Does your garden ACTUALLY save you $ ?

[Wifezilla]

I spent $5 each on my grape vines. Last year I harvested well over 50lbs of grape!

 

[pioneergirl]

I spent $5 each on my grape vines. Last year I harvested well over 50lbs of grape!

And with grapes going for over $2 and $3 a pound, how can you argue with that? LOL

I can say for the $2 I spent on a packet of peas, I'll harvest well over that amount money-wise when you price out organic peas at the market. My broccoli is the same way!

 

[rty007]

pioneergirl for the sake of the argument, lets say, that there are 25 seeds in that packet, say 60% harvest rate that makes 15 broccolis with 3$ for a packet, that makes for 0.2$ per head, you wouldn't get even a normal, industrial farm broccoli for that price, not to mention a organic one.

 

[Icu4dzs]

So are you telling me that my $50 tomato's are too expensive? You strike me at the heart, friend. LOL

All kidding aside, your question is a good one. I am one of the types that buys the tools and stuff for the garden at first and then uses it for years thereafter, which is how I got the cost of my tomato down to $50 last year. But one thing is for certain. Good tools make the work easier and if you have to work as I do, time is a precious commodity and little is available most days.

Your question really has a much more important answer and many of us here have felt the same question in the past based on the amount of work, cost of materials, cost of our time, cost of seed, etc and the answer still remains PEACE OF MIND. A garden 4x16 properly managed (raised bed type) will feed you for a year. This may sound absurd but it is true. Yes, canning jars, and the like will increase the cost but that is NOT what this is about. Each year you do your own work, the cost goes down. It will never go away, but it can be controlled by good management, a willing and strong spirit and a happy heart.

We, who pursue the SS life till and tend a garden because we aren't sure when that skill will be the most important of all...that day after TSHTF. We all appear to believe that things are not stable in our land and our earth. We believe that taking care of ourselves is the first step in being a contributing member to the society of neighbors around us so that we support each other in bad times. Yes, I know that hasn't happened since 1929 but just like other things, you'd rather be ready and not have to do it, than have to do it and not be ready.

Gardening is a skill; some are better than others at it. but mostly it is a way of life. One writer above mentions wanting to skip the garden each year but then when spring happens, they run outside as fast as they can in order to see that first sprout coming up. Would you be ready to do it if you waited till the day after TSHTF? No, I doubt it. You develop your skills when the going isn't so tough. That way you are ready when the road gets bumpy.

The bottom line though, is that gardening and canning (which go hand in hand) are two skills which provide us with life sustaining food allowing us to support our families and ourselves. We can probably NOT imagine what we will feel on the day after TSHTF but those who have developed the gardening skill will be able to think clearly and plan accordingly. What we worry about is the folks who never did and now think they are "entitled" to what we have worked for while they didn't. Right now, our entire country is about to come un-glued for exactly the same problem; which is the very reason we are working toward SS.

Yes, our garden costs a bit more than we had planned or could afford at times, but then if food became scarce and grocery stores couldn't get supply, gardeners will sit back and smile while they enjoy "the fruits of their labors". Most, if they are like my neighbors will get together and help each other. That will be the day your question is answered unequivocally...

Best
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[schellie69]

This is my 1st year growing my own garden I made sure to buy non-hybrid seeds so I could save seeds for next year I have not learned how to can yet but have been researching it, I will be freezing mostly this year and will keep looking a learning how to can in the next year. I planted this year leaf lettuce a 7 lettuce mix, spinach, cucumbers, watermelon, cow peas, roasting peppers, different colored bell peppers, jalapenos, snap peas, tomatoes, pumpkins, zucchini, summer squash, winter squash, black raspberries, red raspberries, and I have a Caterina tree which was given to ma few years ago that is producing fruit this year. I am learning from my mistakes like I planted my zucchini, and squash to close to my peas, I also did not know you need something for the peas to grow up on, I am fixing this oh yea I planted radish also I am getting ready to plant some herbs I was given I will see how those go, but I look at my garden as a way to feed my family the food that I want them to eat, one I know where it came from 2, no green house gas for moving the produce across the country no hybrid or chemicals on the food, I used dirt from my chicken pen and some top soil I bought by the ton and some extra sand that we used in the chicken pen. I love watching my garden grow weeding it gives me a peace I have not felt since being at my grandpa's farm. I think a garden pays for itself in many ways just like having chickens the quality of eggs and the sterilize plus the entertainment and the pure joy they give they more then pay for themselves plus I know that my family knows where the food that they eat comes from now to get a farm and have all our own meat animals. that is my next goal.

 

[NurseNettie]

You don't need a thing to compost "in". Just a corner or spot in the yard-- pile it up, push it around once in awhile. Hose it down when it's dry. Keep adding, digging, turning til it's done. No fancy containers needed!

I still have to start mine >.>

I'm hoping my loving aunt will visit and help me collect containers and dirt and something in which to compost. *hint hint*

 

[Wifezilla]

Abi is yardless

She has a small garden on her patio and some storage tubs for compost.

 

[ga_goat]

Last year I spent about $50 in my 50 x 125 ft garden space - got i small cooking of snap beans and nothing else , the year before that it was worse , I built chicken yards in the garden spot and pay my son's seed bill and supply the tiller / planter / chicken compost and he does real well , and shares . I grew up on a farm but my daddy would not let me farm , just do the labor things .

 

[Icu4dzs]

I have heard it postulated that if Hitler had personally tended a garden, we would never have had World War II. Not sure if I completely support that supposition but it is an interesting consideration.

As for your continued effort, you will find a garden, like any other pursuit is not necessarily an intuitive pursuit. A goodly amount of reading books by folks who are good gardeners is always a helpful approach.

Of course nothing replaces good old fashioned work, but knowing exactly what the work entails can be very rewarding in the garden. It seems to me that this year, the garden effort will be ever so much more important to each person who does it than in years before. Not sure I am all that confident in the "improved economy" we are being told is happening.

Self sufficiency is becoming more important than ever before. Dry goods will probably be the most efficient to store in your home. Avoid things already canned if possible. 50 lb bags of beans, seeds etc. can be significantly more efficient in the event of "really hard times."

Daddy's are a little more intelligent about girl children now than they were after the second world war. Perhaps forgiving him will help you be a better gardener.

"Of course as always, if you or any of your "IM force" are caught or captured, the secretary will disavow all knowlege of your existence..."
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[Jaxom]

I've read through this entire thread. Many good points have been made about how do you define "saving" money. I really wish I could have had a garden this year. Lack of employment, spending most of my time looking for work and the rest of the time packing to move or working on estate sale has pretty much consumed all of my time.

There is one factor I think everyone here has forgotten about entirely. One I'm sure most would not like to have to concider, but one worthy enough to mention. And that's equity you've added to your property by planting your garden. Now to some home buyers, when they see a garden either 1)they see "extra work" that needs to be done or 2)something that's going to cost them money to "repair" because they're not interested in gardening and would rather have a pool or more grass to cut or 3) a real savy real estate broker will match the right buyer with the property and you'll come out ahead.

Let's look at it from this angel. You take 3 nearly identical homes. All three homes have 1 acer of land, and the houses have nearly identical features in the forum of bedrooms, bathrooms, ect.

Home owner(s) #1 has no interest in garden what so ever. Except for keeping the lawn cut and the one or two shrubs that came with the home trimmed and the leaves from the tree raked, that's the extent of thier gardening efforts.

Home owner(s) #2 has a more expressed interest in gardening. Every spring they go to local home improvment store and drop a bundle on annual flowers. they've planted a few more shrubs, perhaps planing a few shade trees. House looks better then home owner(s) #1, but you now have a garden that takes work, but other then asthetic value and perhaps a bit of value to the owners for stress relieve and exercise, for all intensive purposes there's only a modest return on investment.

Then there's home owner(s) #3. Over the same period of time the previous two home owner(s) had thier properties these owners have planted not only an annual garden, but have small dwarf fruit tree orchard, grape vines, aspargus patch, herb garden and so on. If you do your planning really well, you can do an entire landscape both in back yard and front and have it entirely edible and still look fantastic!

Now, for some odd reason all three homes have to go on the market, whom do you think will see a better price for thier prospective homes?

If you garden smartly, by starting out small and gradually adding to what you have. In a few years time you can add good bit of equity to your homes value above and beyond all the savings that other's have already mentioned in this thread.

From a personal perspective, at what price could you put on being able to kick back on your patio at the end of the day, sipping on a nice cold home brewed beverage, made from your own home grown hops, while nibbbling on home made chips you made from the corn you grew, dipping that in the salsa you made from the veggies you also grew?