years. I grow parsley, basil, dill, cilantro for my herbs. I do spinach and lettuce for spring and tomatoes, squash, peppers, cucumbers for summer. seeds cost less than $10 for 2 years worth. I do not fertilize or add any chemicals. the seed starting takes the most effort but once everything is in the ground, it really is quite easy. every 2 years i add my own compost. I end up with a ton of delicious produce and herbs, all organic. well worth it to me. the raised bed is the ticket.

[Anonymous]

Check out this book for a humorous take on it; https://www.amazon.com/64-Tomato-Fortune-Endured-Existential/dp/1565125576/ref=nodl_