I'm pretty sure that my garden pays off in cost of food savings alone, but I don't spend a ton of money on it. You could spend a fortune if you do everything some folks think you need. I use available material, mulch from my yard, leaves, make my own compost, etc. My two rain barrels provide plenty of water. Between my boxes, I just mow the grass and like how it looks. I grow most plants from seeds in a box covered with plastic. I sell a few of these plants to others too. I rotate and plan to get as many crops in a year as possible and we freeze or can a lot of the extra vegetables. I have to consider the time I spend out there and what I would be doing if I wasn't gardening and I'd probably be doing something that COST money more often so I guess I save some there too. Either that or watching TV and producing NOTHING. But hey, either you enjoy it (and that's worth a lot of money) or you don't. I work on the guideline that if I can find something I enjoy and ALSO puts food on the table (like hunting) then it's a good pay off in that respect too.

How large of a garden do your rain barrels support? I really like that idea.

My approach is similar to Alan8's - I use what I have or can get cheaply, and I work _with_ the limitations of my site and situation as much as I can. I re-use, recycle etc, and I'm not just talking about compost here!

Obviously there are limitations to what one can do, but for example I'm prepared to accept lower yields while I amend my soil, which has a lot of clay and was lawn up until June last year. Others might prefer a quick fix that costs more, it's just a matter of situation, taste and perspective.

Personally I think it's most time-effective to grow intensively on a smaller area than to try to handle an enormous plot single handed. But then I have to deal with severe water restrictions. I really don't fancy getting up at 6am on Sunday morning to water the back 40. Instensive gardening does require some effort with soil fertility, and vigilance to keep aware of any developing pest or disease problems. However, I consider strolling aroung the garden and observing the plants a leisure activity, so I'm not billing that time against the garden.

As far as what crops to grow to be cost-effective, anything where you can keep picking over a long period is a good candidate. So fruiting veg, and cut and come again greens like kale, chard, broccoli if you can keep the side shoots coming. Herbs are quite expensive to buy by the bunch, but are only cost effective to grow if you would actually use them in cooking anyway. Anything that doesn't keep/transport well is often more cost effective to grow than buy - I'd rather pick fresh greens or lettuce as needed than buy some and throw half of it away because we didn't use it fast enough (although it does wind up feeding the worms, so not a total waste!).

Good question.

The most cost effective thing I do for my garden has to be my chicken coop. Granted, it is a by-product, but my girls provide all the high OM fertilizer a gardener can ask for. And although I do keep a compost pile - no, I don't turn or fuss with it at all - my chickens compost all my food waste and most of my paper waste. (I use my shredded paper for nest box bedding and it doesn't last long once it is scratched into the droppings)

Using grass clipping for mulch ranks pretty high up there as well. Free is good.

I'm hoping that potatoes turn out to be a high value crop. I am trying them for the first time this year. Sounds like you don't feel that they are.

Kay

Generally, the more of your time you're willing to give your garden the less you'll pay for it.

There's a few costs that you can't avoid like the price of your water (water harvesting isn't a cheap alternative unless you have a small plot to attend).

You can put cages on 20 tomato plants at $50+ and spend 10 minutes doing it...or you can spend $5 on some stakes and twine spending 30 minutes weaving...or you can harvest some bamboo and spend $2 on twine...etc. etc.

Succession gardening is my biggest cost effective strategy. With the exception of asparagus, tomatoes and peppers, berries and the cherry tree, I only plant plants that can grow from seed to fruit in one growing season. That way, I can start most everything direct sown. As soon as one crop is ready another crop is sown. Only the cost of seeds, compost, and supplemental watering is factored in on these plants, some of which are quite expensive.

My biggest and most dependable winners are:

Sugar Snap Peas
Black-seeded Simpson Lettuce
Bloomsdale Longstanding Spinach
Annual herbs (Basil, Cilantro, Parsley etc.)
Swiss Chard

I save tons of money successively sowing these instead of planting transplants.

I save my time/energy/$$ by cold composting, not hot composting. I've got a long row of pine trees and I can stack the stuff under a tree and leave it for a year or more, no prob. I get my wood chips for free from the landfill for my paths, my son hauls it for me. I used to buy my tomato and pepper plants, but the cost and choices last year were terrible AND they offered the plants way too early. So, I spent about $5 and got a peat pellet window greenhouse and started my own plants...no problem. I saw a thread complaining about the netting of the peat pellets but I tore mine off. I'm REALLY cheap so I had started 2 or 3 seeds in each pellet, then took the netting off and separated the seedlings and put them into tall cell packs (saved and recycled from another year). Easy, no problem, good return on my time and $. My favorites from the garden:
asparagus, peppers, herbs, swiss chard, yellow straightneck squash, zucchini, muncher cucumbers, and greenbeans.

mulching with grass clippings and shredded leaves is an effective way to spend your time. It's good for your soil, good for your plants, saves time, saves water, and moderates temperature swings in the raised beds.

The most effective thing in my garden is my drip system on a timer. It's really going to come in handy this year because I am going to grow a giant pumpkin and those things can suck water. No fuss, no muss.

Here is a link that might be useful: Watch Me Grow A Giant Pumpkin

I'm not sure why you throw potatoes in there as not rewarding! In my area (zone 5 in Maine) potatoes are really easy to grow. I just dig trenches in early spring and hill twice. No weeding to speak of during the summer and you get potatoes to eat from summer straight through the winter. Seed potatoes can be kept from each year as well.

Another point you make is alien to me as well. You say you'd rather buy compost then make it. Well you have to work to make the money to buy the compost anyway. Assuming a) You love your job more than gardening, b)you can work as many hours as you want (and get paid for those hours), this makes sense.
I do love my job (most of the time :)) but I love gardening more. My employer certainly does not offer unlimited hours. I suppose I could get two jobs but why bother when I can put the energy into producing great food all summer long?

Jon

Starting things from seeds, making my own trellises, and saving seeds are some of the things that I do to help make gardening more cost effective.

This year with moving houses, a new baby on the way, and health issues with my father, time is infinitely more valuable than it was before. So my focus this year has been on saving time first, saving money second, and saving my sanity if possible. To that effect, I have adopted the approach of larger plant spacings to reduce the irrigation requirements and make weeding easier. I have the land available, so I have opted to make the land work for me, rather than me working for the land.

Cost vs. benefit is difficult to assess directly. First of all, you mention gardening is a HOBBY to you. Ok, what hobby is FREE? Heck, even going to the park to feed the birds costs money!

But, Ive tried to work out my costs vs. benefits: I have expanded my garden, but based on my outflows this year and my production most years, I feel confident that I am SAVING a lot of money with my garden. (First, my garden is in its 5 year, because thatÂs how long IÂve lived at my current house!)

This seasons costs:

Mail order: seeds, row covers, trellis and some fertilizer: $90. (Actually higher, but some of it was a gift for my dad. He taught me to garden, and I thought I would "give a little back".) I am also his nursery this year. HeÂs never been interested in starting everything from seed, but my science background (and thriftiness) got the best of me. Why pay someone else to do something I can do myself?!

Seed starting materials: $40 (includes fluorescent shop light, and bulbs, seed starting mix and potting up mix.)

Watering: I use my old hose (free), but my bill goes up about $20/month during gardening season (April-Sept.) so thatÂs an extra $120.

I might spend a few more dollars for some soil amendments to fully prepare my tomato and corn beds. (rough over-estimate $50)

Grand total: $300.00

Other garden additions:

Recycled wood pallets and storm windows were made into cold frame, trellis for my squash (they are going UP this year, to free up some space!) and more raised beds (which I filled with compost that I made myself from the sod removed from other beds over the last 2 years.) Cost: Free!

Benefits: fresh produce and preserved food for late fall/winter  prices from foodcoop.com

Tomatoes (non-certified organic) ~ 300 lbs per season = $450
By the way, no store around me sells the types of tomato that I grow, so I donÂt even know WHERE I would get them. But a similar quantity of tomatoes that are actually organic would cost about $450. (some are eaten fresh, some canned, and some go into salsa.)

Jalepeno peppers (for salsa and poppers) ~ 3 gallons salsa and ~ 6 boxes of poppers = $100. (Acme Market pricing)

Carrots ~ 20 lbs = $20
Beets ~ 20 lbs. = $25
Rutabaga ~ 10 lbs. = ???
Lettuces ~ 50 heads = $100
Spinach ~ 10 lbs = $20
Zucchini ~ too many to count! = No clue, but how do stores actually sell any with how many people give away?!
Butternut Squash ~ 10 squash = $15
Cucumbers ~ 20 lbs. = $40
Beans ~ 25 lbs = $62
Peas ~ 20 lbs = $45
Herbs ~ 50 "bunches" = $50

Total "savings" is over $900!!!

Take into account the fact that I get exercise and enjoy my time, I donÂt know how it doesnÂt pay for itself. Even if you donÂt do it to the scale that I do, IÂm sure that it can pay for itself EVENTUALLYÂinitial costs can be high, but long-term pay-off is worth it. Besides, remember, initial costs of most hobbies are high. I play softball too, I had to buy a glove and bat, and even some balls from time to time. That set me back as much as my garden, and didnÂt given anything back to me.

Growing more of one veg and than rotate growing every other year. This will cut down on production,planting and preserving time. Plant more crops which do not need to be replanted such as berries, asparagus, and eggplant. My raised beds are a real time saver. They don't need to be tilled and produce few weeds. And I've added more compost bins which means I don't have to work as hard on them.

hatchjon,

you wrote: "I'm not sure why you throw potatoes in there as not rewarding!"

Granted, what I grow tastes better than Kroger bought, but the value of harvest per sq ft of garden space is rather low. Still, I've got a 30'x3' bed of reds and russets planted anyhow. I just believe that bed isn't going to pay off as well as the peppers, or even lettuce. I'd have to say the same about onions too, but garlic is high-value. Some of the onions I plant justify their existence more by their companion value.

you wrote: "Another point you make is alien to me as well. You say you'd rather buy compost then make it."

First of all, that only applies to dump truck loads. Bagged is so pricey that the economics don't work - even 50% off broken bags. I do hot compost, I'm just saying that the many hours I spend collecting the ingredients, then building the piles, monitoring their temp, turning them when they cool, and adding more water and greens as needed several times ends up with a very low $/hr return. The time/day that is nice, light, and I have energy is worth more than $2/hr to me.

I'd cold compost if it would kill disease and weed seeds. I hate to think of the time I'd spend weeding if I put every seed from my lawn clippings into my veg garden.

The organic "zoo brew" I bought this year is wonderful stuff, and has the added benefit that it contains "predator urine" (lions and tigers and bears - literally) and is reputed to discourage rabbit and such. It will be hard to gauge it's effect though, as I also have 4 White Shepherds (www.steelshepherd.com) and an electric fence.

I have an isolated hot compost bin. It was expensive to buy, but saves a lot in the form of time and effort. I take out the food scraps every second or third day or so, mix it in with a fork, and put the lid back on. It takes me maybe 3 minutes, 2-3 times a week, and the compost is ready in 3-4 months.

I don't 'collect the ingredients' - I push the scraps after meals into the indoor bin as part of the daily indoor after-meal clean up. Monitoring temperature is just sticking my hand into it when I'm out there filling it. If it seems too cool, I mix in a bit of sanitary bark from a store bought bag that stands right next to the bin.

Certainly, this will not be enough if you have a very big garden - then you will need to work on adding grass and other greens with the right amount of moisture, etc. But for 3 4x4 square foot raised beds, this seems to be able to keep me in varied, nutrient rich and excellent compost.

I am not as young as I used to be so gardening has come down to growing the must haves: tomatoes, peppers, radishes,lettuce,beets, eggplants, cucumbers, squash, etc. Due to size limits and health issues I let the local growers tend to my corn, carrots, cauliflower, cabbage and others. We have to make a choice as to how much we eat and what space we are willing to give a certain crop. I don't think gardening is totally free, a lot of your supplies are reusable. The real joy comes in growing what you eat, the kinds you want and working in the garden. In other words it's money I don't mind spending every year. If I need to replace tomato cages or get fertilizer or seed pots, that's just a normal expense of gardening. Gardens are not required to have a certain plant so you grow what you want, it depends on what you wil eat or use. It's all good. Jackie

I'm expanding significantly this year - taking over a large area of lawn and building raised beds on it (have a slope to deal with and don't want to dig out the lawn and those crazy New England rocks we have a bazillion of!!), I'm planting blueberry and blackberry bushes and a dwarf apple tree as well.

So I have a lot to learn and figure out myself, but I have been growing tomatoes, zucchini and my herbs - chives, oregano, lemon thyme, parsley & basil, as well as some leaf lettuce for my daughter's pet rabbit (I know - I'm purposely growing lettuce for a rabbit!!) so I do have some experience with vegetable gardening. And I also have a huge perennial border as well!

Anyway - with what I pay for "spring greens" lettuce, and as others have already said, what I end up throwing away because if you blink twice it's gone bad, just for the lettuce alone, whatever I spend gardening is worth it!!

Add in the security of knowing what's on and in the food I'm eating - I'm getting really upset about pesticides/genetically altered food, etc. - it's worth it. While I'm definitely doing it - especially this year - to save money as well, even if I didn't save anything, I still think it's worth it to garden if you're able to. But I really do hope I save some money!! My grocery bill is getting a little ridiculous!!

Throw in the "hippie" connecting to Mother Earth and all that and how satisfying to the soul I find gardening to be, and they're more great reasons!

Lisa

In my climate it rains and stays moist all winter, and is mild enough that most cool weather crops grow right through ok. Because of that I plant an extensive winter garden and don't have to worry about watering it or paying for water. Fava beans and peas can be planted anywhere in the yard. Also deer, which are psychotically hungry in late summer, have enough to eat up in the hills that they avoid our yards until the hills are brown again. The summer garden is restricted in size (inside the deer fence) and water, so I have to be a lot more careful in summer.

Everyone's climate is different though.

I actually did the math yesterday after reading Eaglesgarden's post. The crop that *by far* saves me the most money is one that I rarely water except in high summer, almost never fertilise and basically thrives on my neglect - fresh herbs! A conservative estimate shows that over the course of a year growing my own herbs saves me over AUD$350. If I still lived in the USA it would probably be even more because here I have access to a produce market, where the bunches are at least big enough for several meals.

I bought a plastic shelf unit for $60, 10 high efficiency shop lights for $18 each, plus $40 for bulbs so that I can start 10 flats of seeds at once. 12 if you count the unlit top shelf for germination. Add 2 hot mats and about 20 reusable flats (32 cell "rootmaker") that I don't remember what I paid for and I'm probably @ almost $350 just to start seeds in winter.

But if you figure 12 x 32 = 384, and assuming I can steal plants for 50 cents, I'm ahead after 2 "crops."

I have plenty of land but only one gardener- me. So I grow things that are expensive at the grocery store like little packages of fresh herbs and asparagus. I know tomatoes are sacrosanct amongst gardeners but in July they are cheap at the produce stand. I still grow them, but usually grape tomatoes which are pricey.

Hi, I don't post here often, but if you all haven't noticed the price of vggies are going up making our gardening have more value all the time.
i spend about $60 a year on seeds, and then a little for the light bill to grow starts.
My rabbits provide all the fertilizer I need. Quite often our dinner consits of rabbit meat and veggies from the garden. That doesn't make it free by any means. But after I have sold a few rabbits it does come out cheaper.
And the rabbits eat the garden scraps making more fertilizer. Which doesn't need composted to be used.
Last year I sold my extra plants, but didn't this year. Up here it takes from January to June to grow a pepper plant old enough to produce. Alot of work to sell some thing for $1.

Interesting thread and is making me think. I do many things for actual $$ economy, and many other things for economy of my precious time and energy, despite their $$ costs...

For example, I am almost done with a fairly extensive project of laying landscaping fabric, pavers and lava rock between all of my raised beds. The lava rock came from a garden bed we ripped out of the front yard after we bought the house, so that was just labor to clean and move the rock. However, I've probably spend almost $250 on landscaping fabric and pavers. I'm happy with the investment though, because it will mean less weeding, and I'll have a nice solid surface for my container plants, moving wheelbarrows around on and so forth. I've also invested probably close to $100 on a drip irrigation system with a timer to free me up from watering chores. Again, totally worth it since it reduces total labor, and lets me concentrate on planting, pruning, harvesting and other tasks.

As far as actually dollar-wise cost effectiveness, I don't think my current garden is quite there yet. I've indulged in the luxury of wooden raised beds set up for hoop houses, the irrigation system, a commercial compost bin and good, permanent fence because I enjoy the utility and aesthetics of it. However, I am starting almost everything from seed this year. I bought starting mix and styrofoam cups at Big Lots! for $1 per package, and am fertilizing the starts with rose food I bought on clearance last fall. For compost, I went out and shoveled my own from a goat farm that was advertising it for free on Craigslist. My seed potatoes are just some store-bought taters that decided to start sprouting like mad. However, now that the big initial investment is made, I expect to spend well under $100 total each year, and harvest a few hundred worth of delicious veggies, so it will pencil out soon enough.

The garden in my old house was built more thriftily, due to lack of funds. Most of my raised beds were bordered by thicker tree branches I cut down off of my property, the fence was cheap t-posts with a roll of wire mesh, which just unhooked at one end to form a gate. I had a couple drip hoses but no irrigation system, and the paths were just bare dirt. Basically it was bare bones but productive, and I harvested plenty of veggies out of it, but invested more time and energy for that pay out.

Here are the most cost effective methods to use for gardening:
* Allow your plants to take in CO2 from the air. Don't add compressed CO2 like some greenhouse operations, as that will add to costs
* Allow your plants access to natural sunlight. Much better and cheaper than providing artificial lighting
* Compost. I ignored your non-sense on the subject. There is nothing more cost effective, easier and fool proof than turning yard and kitchen waste into a prime soil conditioner. Give up on gardening if you can't see the cost benefit ratio of piling up organic matter, letting it rot and then spreading it around. If your plants had any say in the matter, they'd tell you to stop being such a nit-wit and give them more compost. :)

1) don't buy anything you don't need. seeds included.
2) don't grow what you won't use. grow what will last through the winter.
3)don't grow what other local people do better and cheaper
4)design the garden around the tools that you have, don't buy tools to make the garden
5)do't count labor as a cost unless you're growing for money, accunt for it as a health-related expense - diet and exercise

mrclint -

Before you insult people and belittle their posts, you'd best read them first.

I buy compost once a year because I don't have the space or the time to spend making it. I could cold compost but there's no way I'd make enough and it would take two years to finish.

Once a year, I spend 125 dollars. What's wrong with that? My plants don't seem to think I'm a "nit-wit". As my kitchen scraps go, they're dug whole in a shallow pit on the corner of each bed to attract worms. The scraps are gone within about 10 to 14 days.

We're all nit-wits for having a hobby where we muck around in poop and dirt. It is kind of funny that we buy poop and rotted waste when you think about it. :)

As for cost effective gardening methods, you would have to blow a lot of cash on gold handled tools, bottled water, and imported micro-nutrients to match more costly hobbies such as golf, flying, and travel. You can go overboard with gardening and still have something tangible to show for it. Plants often times prosper in spite of our best efforts.

I'm not a "seasoned" veggie gardner having only grown tomatoes and zucchini and a few herbs for the most part, but in years past I did plant string beans, carrots, and peas. Again - I had a tiny plot of land so was limited to the amounts I planted and didn't get into succession planting or any of that, so I'm just talking from my limited experience. So I agree with the people who've said some crops aren't worth growing - to each his own, of course!

Anyway, even after buying a short, blunt variety of carrot, and double digging the area I planted them in to ensure no rocks and nice deep loose soil for them to grow, I got little nubs for carrots and the entire crop wasn't worth the time or effort. I noticed no difference in the taste from store bought whatsoever, so my carrot days are over! Other than abundant harvests, taste is one of the main reasons I'm growing veggies (along with avoiding pesticides as much as I can) so if it's a lot of work and tastes the same as the store, I'm not bothering any longer.

I got what amounted to a bag of frozen peas from my entire crop of peas, however, I would plant them again, but I'll make sure I plant a LOT more!

The string beans were fabulous and I've wanted to plant them again ever since, but didn't have the room. They tasted great and I couldn't believe how much I got from just a few plants. I'm definitely planting them this year!! I planted what I think are Roma - the flat, Italian string beans that are a bush variety. This year I got another Italian one from Franchi Seeds and since the package is in Italian, didn't realize it's a pole variety, not bush. I'm hoping I'm as successful with these as I was with the bush variety and decided instead of planting canteloupe, which I'm told won't give me much of a crop, in a raised bed/trellis hubby just built me, I'm going to put the Franchi pole beans in instead and I have the trellis all set to go for them!

I pretty much don't eat a tomato all year until my garden ones come in, so to me personally, tomatoes are the kings and queens of my garden. The difference in a home grown tomato is astounding to me. And I'm hoping to save a fortune on "spring greens" as well!

I'll have to buy some soil amendments this year since I'm starting a brand new garden, and I will also have to build a small wall out of those modular stones they sell at all the home centers, but I probably would have done some kind of low wall there anyway because we have to re-do a walkway that borders the new garden, so that's an expense I would have had anyway. I already have lights that I use all winter for my orchids and I reuse the same seed trays and my SIL owns a seed company, so my seeds are free! I also have a south facing 3-season porch I can grow seedlings on. So my expenses are pretty low.

Lisa

I don't grow anything that is cheap at the store-potatoes, garlic, onions, carrots, radishes.

Spring mix/mesclun is the most cost effective thing I grow. I grow it in an old windowbox that I can move into the shade when it is too hot. 5 dollars worth of potting soil and 2 dollars in seed and I have it for months, compared to $4+ a bag at the store that goes bad so quickly I buy more before I eat it all, usually 4 bags a week.

I've gardened in various ways depending on where I'm living, and it is possible to get a good payoff without spending a ton of money. I've never had the ideal space, the ideal soil, the ideal watering setup, etc. You just get what you can afford, and find creative ways to make up the rest. Yea there are lots of ways to take it to the next level, but there are ways to enjoy it on the cheap and save money.

My personal philosphy is to keep it small and keep it simple.

Ahhh... Every forum has to have at least one mrclint. I think one of the weaknesses of our modern culture is we have less tolerance for eccentrics like him. I find he and others like him highly entertaining, even if his arguements are weak and I'm the one being insulting.

Go ahead clint - fire away at me any time you want. I love it. Please give the others your best behavior though, DEAL?

As for cold composting... yes, it is easy and highly beneficial.

I think I'm going to buy a 55 gal barrel for $10 or so and roll it around the yard to see if that makes hot-composting more efficient.

As for artificial lights and CO2 injection, until I get so desperate for $$$ that I start a basement crop of dope, I doubt I'd consider such techniques.

As for leaving onions out of the mix because they are cheap at the store, I suggest you reconsider. They are a great companion plant for cabbage, beets, strawberries, lettuce and tomatoes and should be included for that reason alone, even if you don't eat onions. If you like sweet onions like Vidalia, Walla Walla, or Candy Apple Red, you may find it very cost effective to grow them as they don't store as long as other varieties.

Sugar Snap peas are one of my favorite things to grow! If there's anything that never goes to waste, it's those sweet crunchy pea pods!! Yum!!

I'd like to get some free goat poop too! I'm still working on a pile of free horse manure, but it has so much sawdust in it that I compost most of it before putting it in the garden. I use it like a mulch under my roses and add extra nitrogen.

RE: Onions

When I had a lot of space (community garden plot) I did have onions worked in because I had read that it repels some pests. Unfortunately I am really pushing my spacing as is, I only have around 150 sq ft, and my yard is on a steep slope and I really don't have the resources to build another bed into it (what is there now the previous owners built, bless them for it).

Honestly, it forces me to focus, and in that space I can grow enough to make a large dent in what I spend on produce. It is a lot cheaper to amend 150 sq ft than the 1000 I had before. The worst money waster I think is growing too much (unless of course you run a stall or the like). If we are speaking pure efficiency only grow what you can eat and only work enough room for what you grow.

Looking for free/cheap things and repurposing trash can go a long way. I found a bunch of old bathtubs at the dump once and arranged them as herb planters. Milk gallons become cloches, torn pantyhose ties, and I hit up Starbucks for used coffee grounds (just found out you can do that). I am buying straw from a farm instead of the nursery, for half the price. Seems so obvious, but when I had more money I never really thought twice about it.

If I factor in all my time (tilling, sowing, weeding, starting seeds, harvesting, preserving), and costs of materials (seed, ferts, gas, tools) I probably lose a few hundred dollars a year raising a garden, unless I don't count the time. But I have tomatoes, beans, carrots, peppers and potatoes that all I need to do is go to the basement to get. Plus lettuce, onions, cucumbers and other produce I eat six-nine months from my garden.

But the benefit that cannot be measured in dollars and cents is the exercise I get and the pure joy of harvesting the fruits of the seeds I have sown.

Geez, if everyone looked at things from a financial standpoint alone (not saying the OP is), who would have a child?

Mike

I'm not looking at this only from a financial standpoint. I decided to do this years ago and I'm trying to gradually improve the efficiency of both my time and money each year.

This year I'm adding strawberries, with full knowledge that I can buy them for less than the value of my time to grow them. I grow grapes, blueberries, raspberries, apples, pears, service berries, cherries, gooseberries, and now strawberries because I enjoy the idea of having an edible landscape.

Raspberries are very efficient, as are apples. the verdict is out on blueberries for me. I haven't gotten the soil right yet to have healthy, productive bushes.

I turned last fall's compost piles today. Ugh, what a HUGE job. They were completely dried out and I clearly did not have enough green in either of them. I added about 20 large bags of Starbucks coffee grounds and lots of water as I turned them. It's stunning how much water a hot compost pile consumes!

In 2-3 days they should both be approaching 150 F, IF I got the mix right. I think I do it in part for the challenge.

I think I get the most joy from just participating in the whole miraculous process - observing creation in action. It's just amazing to observe how my actions can set some of God's creatures to work ferociously to rapidly transform a bunch of recognizable stuff into a rich mix of unrecognizable fertile compost.

Good post.

For me, I don't bother with corn or carrots. Corn takes up too much room and I can buy it cheap in abundance to freeze when it is in season. Same with carrots, freeze them every year but buy a big ole bag of perfectly straight cleaned carrots from the farmers market very cheap for freezing.
Squash always gets a big area in my garden because (well we love it) and it keeps really well for me. We usually have the last of it for Easter dinner and if there's a lot left in the spring, I can freeze it then too.
We have a lot of space, so cold composting works pretty well for us. I don't bother with turning it all that much and it does take forever to break down. But we have a garden tractor with a loader on it so it is easy to "turn" once in a while and scoop onto the garden when it is ready.
The garden tractor, complete with tiller, was a pricey investment. But I think it has definitely paid for itself over the years in back breaking savings and time. I don't think I'd garden much without it.
Also invested in drip irrigation and timers a few years back. wonderful. absolutely love it.
I do try to recycle as much as possible and reuse and all that. But I'm also not afraid to spend some extra cash if I can envision long term time savings from it.

We do things the old fashioned way. We have a garden tractor but instead of buying new equipment, we make our own. We raise lots of Black eye Peas. We plant a new patch every two weeks, and rotate patches. Peas are an excellent source of nitrogen, so we fertilize very little if any. All vegetables are planted at different dates. This allows us to have vegetables ready for the Market all through the Summer instead of one harvest. We use soaker hoses to water, but we have them buried below the root zone. We also grow our tomatoes upside down using Wal-mart black shopping bags as pots.

How do you water upside down tomatoes with a buried soaker hose? ;))

Sometimes I also like to do things the old fashioned way. Sometimes I'll just walk outside, sans pants, as usual, and I'll just fertalize my garden with good old fashioned fecal matter. It's a great way to recycle and also makes my vegetables taste amazing! I'd highly suggest no pants gardening.... using poop!

That is cost effective, but you must have a very small garden to fertilize with your own fresh feces. It certainly MUST be very small if it does not attract the attention of your neighbors when you walk outside, sans pants.

I see gardening as A - relaxation/hobby and B - a way to save cash. Last year I had so many peppers and tomatoes my entire family(aunts, uncles, grand parents) got sick of them. This year since I know what to expect I am going to can more and grow more variety. Also DYI a lot of things and you will save tons of money. The homemade trellis is a great idea. Chicken wire and a wood/PVC pipe frame. TADA! Tomato cages are the same way.

From what I found... Herbs and Berries seem to be the most cost effective to grow. Herbs would be my top recommendation for growing to save money since they can be dried as well.

I'm doubling my Tomatoes this year and hope to try my hand at sun drying. Hopefully we'll can some salsa too. I'm not into canning as a rule, but I LOVE homemade salsa!!

I'm looking for something to do besides freezing to save sweet peppers too.

Hi,
I am a new gardener still learning my ways to successful harvest.
Herbs: A great cost effective crop.
I agree with most here that herbs like basil, parsley, sage, rosemary are cost effective.
Veggies:
Category 1: It really comes down to what one eats. Like for me with an asian background, I like a lot of Asian vegetables that are very very expensive even if I am able to find them in the market and so most of the time, I don't even buy them. Growing them at home(for eg: ridge gourd, bottle gourd, bitter gourd, some asian greens) gives me the opportunity to savor them all to my hearts content.

Category 2: What is most perishable: These varieties in the market tend to be more expensive as the cost of transporting and selling them in time leaves the seller and grower with lot of wasted harvest. I can think of berries, esp raspberries that come under this category. Okra, Thai eggplants, bottle gourd, greens(salad greens, spinach etc) are some vegetables that do not have a longer shelf life. So I find growing these very cost effective. So vegetables you would otherwise eat except for the cost at the supermarket are worth considering.

Category 3: Long term storage: I find the best price for tomatoes in summer to be 59 cents a pound and bell peppers some $3 for 5 or 6. Come october, these are no longer valid prices. The prices go up. So, if I can make my harvest last thru Jan, I am saving on these staples. Well, again, for these veggies and others mentioned in the other points, one should base their judgement of what to grow on the space vs cost based on space constraints. I do not know how cost effective it is to grow onions, but am trying them this year for the companion planting benefits it gives. Green onions, They store very well in the fridge for me and are reasonably costeffective, so I would be growing these.

I don't have a large yard, probably a few hundred sq ft. But with the vertical growth advantage some of the veggies present and the succession planting, I hope to last my growing season long to gain the most of what I put in.

It appears to me that some investment is needed, like good compost( I cannot make compost due to my association rules, I am thankful that they did not object my veggie gardening yet), mulch, irrigation system. But like with any project or hobby, we build slowly, starting small and growing as our resources permit and our energies permit. More conveniences, the more our time is spent on growing more and tending to everything that we grow. Like for eg, if I have irrigation system, every evening I can find time to plant more companion plants and reduce the pest problem to grow organic. I can find time to prune my tomatoes. I can find time to harvest the produce right on time, thereby increasing my harvest. Also, my occasional vacation plans do not need to suffer my plants. My mulch should help reduce some weeds. Getting a wheelbarrow helps get the mulch task and several lugging around tasks much easier.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I recently asked my community landscaper to give me the empty flats after he planted pansies. He was happy to deliver them which he would have thrown into garbage. So, this solved my problem of finding transplanting containers for my growing seedlings.
I am sure craigslist and few other sources are available for the resourceful hobbyists which should help save on some of the investment.

For bell peppers etc try roasting them on grill after smearing them with oil and take the skins off and you can store them either in glass jars or freeze them. When thawed they can be used in soups, sandwiches, spreads etc..