But my points did not completely convince all colleagues, some of them have doubts, as some failed in first attempts, one colleague calculated that growing own stuff costs 10-times morethan buying in walmart. They said its not worth the time and money for our professions (professors, scientists, IT techies). Someone in the group argued that choice of vegetable from supermarket is even better look and fresh, get them whenever he want, not want to deal with bugs and pests...

These are the same ones who will probably have their hand out begging when you share fresh produce from your garden with the co-workers who are more supportive of your gardening efforts.

Just tell them: "Oh, these vegetables are available for sale at Walmart."

Keith

______________________________________________________________________________
"The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies." -- Gertrude Jekyll

I would say that startup costs...yes, expensive. I had to completely convert my backyard from a typical "grass carpet" lawn into some sort of gardenesque-landscaped stress-free zone. I am in year 4 of that but i will state that until this past weekend, i had not had to buy a single onion, sweet pepper, herb or potato from the store since last May sometime.

I also have plenty of leftover seed for this year and plan to start saving seed this time around.

My landscaping is basically done and now it is just replenishment of soil, etc. that i will have to do. I enjoy it too much to give in now...plus it has been some semblance of peace and sanity over the past year or so for me.

Just my 0.02.

First knowing what the veggies I eat have been treated with and how they are grown make the cost worth it too me. I also enjoy it.One of the first things I ask a person who takes that stand with me is what their water bill costs? What does it cost for you to mow the grass(have it mowed) or maintain your landscape? So far every person that knew the costs were spending more than I do taking care of my garden. So it boils down to what you want to spend your money on.I used to buy a lot of seed ect. I save a lot now and don't buy near as much. Yes things like the greenhouse costs more. But those that don't garden like to golf, ect and that costs just as much if not more. I would prefer a greenhouse to a golf cart. I trained horses and rodeoed for years. That isn't cheap either.

Dawn is the "Elite Gardener" on this forum. I imagine she will be along with a more detailed, accurate and informational response shortly. LOL. Jay

Jay, Now, you stop putting pressure on me right this minute! lol

Here's the bottom line as I see it. And those of you who know me well the way that Jay does already know I am very passionate about this topic and am about to write a book (in this post, that's not an announcement I'm writing a gardening book).

I love gardening. Period. Plain and simple. I do it because it is fun. I do it because it brings me joy. I do it because I am a gardener---it is who I am. I cannot imagine living without it. I don't do it for the money I might/might not save. I do it because the gardening lifestyle is one we have chosen to live and enjoy.

We spend a lot of money on our garden, but it gives us so much more in return. Not everyone gardens on the same scale that we do here at our house, but...using 2010 as as example....this is what our garden gave us in addition to all the fresh produce we could eat:

1) Two freezers simply full of frozen fruit and veggies. By the end of the growing season we had these in the freezer: freezer slaw, several different kinds and colors of carrots, sugar snap peas, green beans, okra, five kinds of jalapeno peppers, three kinds of onions, habanero peppers, broccoli, tomato sauce, dehydrated bite-sized tomatoes, okra, five or six kinds and colors of sweet peppers, peaches, plum pulp for future batches of Spiced Plum Butter, enough extracted/frozen plum juice to make approximately 120 jars of peach jelly, and 20 quarts of frozen peach slices. Overall, I considered it a so-so year because it was a rough year for some crops and I didn't freeze a lot of corn, southern peas or very many green beans. Still, the freezers were full and I haven't run out of any of those items yet, so I'm still not spending much on produce at the grocery store.

2) In the canning closet, we had shelves and shelves of canned food-about 575 jars from the summer/early fall. To that I added a few dozen more jars this winter. Most of he canned goods were from ingredients we grew here in our garden but a few things, like Blueberry-Lime jam were from purchased ingredients because we don't grow blueberries or limes. Included in the almost-600 jars were about 100 jars of salsa, about 50 jars of bread-and-butter jalapeno peppers, about 30 jars of pickles, and all kinds of jams, jellies and soft spreads, including Apricot-Habanero Gold Jelly, Peach Jelly, Spiced Peach Butter, Plum Jelly, Spiced Plum Butter, Blueberry-Lime Jam, Apple-Pie Jam, Jalapeno Jelly, Banana Jam, Cherry-Habanero Jelly, Cherry Jam, Chocolate-Cherry Sauce, Maraschino Cherries, Cherry Preserves, Strawberry Jam, Blackberry Jam, Bumbleberry Jam....and I could go on and on.

3) In the root cellar we had several kinds and colors of potatoes, a moderate amount of onions (I didn't have a very good onion year, but we STILL have usable onions in storage as well as in the freezer), garlic and oodles of sweet potatoes, some of which are heirlooms not available in any store anywhere as far as I know.

Best of all, guess what was missing from our food? I'll tell you what..... Our food contained no residue of synthetic chemicals. No residues of pesticides. No anti-caking agents. No added starches. No stabilizers to help it have a long shelf life. No bacteria from being grown/processed/shipped in less-than-perfectly-sanitary conditions. No food colorings. No artificial preservatives, although some of the jams and jellies were made with commercially-produced pectin. Unlike food at the grocery store, none of our food had High Fructose Corn Syrup added to it. No petroleum products were used to ship our food 1500 miles (the average distance food travels) from its point of origin to the grocery store. We did use human power to carry the food about 100' or so from our garden to our house. No migrant farm workers were exploited in the raising, harvesting or processing of our food. To me, all the above are important reasons to raise your own.

Above and beyond that, all of our food was organically raised. Sometimes, when people compare the cost of food at Wal-Mart to the cost of food they raise themselves, I think that if they are growing organically, they need to remember to compare the cost of organic produce and not conventional produce (if they can find organic produce at their WalMart) to the cost of raising their own.

Also, because we raise our own, we eat more of the good stuff. Would I buy 35 lbs. of organic sugar snap peas at Wal-Mart at $3.68/lb. No! I'd buy a few lbs. and eat them fresh during the season, but at prices like that I wouldn't fill up the freezer.

The food from our kitchen was never recalled by the grower, processor or retailer. It did not give anyone salmonella or E. coli. It didn't sit in the shipping and distribution channel for several days before it was purchased, thereby allowing a lot of the nutrients and flavor to degrade. With our homegrown food, if it is going to be processed, whether that is by canning, dehydrating, freezing, etc. I try to process it the same day it is picked, and usually I come straight inside with a basket of veggies or fruit and process the "excess" right away, while preparing the rest for that day's meals. You can't get food any fresher than that.

How about herbs? You can choose to spend $3 or $4 for a few sprigs of fresh basil or organo, mint or parsley, and if you're lucky it won't be so old that the flavor has deteriorated. Or, for the price of that $3 or $4 package of so-called fresh herbs, you can buy an herb plant or a packet of seeds to plant in your garden. That's your choice. I choose to have fresh or home-preserved herbs.

How about fresh, cut flowers? I love having bouquets of fresh flowers around the house, and I'd rather grow them myself than pay for a bouquet at the grocery store, florist or farmer's market.

Now, as for all the arguments....

Gardening can cost a lot. It can cost less than a lot. Every person has to decide for themselves if the expense involved is "worth it" to them. We all have different types of soil and some soils need copious amounts of amendment which can be quite costly. Some folks live in areas with very slow-draining soil, making raised beds essential. Building raised beds can be very costly. Water can be very expensive and also can be hard to obtain during drought when community water rationing is in effect. Some folks are perfectly happy to go to the Dollar Store or Dollar General and buy seeds that are 4 packs/$1.00 or 10 packs/$1.00 while others want only specific varieties that may cost much, much more. It is a choice and the varieties you choose certainly have a major impact on your expenses.

For me, it is not a bottom line comparison between the "cost of home grown produce" vs. the "cost of purchased produce". There are so many intangibles involved in gardening and those cannot be measured in dollars and cents.

We gardeners get to enjoy the sunshine, the fresh air, the birds and the butterflies, the bunnies and the bees and the dragonflies. We get to exercise, so we don't have to spend money on a gym membership, aerobics classes or yoga classes. We get to spend oodles of time outside communing with nature so we don't have to make a trip to the zoo or the nature center to see "wildlife" because we have wildlife outside with us every day. We don't have to visit botanical gardens because we are our own botanical garden.

We don't have to see mental health counselors because working outside in the garden in glorious weather allows us to work out our own problems in our minds. When I'm in the gardening, all my non-gardening problems simply evaporate.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'll tell you another way that gardening saves us money....because we are so busy all the time that we rarely spend money eating out, going to movies or to play Putt-Putt or bowling, etc. We don't waste our time at the mall. We don't go to summertime sporting events. When you have a garden, who has time for that? We don't go to tanning salons, either. We get our red necks and farmer's tans the old-fashioned way....we earn them!

We also have variety that you cannot find in the store. This year my "green bean" list has about 25 varieties of beans on it, including beans that are not only green, but purple, yellow, and bi-colored. Can you find 25 varieties of green beans in the grocery store? Does anyone's grocery store have more than 6 or 8 varieties of tomatoes? Do those grocery stores give you peaches so fresh and ripe that you can stand in the yard and eat them still warm from the sunshine with juice running down your chin and with hummingbirds flying circles around your head, perhaps wishing they had a little bit of that peach juice themselves?

Furthermore, our family knows where food comes from. How many kids know peanuts grow underground? Or that pineapples don't grow on palm trees? That there's such a thing as red, white, yellow and purple carrots and not just orange ones? Black tomatoes? Tomatoes that actually are green-when-ripe? Blue, purple or red potatoes? Striped green beans? Yellow cucumbers? Orange eggplants? How many know the potato is part of the plant that grows underground? How many know a tomato is a fruit (specifically, tomatoes are berries, I think). I've had non-gardeners look at potato plants that are in bloom and ask me how long it takes for the potato to develop from that flower. One of the things wrong in this country is that so many people have lost touch with where food comes from and how it is grown. Threre's just a huge disconnect there. I think that it a terrible shame.

I've had people tell me "I don't like tomtoes" or green beans or sweet bell peppers or whatever. But, if you let that same person stand in the garden and pick something themselves and taste it, all of a sudden they discover they like it. In many instances, the taste/flavor of grocery store food is nothing like the taste and flavor of the same food fresh from the garden. How many Americans think it is "normal" to eat unripened green bell peppers? How shocked are they to learn that if you leave the peppers on the plants about 2 weeks longer and let them mature to yellow or purple, red or orange, they taste a thousand times better? Would we want to eat unripened plums or oranges? Why, then, did we ever let the commercial agricultural industry convince us it is normal for us to eat unripened sweet bell peppers? Maybe because they can harvest 2 weeks earlier and make money sooner if they can get us to eat the sweet bell peppers while they're unripened and not so sweet either.

OK, that's some of why we grow our own. People who buy into the idea of connecting with their food, of knowing where it came from and how it was grown, who appreciate that it is fresh, organic and grown in a sustainable method understand all my points. They get it. The other folks who look only at dollars and cents never will, and I think it is their loss.

For what it is worth, we have chickens and raise our own organic eggs. Well, we don't purchase organic chicken feed because it isn't available here, but we don't use any antibiotics or chemicals or pesticides with our chickens. I have a hard time getting "newbies" to try a fresh egg. They don't like that "unnaturally bright yellow-orange" yolk which is, actually, the way egg yolks should look! If you've never had a fresh egg from true, free-range chickens who get to eat hen scratch, plants and bugs, then how would you know a yolk ought to be a bright golden-yellow and not the pale, pathetic yellow of factory farmed eggs? As a benefit of raising our own hens who give us eggs, we have never had our fresh eggs recalled because of salmonella either. See, we know where our eggs come from and we know they are safe. We have all kinds of chicken fun that you miss out on if you don't raise chickens. Our chickens have distinct personalities. When allowed out of their fenced chicken run to free-range, they all have their own favorite spots. Some follow me around the yard and chit-chat. Some love to dust bathe. Some will follow Tim and the tiller, searching overturned soil for delicious little bugs. Some are terrified of the tiller and won't come close. Some go broody and sit on eggs and hatch them out. Some hens won't sit on an egg to save their life. Chickens are wonderful pets and it is a shame everyone does not/cannot have backyard chickens.

In fact, it is unfortunate everyone in America is not as lucky as all of us are, isn't it? I believe that raising our own food adds to our lives in so many, many ways, and it has very little to do with dollars and cents. I haven't really mentioned the most important thing about gardening for me. It isn't just that we have fresh and home-preserved fruits, veggies, herbs and flowers. Raising food is great, but the entire process of gardening....well, it feeds my soul.

People who "don't get it" probably never will get it. Those of us who get it....well, we really get it.

When we give excess tomatoes or peppers or fruit to our friends and family members, they are thrilled to death to get it and mention often how good it was and how much they enjoyed it. Yet, many of them won't take the time or make the effort to grow their own. I know that, but I throw a little fresh produce their way hoping to "inspire" them to someday attempt a garden. Every now and then it works. DH's boss is putting in a garden this year because his wife wants for them to grow their own peppers. See there, sometimes what we do might actually rub off on a few people.

Regardless, gardening isn't just something that I do....I am a gardener...that's who I am. I hope that when my time comes to depart this earth (and hopefully that is decades away), I die in the garden with my gardening boots on.

Dawn

Well I had company come in so stopped my reply before posting it. But it said about the same thing that Jay said.

I garden because I enjoy it and I give most of my produce away. There are some old, poor, sick people that live in my area. They love for me come to see them and bring fresh vegges, but it I walked up to them and tried to give them money I think it would hurt their feelings.

I do want to become better at making good use of my soil and producing more per sq. ft.. One reason is that social security has not gone up in two years but all my expenses have. If I feel the pinch, I am sure the ones I like to help feel it also.

So for me Gardening is a way of giving back, and doing something I enjoy very much, its not about saving money. But I dont enjoy giving to someone that will sit on their butt with their hand out because they are too lazy to work.

Larry

The garden is my exercise, so I don't need a gym membership.

I can go out to eat one good meal on what it cost for a load of compost. The compost will increase the produce.

I pay a lot for seeds every year, but I don't have to. I could save seeds and maybe when (and if) I get to the point that I only want to plant the same things each year, I will. George knows what he likes and only plants those.
My DH is like George, but I am not. The garden is mine and I like to experiment. He probably wouldn't be nearly as happy with the food if it became routine. I plan to keep experimenting until I LEARN to grow everything that I would like to grow, and can say, "Of course you can grow that here."

My husband is a retired military officer and we have lived in all kinds of climates. I had a very demanding job and several children so it was hard to find time to garden, but I worked it in anyplace I could. In Alaska, Colorado, and Oklahoma, I was able to experiment more. We have lived in this location for 9 years and although my garden had been a garden in the past, it had gone back to weeds and grass, so I had to start small and add a little each year. Talk about exercise! Wild onions and wild asters had taken over, in addition to the grass.

I sometimes think that the garden doesn't save money, but then I notice that when I go to the store, I can walk past a lot of things. There's broccoli and okra in the freezer, and usually beans, but not so much this year. The potatoes that I grew last year were awesome, and I have never seen Yukon Gold in Walmart. I froze enough peppers to last until the fresh ones are ready again. I make stuffed peppers and use lots in salads and relish dishes in the summer when they are in season, but in winter the frozen ones are great to cook with so I just don't buy fresh ones.

My son and DIL had lunch with us this week and I had broccoli from the garden. I have only bought 2 heads this winter because I wanted a salad that required raw broccoli and califlower. The remainder of the broccoli came from the garden.

In winter, I make lots of stews and soups and those frozen veggies are just fine for that. I made picante sauce and have used it to flavor many dishes this winter. It is great for making a quick spanish rice. I used about a cup of it at lunch today. This is not necessarilly the best lunch, but it sure tastes good now and then. I cooked potatoes in a very small amount of oil until they started to brown. Then I added an onion, salt and pepper, and about a quarter cup of water and put a lid on the pan to make a soft potato, like my Mom called "old timey home style". When the potatoes were almost done, I added a package of Lil Smokies and a cup of picante sauce and let them finish cooking. The home canned sauce added all of the flavor needed. (The idea came from an 80-ish woman on YouTube who was showing her family how they had survived the depression and stayed fat. They made it with potatoes, hot dogs, and chili sauce. She said it was always what her grandson and his friends asked for when they came to visit her, and they are now grown and still asking for it.)

So, I don't know how much I saved (if any) by gardening, but I can tell you that I went to the store a lot of times when I could pass by the broccoli, peppers, lettuce, spinach, chinese cabbage, squash (both winter and summer), salsa, apples, apple pie filling, apple sauce, apple butter, and jelly, without having to put any in my cart. I also have chickens so I didn't buy eggs, and gave away many dozens to friends.

There were days when I went to Walmart and realized that the only thing I needed there was toothpaste and hairspray. Had it not been for those things I could just run to Braums and buy milk, cheese, butter, sausage, bread, and sometimes ice cream. I make that stop for all of those things anyway. I have learned that the more trips I make to the big box stores, the more I spend. That alone saves me money.

My garden and yard are still far from the way I would like them to be, but I am getting there. One day I will add a greenhouse, and maybe steal just a little more yard. As long as it gets better every year, and I am still healthy enough to plant and tend it, I will be gardening, and I won't be doing it to save money. But....if I had to do it because I couldn't afford to buy, I would already know how and that puts me head and shoulders above those that don't know how to grow their food.

Always remember that if "they" can control your food supply, they can control you. Happy gardening.

The 220 lbs of sweet potatoes we grew this year would have cost over $100.00 this year. ($.50 /lb is the cheapest I've seen them this year.) The plants cost $12.00. I'll start my own slips this spring and save that cost. Also raised over 200 lbs of regular potatoes, 30lbs of meal corn, 40 lbs of broccoli and about the same of cabbage, a couple hundred ears of sweet corn, and lots of greenbeans, lettuce, spinach, peppers, tomatoes, as well as herbs. I intended to track costs, but like every year got busy and dropped the ball. We don't water our lawn so the garden, orchard and the chickens get all the water we pay for. (The house is on a well.) That and the seed and a bag of kelp meal were basically our only expenses this year as we had a huge compost pile for fertilizer.

What those people who argue that it isn't worth it to grow veggies don't know is what real organic, freshly picked vegetables are supposed to taste like. A Coworker of my dad's once made the argument that there was no difference between a store bought and a homegrown tomato. Dad told him to put his money where his mouth was. The next day Dad took both store bought and homegrown tomato to work and handed the man a slice of each. The man knew he'd been beat, didn't say a word just pulled out a tenner and handed to Dad. I feel sorry for people who've never tasted a true vineripened tomato or eaten sweet corn 15 minutes from the stalk. AND like Jay said, (and Dawn will when she gets here) it's organic. No pesticides. That's reason enough to garden.

But I am convinced that our garden stuff is cheaper than if we had to buy it.

Now chickens aren't. I do track the cost there because I grow for other members of the family. The chickens we grow come out to cost a bit more than if I bought them at WM (but less than if I bought free-range from the health food store which would be a fairer comparison.) BUT, the FLAVOR, oh the flavor. Even these Cornish Cross which mature in only 7 weeks have such better flavor than commercial chickens. That's because they are allowed outside to eat all the grass and chickweed in their pen and when that is gone, they are fed garden trimmings and grass clippings.

And startup costs don't have to be expensive. The first garden on this place almost 30 years ago was started with hand tools, $10.00 worth of seed, (at that time $.25 a pack at the local feed store.) a single bag of 10-20-10 and 4 people's labor--2 adults and 2 children. There was knowhow though. I had been around gardening all my life and gardening on my own for 15 years by then. And there was necessity. We were poor and the kids were hungry, and already veggie snobs, having been spoiled to fresh food at our other place.

"Kiss of the sun for pardon. Song of the birds for mirth. You're closer to God's heart in a garden than any place else on earth." -- Dorothy Frances Gurney

Keith

Many of us wrote at the same time, but wrote many of the same reasons. Keith, you summed it up well.

I love when this question comes up! So many people think gardening HAS to cost money. It doesn't.

I agree with everything written above, I really do. But, bottom line for us is the bottom line. With eight mouths to feed and not a whole lot of money to spare over the years, we couldn't do it if it didn't save us money. Lots of folks do spend all sorts of money, lots of folks don't. Neither way is wrong. It all boils down to what you have to work with.

My way, though, is to get by with as close to nothing as I can. That means things are often scrapped together and done by the sweat of our collective brows. We save seed but buy a bit when we have to. (I got a HUGE amount of seeds from this group last year so, even though we moved mid-garden season last year and I wasn't able to save seeds, I have to buy very, very little this year.) I'm fortunate in that my husband can build dang near anything out of nothing. And we're not proud. We'll take folks' tossed out tools and fix 'em up good enough to use. We're making new raised beds here from scrapped out, metal heavy equipment from hubby's work. We've just been offered an old house to take down, from which we will build a greenhouse (and other things).

Same things for our chicken but we do have to buy a bit of food. And the birds in the beginning. Due to our scavenging for food for them, we come out cheaper on eggs and chicken meat than storebought.

Of course, there are some things we "have" to buy since we're starting over in the new place, such as the "new" tiller ($40) and CRW for tomato cages (no idea what that costs these days). We'll easily make that back in food this year, assuming it's not a terribly crappy year. In times past, though, we've scratched in gardens from $0.

I know I probably sound like a broken record each time this question comes up but I feel the need to go through it every time, just to be sure it's crystal clear. I've been down to nothing before and everyone telling me gardening costs $$. It's depressing, trying to feed your family from nothing, and I want to make sure folks in that situation don't give up hope. And there are a lot of them these days. It can be done.

Diane

Diane, We are still here and waiting for you to list your seed needs on the swap thread. From the looks of your package, you are probably not needing much, but if there are a couple of things needed, be sure to let us know. I can almost assure that one of your seed-hourding friends will have it. LOL I'm sure your encouraging words will be of help to someone, so thanks for posting. I am sorry that you have had this experience, but look at how much you learned and your family is still together and working it out. May God's greatest blessings come to you and yours in 2011. Carol

Thanks, Carol. You're correct in that I sure don't need much this year! In fact, I have no real needs, just a very few wants. We have been blessed beyond belief in many areas of our lives over the past months.

I didn't post the previous post to get sympathy (and I know you know that). Heck, we're doing great now and scratching our way back up out of the pit rather nicely. I just want to make sure that others who don't have much to work with realize that there are ways to garden very, very cheaply, even free. That's what we did in the very, very beginning 15-ish years ago -- and that's what I think of when I see these types of questions. We've had to start over a few times but each time gets easier because we have more tools and experience to work with as the years go on. And you know what? I actually love the challenge of starting over! I may whine and bellyache about it but deep down I love it. I'm a glutton for punishment and I thrive on the chaos of it all -- at least in bringing the chaos under my control. LOL

I'm getting off-track but: Anyhoo, yeah, gardening can be as cheap as you want it to be -- and very worth it, no matter how much you spend or don't.

Diane

Diane, I do understand that even when you need sympathy, and deserve sympathy, you don't ask for it. LOL In fact, you're pretty hard to do anything for, but you are our friend and we want to fill your "wants", if we can. You are a toughie and we all know it. So 'fess-up girl!

Thank you so much for all your time kind words towards gardening. As Jay said Dawn is elite gardener, no doubt, everyone in this forum will agree. Certainly it will encourage non-enthuse to start thinking about growing on their own.

I would have been asked your advise before to our brown bag discussion. Now I have so much to share with my colleagues. I believe at least one or two will start gardening this spring. I am happy to share few ready to plant seedling with newbies. Good night -Chandra

Hi all

I havent posted here before, I should since I live in green country. Most of my posts are in the citrus forum because I do grow lemons, limes, and oranges in pots. Our yard is the typical neighborhood yard, just big enough for a swing set, small pool, and small greenhouse. Last year I did few tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets that did fairly well. Nothing tastes better than a fresh home grown tomato! This year I decided to dedicate enough space, at least 4'x12', to grow beans, lettuce, peppers, herbs, and who know what else. I love gardening and the added benefit of knowing where the veggies come from and knowing it cost pennies compared to buying at the store, plus hopefully having enough to store for winter is a huge motivating factor for me. I have already started a few things in the greenhouse and spring cant get here fast enough!!

I look forward to learning more from everyone here!

Mike

Chandra,

Thanks for your kind words (and for Jay's). For the record, I don't consider myself an 'elite' gardener at all....merely an obsessed gardener. My garden never looks as good as I think it should and its production is highly variable because my part of the state is often drought-plagued. Last year, was a pretty good year early and late in the season but not so much in the middle. It also was a good year for fruit which is not true every year. In fact, it was the best fruit year ever. I hope 2011 is a great year for everyone.

Mike, Welcome to the forum. It is so nice to "meet" you and I look forward to hearing all about your gardening adventures. I hope you'll share with us all your secrets for success with potted citrus, including how you overwinter them. Good luck with the expanded vegetable garden this year. I grow a lot of tomatoes both in the ground and in containers and have good results either way. Home-grown tomatoes are so addictive!

Dawn

I was reading "Six ways to go green and save money in 2011", one of the way is gardening!

5. Now that's a growth fund: Here's a prediction that you can take to the bank: Food prices are going to continue to increase. Resolve to start raising more of your own food in 2011 by planting a backyard vegetable garden, tending a plot of your own at a local community garden, or buying a share and pitching in at a local farm through a Community Supported Agriculture program.

Don't have space for a veggie garden? Try planting a few easy-to-grow perennial vegetables alongside the petunias in your flowerbed. Or grow some herbs in pots on the windowsill -- they'll not only save you money on cooking spices, but they might lower your medical expenses as well.

And invest in planting a few trees around the yard while you're at it; not only will they increase your home's value, but according to the U.S. Department of Energy, planting as few as three strategically placed trees in your yard can reduce your heating and cooling expenses by up to 20%.

Even point 6. Health/fitness: is also depend on the point 5. ... Gardening is way to go! -Chandra

I think I recognize that building in your pic. Norman area?

boomer_sooner, Yes that's Norman area pic! Building is Holy Ascension Orthodox Church located other side of the highway... our garden picture is taken from patio. we have wonderful view of sunset.

Yeah, I recognized that church. They built it into that hill. I drive by it on my way to K&K nursery.

I live in norman too. Nice to meet you.

boomer sooner - Where have you been? I haven't seen you post for a long time and was thinking about you just last week. You need to be a more frequent visitor. Carol

I've been busy. Three kids, work, school, activities, it never ends. :) I'll be posting more since the holidays are over. Stacey.

thanks for the welcome Dawn

below is a link to the most recent pics of a few of my trees. Im up here in Tulsa and I keep them in a small 5x8 lean-to greenhouse that I built on the south side of my house. Its just wood framed and 6 mil plastic. The electric heater keeps it from getting below 55 degrees and they couldnt be happier. The experts in the citrus forum have a wealth of knowledge on how to grow them in pots all over the country. I had my first home grown lemon this past fall and it tasted 100 times better than the store.

Mine are about half way down the thread.

Here is a link that might be useful: pics of winter blooming citrus

Mike,

Your trees look wonderful and I'm glad to hear you can keep them warm in a lean-to type greenhouse with a heater.

I have grown lemons and limes a few times in containers but haven't had any place to keep them in winter. I do agree that citrus fresh off the tree is just amazing, but the only ones I have grown here are lemons and limes. It has been several years since I last grew them here.

My aunt and uncle, both now deceased, used to ship boxes of fresh oranges to us from the trees in their yard in California when I was a child. That was my first experience with citrus fruit that did not come from a grocery store. I was simply blown away by how wonderful they tasted. I don't know why I was surprised because we were a gardening family so I already knew fresh, home-grown produce tasted better than grocery store veggoes, but just hadn't ever thought about it in terms of citrus fruit tasting better in the same way.

Now that I have a hoopstyle greenhouse kit sitting in the garage waiting to be assembled, that might change although I don't intend to heat the whole green house. I might section off a portion of it and heat it so I can overwinter my potted brugs there instead of inside the garage in winter. If I did that, I could overwinter citrus trees in there with the brugs.

To me, the aroma of citrus blossoms is the most glorious scent. Whenever we walk into a Lowe's or Home Depot garden center in late winter, I always know instantly when the potted, blooming citrus trees have arrived. I just follow my nose right to them.

I wish I had a potted, blooming citrus plant inside the house today. It is such a cold, dreary, gray day with about 3" of snow on the ground outside and the scent of citrus blossoms would make it feel sunny and warm inside.

Dawn

here are some more news why we should be gardening (organic as much as possible)and produce own vegetable at least!

Recently, one of my colleague who has been diagnosed with colon cancer. He not have any bad habits, no smoking, no alcohol, very health cautious...but stuck by dread evil. By god grace he is out of danger now due to right time detection and diagnosis.

While resting in hospital beds, he looked back his life style, food habits, family history, etc... he concluded that food was one of the main culprit. He wrote me five page long story about the his cancer and aftermaths...to cut the story short, I just copy/pasting some of his points on Why does one get cancer: Causes of cancer;
-Environment we live in (e.g., breathing polluted air);
-Genetically modified food (e.g., nearly 80% of all food sold in US super markets are genetically modified like your tomatoes, apples);
-Food processing and storage (e.g., injecting chicken with antibiotics to "preserve" them; preservatives in all those tin\can food; manicured apples!!);
-Polluted water (e.g., dissolved carcinogens in water from heavy industries that may never be filtered out)
...and one can go on...

Another story is Parkinson's vs. Pesticides: I just come to know from Dorothy, Rotenone, a pesticide used in home gardens/farms seems to be causative factor for Parkinson's diseases...

He is our own family story...My mother-in-law, but call her a mother, she is nice lady, is also suffering with Parkinson's disease.. she used to consume lot of raw vegetables/salads (of course from market) to keep in good health... but that tuned out be bad. I too guess her PD was due to lot of harsh chemical in the vegetables. The use of pesticides in food production becoming one of the biggest threat to health, mankind and nature. My mother has been diagnosed with PD in 2007, she has been treated with many Allopathy, Homeopathic, Ayurveda, and Acupressure systems. but none of these practice/medicines has freed her from PD. Now she is doing yoga, meditation, drinking wheat grass juice in the morning, and also started using stationary bike. I read some time ago in science magazine that cycling/biking will help in brain cell stimulation and blood circulation to brain which may help patients to recover faster... mother tells she feeling little better...

We should encourage more and more people to start gardening, growing their own food also bring awareness about the chemical in food. Encourage (pressurize) commercial growers to producing organic food.