NO! it will never be economical to grow your own veggies! But, you control the environment and what you grow. You dont worry about pesticides and ecoli and other countries practices. You also get the best and most family friendly hobby. it is so much more rewarding other than financially. AND if your like me, when you get your bumper crop you share with others and pass the blessings along! Gardening is for lovers not capitalists or economists!(Feel the passion?) I want to get to the point when I have so much I can have a roadside stand to help recover some of the costs but I am not there yet.

organicislandfarmer... it can be very economical. It all depends on what you grow and what you invest into it. I grew pablano peppers last year for example. I spent far less on the plants than what I would have to buy the peppers I got. I also spent nothing else on them in terms of fertilizer and such. The same goes for the 3 tomato plants I grew last year that flooded me with tomatos. Growing onions will likely not pay for itself, especially if you spend other money on the garden (fertilizer, weed barrier, etc.) However there are still those other reasons to go along.

I guess I was factoring in my cost this year in containers soil amendments, plants about $500.00 all total. I moved from last year when I planted in ground. Any who, next year because I will reuse much and also be able to start much more from seed it will cost less. However, farms that can plant much more will yeild more obviously which reduces overall cost after sales are factored in, I cant plant as much so the cost isnt spread out. There is a breaking even point as I mentioned when you have enough yeild to sell if you wish. Im not there yet, also if you factor in the cost of your time (mine is $20 hr) it is way cheaper just to buy your veggies. I grow cause I love to watch the process and eat the results, I hope to be self sustaining one day but I need way more space!

Space is really a key to breaking even. Someone with just a small amount of land trying to do intensive gardening is going to have to purchase inputs like compost and fertilizer. With more space, you can spread out your plants, make your own compost and so forth. Or just do intensive gardening but generate your own inputs.

But like mystic wanderer said, what you are planting is also a factor in the cost/benefit ratio. High dollar veggies like tomatoes and fresh herbs pay for themselves... dried beans almost certainly won't.

Sorry but I have to agree that it can be VERY economical to grow your own. Especially so if you limit your initial investment in fancy containers and equipment. Learn to recycle and to compost - both are free.

More importantly, if you are an active food preserver - either canning, freezing, or drying - the savings can be enormous.

But yes, economical gardening takes space. Container gardening really can't be as productive.

Dave

WIth common vegetables priced at right around $3.00 per pound, gardening is starting to be economical.

A large tomato, at today's prices can easily cost $5.00, A well grown tomato plant can really produce several of those and they are better tasting to boot.

I am thrifty about gardening expenses. I don't use methods such as raised beds and purchased soil. I garden in plain dirt, using little more than a few wood stakes, some twine and a small amount of fertilizer. I make my own compost and harvest seaweed from the beach. Both are free and are excellent for soil amendment and mulch. I save seeds, trade seeds and buy only a small amount of seed each year.

I don't know the bottom line. It depends on what you grow and how you do it. I do think gardening can have some economic benefits even if not a money maker. I don't charge myself for time spent gardening. I think of it as cheap entertainment.

Jim

I am keeping track of my expenses as well as the grocery store value of what I harvest, so far a handfull of strawberries. I just found out that my lease will be extended to another year so I will definately be branching out into the back yard for my fall garden, still in containers. Any tricks to increasing size and volume would be appreciated and i will post again to show my findings. Just something else to occupy my time in between work.

I plant mainly some of those expensive vegetables like green and cubanelle peppers plus alot of tomatoes. By storing them I generally have some available well into the year. Herbs I dry and still have basil left from last year.

I would bet that this year I have not spent more than $10 on my garden. I used alot of the seeds I'd kept over from last year.

I take that statement back. I did buy $10 worth of seed potatoes for a new bed I set up to see if I can grow potatoes here..so $20.

I was just in shock seeing how much produce has jumped in price lately. And I was in Walmart, not a small specialty shop.

There's actually no yellow onion in my yard because it's the least expensive of my daily veggie if we talk retail. Most of the veggies I eat are at around 2-5 bucks and more a pound. Because I mostly grow what I like fresh, what's cost effective and productive, it's very economical for me. Not to mention it is also healthier food and good workout.

I can not imagine driving to the store everyday and buy a pound of herbs, a pound of just picked young greens, pounds of vine-riped heirloom and cherry tomato, just picked pepper, snow peas, beans, etc. Not to mention veggies hard to find fresh in local stores. The annual cost would easily add up to two thousands dollars. For my yard, that easily outweighs the cost of labor, soil amendments, water, etc.

However, this is based on the assumption that I allot ample of free time for this hobby. If one's time is too precious, paying two thousands dollars to spend time on other things (or people) can actually be much more economical.

Don't forget the cost of a gym membership--you don't need that if you are gardening (and especially not if you are eating your produce!)...wow my body is still aching from this weekend's yard cleanup!

Do you like salsa? jam? put some up. You'd be shocked how much you can save by canning...and it's fun. :)

bluebirdie

Good points and I agree.

But for us retired folks, and there are lots here, gardening is entertaining, healthy, and economical for being entertaining and healthy, as well as having to pay less at the market when you go shopping! Because I freeze my produce, there are literally months when I don't buy any fresh or frozen vegetables at all, except for perhaps salad-stuff. Once you have all the gadgets and long-term supplies (trowels, hoes, hoses, etc.) you need, the yearly costs are truly negligible, particularly if you save or trade seeds.

Unless you have a lot of land you're probably never going to see huge savings on things like potatoes, onions, garlic, or corn.

You may be able to grow better tasting varieties that the "grow-to-ship" crowd doesn't market, though.

Beyond that, I get a lot of value vs. inputs in tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and winter salad greens...for a start.

I don't think you can put a price on the health benefits and personal satisfaction one gets from growing a garden full of fresh produce to eat and to share.

Whether gardening is economical or not depends on what you do, what you grow and how you feel about gardening in general.

For me, I will not save any money this year by growing my own veggies. (probably not next year either...or the year after) I did not go the inexpensive route in terms of putting together my garden. It cost a bundle to build and fill my raised beds this spring. However, in the long run, I will save by having permanent beds which will last many years and growing from seed rather than buying transplants.

Also I'll be growing mostly the herbs and veggies that would be expensive at the grocery stores in my area. I grow enough basil to make many, many batches of pesto. If I was put a price tag on one year's stockpile of pesto (which we use throughout the winter) it would amount to well over $100 and tastes far better than that jarred stuff in the grocery store.

It would be an interesting experiment to price one's harvest for the year against a local grocery store.

All that aside, the joy gardening brings me is priceless.

If I'm not gardening, I buy fresh veggies relatively rarely. Onions, lettuce, potatoes, garlic... I do buy other vegetable products like jars of pasta sauce, salsa, chili powder, ect - but those are relatively cheap compared to $5/lb. If I were to go out and try to buy all the produce I produce, it would cost a pretty penny, but most of the stuff I grow are things that I would not have purchased otherwise. This makes the cost savings of gardening much less than the market price of what you have grown.

So gardening allows me to eat lots of things I would not otherwise buy (I've never bought a radish in my life), which certainly improves my diet a fair amount while improving the quality of my home cuisine, but it does not save me much (if any) money that I would have spent in the absence of the garden.

Also water can be expensive, mine is $4 for 700 gallons - which is very high. Most of the summer I have water bills in excess of $100, though not all of that goes into the garden. Considering that farmers in the central valley can get 700 gallons for a couple cents, that part of the cost equation is skewed extremely in their favor.

Gardening saves money in hidden ways that are hard to quantify, as some people have alluded to, through things that affect physical and mental health like:

better diet (more fresh foods, less processed foods), eating a wider variety of crops than is available in the grocery store, fresher produce, fewer pesticide residues (depending on your techniques...), safer food handling (depending on your techniques!), exercise, fresh air, stress-relief, a feeling of connectedness with nature, sense of community & a connection between generations (as we re-discover old ways and seek to pass on what we've learned to the young). I'm sure there are many more, and all these impact on health and resilience in some way.

Sure, there are some inputs, but many spend far more on their gardens than they 'need' to just to produce the vegetables. But that's personal choice. It's a hobby, not a grind.

T

Concur; Vegetable growing is a relatively inexpensive and rewarding hobby if one enjoys it. As far as making wages, paying the land costs, not even counting such insignificant costs as seeds and water forget it. What most folks fail to take into account is that they are are comparing costs of out of season vegetables (which have to be shipped in for far away places to locally grown. Even tomatoes, when the local crop comes in get so cheap that most of us give them away. Not as hard as getting rid of surplus zukes or eggplants. Watermelons and Cantaloupes get unloaded on the food bank and local rescue missions. A market grower who beats the season glut or cultivates a specialty market can make a little money. but it is not a way to get rich.

Concur again, I like someone above have spent a lot on beds and soil/compost, tools, hopefully these expenses will depreciate over time, but as I never knitted in the hope of recouping cost's and it is a lot more expensive than buying a sweater, no one asked me how I was going to make it pay, I just took pleasure in the activity, as I do gardening, as like with knitting, my product is unique, I gain pleasure the doing of the activity and in giving away stuff or enjoying it myself.
Eating the best food I have had in years, if it was to be sold on taste and snobbery, it would be worth a mint, as it is it is a hobby, I spend less on it than my husband does on his hobbies and we all get benefit.
I think the proof in the pudding is in the eating, last year, a friend who had wanted a garden for years, (I didn't know this) got his wish this year, as in a last minute before I left to go over to his, picked some toms for him and his wife, she was so taken back by the taste, she agreed to allow him some containers (she likes neatness) he now has 2 raised beds and a small in ground garden, from little acorns...
and just so you know, these where bog standard varieties of toms not heirlooms or anything clever!
So I will enjoy my hobby and the food that ultimately is far and away better than anything I could buy in a supermarket.
I have said it before and I will say it again, i would rather spend an hour in the garden with my children gardening, whilst they run round screaming than 5 mins in a supermarket...with them running around and screaming :-)

well,last year i planted eggplants,tomatoes,and peppers. i thought the soil was rich enough and dident add any fertilizer and used a rain water tank for the watering needs.all the plants were from seed given to me started in a window. i got tons of produce from these plants and its totally cheaper that if i had bought them in a store. the funny thing is now that im hooked i bought alot of heirloom tom seeds and some fert. but last year im sure i saved money and had some produce to freeze.

I work at an organic grocery store training spec ed students to work in a grocery store. I can't afford to shop there!
This being said, I learn a lot about the veges from the produce guys, how to grow/cook/eat.
I spent $ on raised beds 9 years ago, then add a bed about every other year. I use home made compost and haven't had to add any other amendments. I get free horse manure each year from a neighbor. I have recently joined a seed bank and am working on starting from seed from now on.
I save $ on a gym each month-but have to heat the hot tub for a good soak in the evening.
I save $ on antidepressants-but have to spend $ on a bottle of wine to sit out in my lovely garden soaking in the last droplets of sunshine of the evening.
I probably save a lot of $ on medical costs when I panic at all the veges piling up on the counter and declare vege week! That would save $ on meat costs also!
Anyway, at what cost is peace of mind??????? NT

and then there is the hidden value of home grown food.

the normal food chain has 14,000 additives. i am yet to have anyone prove that even one of them is good for you. i know they say "better living through chemistry".

if you are careful about what you use to grow you own food you get no additives.

the commercial produce is sprayed, dipped and gassed. and it is often GMO'd and designed for shipping.

how important is your health.

what you grow your self at least you know what you did with it.

to me this if the greatest value of home gardens.

your not even sure if road side produce is additive free.

do you know it is illegal to ship a tomato ripe?

they use ethylene gas to ripen fruit. tomatoes produce this gas naturally but when it is applied to green tomatoes you get red green tomatoes. little flavor and very hard.

it goes much deeper that just good ripe home grown veggies. just add health to that and you get real value.

Dean

I really only grow vegetables that either taste much better from the garden (peas, tomatoes, cukes), or that I use a lot of (herbs, lettuce and greens, greenbeans) for the convenience of going out to get them, or that are porhibitively expensive in the store (raspberries). Of course there are exceptions. This year I'm trying potatoes. Not that I expect to get them for less from the garden than from the store, but because I've never grown them. Same with corn. I'm going to plant a small patch, just to see how they go. For fun. I do plant peppers every year. But that's a personal crusade to find a variety that will mature early enough in the cranky weather of New England.