Saving Money by Growing Vegetables

[Anonymous]

Do you actually save money by growing vegetables? After I buy the soil and the compost and the plants...I don't think it has nearly come close to being worth it. The harvest isn't that great. A few beans. a few tomatoes. The squash and zucchini keep getting whacked by the squash vine borers. Lettuce and other things bolt. A few cucumbers. Last year we got tons of flowers but only a handful of cukes (I blame lack of pollinators). But I read how growing your own vegetables saves money and I just don't see it at all. I have a 4x8 raised garden and a few large pots. Do you feel like you save money?

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

If you have a big enough garden and you're good at it, you could save a lot of money. My parents have a 20x20 garden and produce enough to can and eat through the winter and give to all their neighbors. But they're retired, and gardening is one of their main hobbies.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

You will never save money growing your own vegetables in this area of the country. We just don't have a very long growing season and the weather is really inconsistent. Also, your garden really isn't very big. The advantages of growing your own vegetables is having very fresh produce and the joy of gardening. If it doesn't make you happy, do something else.

[Anonymous]

There is a great book called The $64 Tomato. Both my husband and I grew up in households where the garden DID offset the grocery bill, but in each case it was a large garden that grew lots of food, and our families did not buy additional vegetables during the growing season. My husband's family was rural, dirt poor, and also froze and canned vegetables for the winter. You didn't buy top soil, you made compost. We now garden for fun, and because the food tastes good. I go to the garden center and blow any "savings" on a new plant.

[Anonymous]

No, but I like it.

[Anonymous]

Nope! I spent $800 on my garden last year, lol. Definitely don’t do it in order to save.

[Anonymous]

If you grow your own starts from seed and have a compost bin or pile, you can save some money. You might also reach out to your local agricultural extension service for advice on pests and pollinators. Which is to say that there are ways to save money, but they require time and work which may not fit into your schedule or interests.

[Anonymous]

In CA we had a mature avocado tree, citrus trees, and a several raised garden beds. We saved money on the avocados and citrus but we weren't the ones that planted and started the trees. I certainly saved money growing basil and cilantro but it didn't bolt fast in our climate. We probably saved some on tomatoes because they had a longer growing cycle there.

OP try growing herbs inside first and then maybe get a one patio style tomato planter.

[Anonymous]

Herbs and three or four tomato plants is the biggest bang for your buck.

[Anonymous]

Herbs and spices are so over priced at the grocery store that you can grow them (very easily) for next to nothing - rosemary, basil, oregano, chives, etc. (just avoid mint!). You'll definitely get the most bang for your buck and with very little effort.

Veggies and fruits are harder to grow - deer, rabbit, and squirrels have destroyed our garden. Some fruits require pollinators, some need at least 3 growing seasons to estabalish (blueberries, fruit trees), and the seasons aren't quite right here - If I remember correctly, the last frost last year was super late which made for a late start to growing season.

You can get your soil tested. It's $5 and will come back with a report of what you need to do for it to be ideal pH, nutrients, and the like.

[Anonymous]

OMg! Save money?

What a DC question.

My neighbors save money because I can't eat all of it.

[Anonymous]

We grow our own herbs, because they are cheap to grow and the deer don't eat them. There are so many deer here, you have to be really dedicated to making your garden deer proof to be able to harvest anything.

[Anonymous]

I have seen reports of studies that confirm growing your own is not a money saver for most people. Although my grandparents had a huge garden into their 80s, and it was how grandma made "pin money" (selling raspberries and sweet corn to people with cabins on a nearly lake) and fed her family through the depression. Production was large scale for them.

My approach is to grow stuff that is either overpriced in my estimation in stores (e.g. beets and zucchini), tastes better homegrown (carrots), and/or produces a lot that I can preserve (tomatoes, mostly, I can those). Silly in my book to grown onions or potatoes or cabbage, those are cheap to buy.