# How much cheaper is gardening



## homesteadpastor (Jan 27, 2014)

Has anybody figured out how much money you save gardening versus shopping at the grocery store? I'm just curious about what you would save during the farming months and then what you might save if you canned for the winter. I know this is speculative on what you eat, how much you eat and grow, as well as how much you're growing...but just a general idea would be great.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

If you factor EVERYTHING in ( I mean tools like tiller/tractor/even hand tools), I doubt anyone saves much of anything.....especially if you include your time and figure you might be earning minimum wage doing something else. People will tell you they save, but they simply are leaving a lot out of the equation, I assure ya. Given enough years to amortize out your tools, canning jars, canners, freezers, etc....you 'might' come out a little ahead....but only a little. It's simply hard to beat a large factory at anything, cost wise...and that includes factory farming.

But to me, saving money is NOT the point. 

The points in favor of growing your own are:

1. You get better, fresher food. You control what was put in them in the way of chemicals, who handled them during/after harvest, and so on. Take these green beans, for example. Thursday, they were growing in our hoop house. 










Friday, they were picked, some eaten, most canned.



















2. You have vastly reduced the miles your food travels before it hits your plate. The average plate of food travels thousands of miles.....most of ours is measured in a fraction of that. (Assuming you factor in things like canning supplies, etc.....the food itself can be measure in feet traveled)

WHY is this important ? Well, set aside the tree hugging aspect and just look at the practical side. What happens if the "just-in-time" delivery system fails ? LOT of folks are gonna go hungry. What happens of the cost of fuel skyrockets ? You'll pay a lot more for your food. Growing food is security. You can control a lot of the "what if".

3. Growing food is a skill most humans should know, but increasingly few do. Even large, single crop farmers often have no clue on how to raise food their own family could live off. Got a guy down the road from me that raises literally millions of chickens per year, and hasn't got any clue on how to raise anything BUT chickens......and no inclination to learn. Tyson pays him well to turn out nugget material, and his wife goes to the store and buys food.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

If like me you eat everything you produce, feed the waste to the chickens, rabbits and goats, use their waste to feed the garden, only use a hoe and fork to work the gardens, you save a lot. No trips to town, gas, wear and tear, tires and such. It doesn't cost me much, I save most of the seeds I need, very little fertilizer, lime. I am retired so need something to keep busy. Been doing it so long, knowing what we use and a tally we know what we need to grow next year. A small greenhouse, hoops on raised beds, we grow something year around, store a lot in place, more in the fruit house and shop, crock up some, dehydrate a bunch, freeze some and can a little, we are able to keep costs for materials at a minimum, we save a lot....James


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

For a while I saved a very great deal, but that was when I could use strength and skill instead of bought inputs. Mulch will take the place of a great deal of fertilizer and reduce the need for often watering, and I no longer used a rototiller. Also I had learned that I could get seeds at the dollar general for 5 packs a dollar. Most packs of seeds would last me for 2-3 years, also.

So I was using 20 cent seeds and very little fertilizer and water. Gardening was CHEAP! And, with saving so much on the vegetables it was really cheap to use a water bath canner.

Alas I am older, and now I am using a lot of bought things again. No more mulch or compost: chemical fertilizer is much lighter and easier. And, this year I put in drip irrigation so I no longer have to haul around hoses. And, my el-cheapo canner has been replaces with a $250 dehydrator. It's easier. So, I am probably breaking even with the garden, at best. Because I am older and I am not willing to give up gardening.

Gardening can be done with very little cash if you have skill and strength.I still have the skill but I no longer have the strength.


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## homesteadpastor (Jan 27, 2014)

I would say for this assumption that a person already has the tools needed for gardening. They either have a tiller or plan to use a shovel and hoe. So really only looking at the cost of seeds, whatever fertilizer you choose to use, water, and things of this nature. Labor would not be considered as anything you do on a homestead is labor intensive. 

I personally will be using rabbit manure to fertilize with and heirloom seeds so I won't have to keep buying all the time.


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## farmerDale (Jan 8, 2011)

We too save LOTS of cash by raising a garden. We have no tiller, we hardly weed since we no till, and our fertilizer is composted sheep/horse/chicken poop.

Honestly, other than planting and harvesting, very little labor is put in during the season. A fair bit occurs when stuff gets canned, but we can choose when to can and wait for rainy days. When you consider the cost of a jar of salsa, a bag of frozen beans, corn, beets, pickles, jams, jellies, relish, carrots. Well, a moderate sized garden is well worth the effort financially.

It is like raising or hunting ones own meat, eggs, or milk. It simply varies so much on where you are, what your grocery prices are, how cheap your feed is, how much you raise.

For some, it may well NOT be financially feasible. For others, it can be very, very economically viable. 

I could burn lots of gas and pulverise my soil, and wonder at the feasibility. Or I could burn no gas, mulch my soil heavily and healthily, and come out ahead. 

Just like if I were to buy an Alaska moose hunt, using all the top of the line equipment to get my moose. Or I could stay at home and shoot one out of my hayloft. Which is going to be cheaper per pound?


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

What you want to do is called Activity Based Costing. You go to the store and find out the price per unit(here in Michigan, the Meijer store uses cost /oz labels on the shelves), and you can use price per lb on fresh fruits and vegetables.

You have to get a complete cost of everything you do on your homestead that goes toward producing your garden--that includes a ratio of your electric bills, land cost, interest, etc, etc, that uses your garden footprint vs. your total acreage. Then you calculate your tools, gas, fertilizers, and seeds, etc on a direct cost per each vegetable raised, or on another ratio of the percentage of your garden area. 

Once you enter all this, you have to input the total number of vegetables you actually picked and used and the computer makes the proper calculation(or you do it manually) to get the unit cost for each vegetable in order to compare to the store price.

If by now, that sounds impossible, consider that farmers have been doing this for years on a slightly less complicated basis--but a good farmer will have very good records on the costs of a bushel of soybeans, or corn, or wheat, or a bale of cotton, or a pound of pork. If they don't they could possibly go out of business.......

I go to the store and marvel at how much my vegetables are making me----"Wow, at the price of a dollar per sweet pepper, I just made 100 bucks!", or, "I don't have to pay four dollars a piece for MY butternut squash!", and so forth. But, realistically, I don't even begin to feed myself completely from my garden, so I don't worry too much about how much I _could_ save if I did.

But basically, if your intent is to do just that, feed your self and family from your homestead(and there are some here who do--consider the 90% thread), then you better learn how to spreadsheet, of buy an ABC program.

Or get a day job.

geo


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

(Yawn) Good morning! I just realized I never spoke of dollars and cents!

At my best I once figured that I could garden and pay 25 cents for every $1 worth of vegetables. That meant those quarts of tomatos and zip lock baggies of frozen corn were VERY affordable! The 25 cents went for water, fertilizer for when I was low on mulch, el-cheapo seeds, jar lids, and such. 

Then again, everybody spends money on hobbies, and instead of going to town to go shopping I generally raised peas or some such thing. So instead of spending money I saved money. And, when my doc told me I needed more exercise and to join a gym I just made my garden larger and put more flowers in it. That is more fun than lifting weights and AGAIN has saved me money: how much money per month does gym membership cost?

Alas I am older now, and I no longer garden with only a few tools and a lot of sweat. It was a great racket while it lasted, but now I must use more cash and less muscle!

As far as general homesteading costs, it is true that my mortgage was a little bit higher than if I had lived in a little place in town, but it was only at most $100 higher, and $100 is dead easy to spend in town! Especially if you have to pay gym membership and spend more money on gyms and entertainment costs. So, on the whole, I would say that I have done well enough with my homesteading endeavors. And, that $100 cost needs to be spread over all of my endeavors and not just gardening. Some people who build well have smaller homesteading costs, but I build poorly and so I bought a place that was ready to move into, instead of buying a place that needed repair or building a cabin or my own house.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

I'm now a retired homesteader and an armchair advisor--so now I can truly say that my "hobby" of gardening is official. It probably was always a hobby vs. extreme homesteading. But I still can't wait until December when the seed catalogs show up in the mailbox.

geo


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## toms94z71 (Oct 21, 2014)

I honestly got almost all my garden tools from my father as christmas presents over the years, he gave me a bunch of old scarp wood that I used to make my raised beds, I didn't have enough compost on hand year one to do the garden so I had to buy a lot of it, I got a good pile going now so in future years I won't have to buy as much. I figure this year with all the initial cost of everything my 1 quart jars of bread and butter pickles costed 10$ a piece lol.


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## kasilofhome (Feb 10, 2005)

One road only from the port city to here.
A road that closes often.
Electric out abit more than I was used too

Gardening cost what your can afford.
Maybe be work but. Is tv really that entertaining

Seeds are cheap and reinvesting your savings in food cost allow that one can improve the systen.

Craig's list shopping is helpful for the poor to get going.


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## Ellendra (Jul 31, 2013)

Gardening is one of those things that can be as cheap or as expensive as you make it to be.

I know people who spend a ton on their gardens, in time, money, and frustration. On the other hand, mine saves me a fortune in stress-relief alone, and then gives me food on top of that!

I should say, I have naturally fertile soil, use seeds I saved or traded, and do the work myself. From a cash perspective, there is no cost. If you want to get into time spent, you'd have to keep in mind that if I wasn't putzing in the dirt, I'd be doing something that costs more. And I'd be wearing myself thin, I'm one of those people who goes insane without "outdoor time". 

Hopefully, starting next year, my garden will start turning more of a profit. I've been selling seeds here and there, but I'm trying to get into medicinal herbs. I already have a buyer, but I wasn't able to get the field planted this year.


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## Blueridgeviews (May 3, 2015)

I've been gardening for almost forty years, and about four years ago, I decided to try to see how much I'm saving in just fruit and vegetables.
I tallied my produce against organic prices, so that made a big difference.
It came to about $1,500 for the year for just my husband and me. Fencing, tools, and original costs of garden were not figured in since they were long ago.

I raise almost all our vegetables year round with winter veggies under cover. And I raise about half our fruit consumption. I cold-store potatoes, onions, garlic, beets, butternut squash, leeks, carrots, apples, and brussel sprouts. The only thing I can are tomatoes, berries (also freeze). I also freeze filet beans, Zuccini, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, red bell peppers, and eggplant.

I do no till gardening cheaply with very little labor. Only a few weeds come up where mulch not thick enough. I mulch and compost with free moldy hay from Craigslist, free wood chips, free animal manure. I rarely buy new tools, only use a few -- my soil is lovely now. I occasionally need to replace row covers or buy a new hose sprayer.

We live where it rains often in summer, so hardly need to water from our well especially with mulch.
I save seeds from best plants each year, but do buy tomatoe and broccoli starts often and onion bulbs.
My husband and I are both retired now, so because we garden regularly, we don't need a gym membership or a home treadmill cost. We stay very fit and healthy --- that's worth A LOT!!

Our berry production is now triple that of four years ago, so we save more now with red and black rasberries, strawberries, and blueberries. Very little berries were figured into the older $1,500 savings. Also the asparagus savings weren't figured into that, as they just started producing well last year.


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## Declan (Jan 18, 2015)

A lot depends on what you grow versus how ou would buy if not growing yourself. For instance, there is no doubt I save money on things from my kitchen garden--herbs and salads ingredients mostly. Since you cannot buy canned lettuce, the alternative is only to buy fresh. Other things like say green beans it would be cheaper to buy canned, but then you don't have the same cooking options, but probably more break even if you would be buying them raw in bulk.

Some things I simply do not like processed and to buy at the grocery fresh doesn't cut it for me--like beets and corn. What I do find is that I have a lot less waste when it is something coming from the garden as opposed to out of a can. 

I am sure I lose money on balance, but life isn't just about money. As I do more water harvesting. seed propagation and the like, I hope over time I will reduce the on balance to break even at least.


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## oldasrocks (Oct 27, 2006)

Don't forget the reports of E coli and other fun illnesses from imported veggies coming from foreign countries where they use human poop for fertilizer. Where they don't wash their hands. Where they use whatever chemicals they want to kill the bugs.


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## DEKE01 (Jul 17, 2013)

I read in some mag, maybe MEN or Grit, that the average homeowner can annually replace $500 worth of store bought produce with a garden. I think that is low, but our family eats a lot of fresh produce. 

It also was not a net number, so it wasn't a true savings, because as others have shown, there are costs associated with gardening.


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## hippygirl (Apr 3, 2010)

Well, if I consider the cost of the finished product *only* (store bought vs home grown), then home grown wins every time if you compare the sheer amount of produce you can get from a packet or two of seeds against the same amount of money spent at the grocery store.

I guess it comes down to which costs are you willing to "ignore" (for want of a better descriptor)...fertilizer/amendments, insect/disease control, tools, fencing, time/labor, etc.

Personally, aside from a replacement handle here and there or small engine upkeep/repair, I haven't spent any $$$ on garden tools in quite a while. I consider my simple but effective fencing to have paid for itself the first couple of years after the Great Deer Invasion took out two plantings of purple hull peas, and my time/labor is my own to use (or waste) as I see fit, so I don't assign a cost to it to factor into my gardening. 

HOWEVER...if I were gardening to make a living and working on a much larger scale than my less-then-3000 square feet of garden, I'm quite sure I'd approach it differently.


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## Kalama (Sep 4, 2013)

I consider my garden expenditures quite minuscule compared to the output.
I dont use any power tools, I produce my own seed and I often trade for new varieties or even breed my new varieties, my garden is just 2800 sq ft so I dig all amendments into the soil with a shovel, I weed with a hoe, I produce all my own compost and fertilizer for free and dont use pesticide, and I consider any labor input as exercise so it doesnt count as a cost. In exchange I get more fresh produce than I would ever be willing to pay for. That hints at a hidden bonus, the more produce people eat the lower their medical expenses tend to be and the more exercise people get the lower the medical expenses. My playing in the garden and attempting to eat enough greens to feed a hippopotamus may save me from future medical bills.
In hard numbers, my yearly garden budget ranges from $20 to $50 on any given year while the output of the garden has reduced the combined monetary cost of my food and drink to $3 per day.


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## Fourthistles (Feb 24, 2003)

Cost comparisons can be deceiving. If I compare my garden produce with what comes in at Walmart, etc. produced by big agriculture, then my produce may not save me any money. However, a more realistic comparison is against organic produce available commercially. In that case I come out way ahead by growing my own and don't have concerns about pesticide/herbicide residues.


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## Oldshep (Mar 28, 2015)

The savings are enormous, even counting machinery and other inputs IF you account for their cost correctly. You can't just say "well I bought a tiller for $500, so I have to deduct the entire $500 from whatever value of produce that I take out of my garden". Thats not the way businesses account for the costs of equipment. They deduct the depreciation every year. You do that because deducting the entire $500 isn't accurate because you STILL HAVE THE TILLER. You're not out $500, you still have about $500 worth of value in the tiller. Its like buying a house, the money isnt 'gone', its in the house.

If I buy a tiller for $500, use it for 5 years and sell it for $400 then the tiller cost me $20 dollars a year. The same goes for tractors, but most of us use our tractors for a dozen different jobs not just our vegetable gardens so it gets very hard to figure a cost on that. 
And then there's labor. I'd like to imagine that if I weren't working in my garden I'd be performing open heart surgery and getting paid 1,000 per hour. In that case I'm losing about $990 dollars an hour in my garden, lol. The reality is that I'm a homesteader/farmer not a surgeon, and my only other option around here might be a gig as walmart greeter! In which case I'm ahead of the game 

There's also so many 'intangibles' that are hard to calculate...am I comparing my home-grown produce to some walmart junk? Am I comparing my produce to what I would pay at a high end farmer's market? Would I get enough exercise without my garden or would I feel the need to join a gym to stay active ($$)? Or buy an exercise machine?

It's funny that when I talk to people about homesteading they usually comment about it seeming like so much hard work to chop wood, cut hay and hoe a garden. I ask how many hours they have to work to heat their homes and feed their families and when I do the math it seems like I come out ahead. On top of it, they usually belong to gyms or put in time/effort jogging or taking fitness classes to stay in shape ($). Then they need long elaborate vacations to decompress from the mental stress of their jobs($$). On top of it they rarely have time to cook, but "eat on the go" and buy their lunches, dinners, and breakfasts ($). When all is said and done, and you add it all up and do a true point by point comparison ( not just of dollars and cents but health and satisfaction too ) I think the homesteader/farmer/gardener/wood chopper comes out ahead every time.


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## Declan (Jan 18, 2015)

I've never understood the drive to a gym to walk on the treadmill logic.


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## Vickie44 (Jul 27, 2010)

"It's funny that when I talk to people about homesteading they usually comment about it seeming like so much hard work to chop wood, cut hay and hoe a garden. I ask how many hours they have to work to heat their homes and feed their families and when I do the math it seems like I come out ahead. On top of it, they usually belong to gyms or put in time/effort jogging or taking fitness classes to stay in shape ($). Then they need long elaborate vacations to decompress from the mental stress of their jobs($$). On top of it they rarely have time to cook, but "eat on the go" and buy their lunches, dinners, and breakfasts ($). When all is said and done, and you add it all up and do a true point by point comparison ( not just of dollars and cents but health and satisfaction too ) I think the homesteader/farmer/gardener/wood chopper comes out ahead every time."

_________________________________________________________

This is so true!


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## DEKE01 (Jul 17, 2013)

Based on all that has been written so far...

If the OP is trying to figure out if gardening has value to the person, the family, the home, the spirit, by all means garden. It isn't just about money, when you add in the other stuff, it is well worth it as long as you garden frugally and smart. 

If the OP is trying to just figure out how to be more dollars ahead by the end of the year, gardening is not a big money maker for the family. I would suggest a small scale garden, where you just grow the things you find especially tasty and fun. Tomatoes, peppers, and cukes fit that for me. Buy the rest, stuff that is cheap and not significantly better if home grown, like potatoes. And then get a part time job, even at min wage, and you'll be dollars ahead at the end of the year.


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## NEfarmgirl (Jan 27, 2009)

I would say a garden does save us money. We have tiller that has "cost" us about $20 a year plus the 1/2 gallon of gas we used to till the whole season. We put down newspapers, grass clippings, cardboard and straw over the garden to save time with weeding and help hold moisture in the ground; we watered twice this year since it was rainy. We don't spend hours weeding and even though we still have to pick the food and can it we feel it is well worth the time and energy spent doing it. We are also not consuming pesticides and other chemicals so in the long run health wise we are saving money. I put up around 100 jars of salsa and it came out to be around 15 cents per jar; most of that was the cost of the lid since I had the jars already. In the store the same size jar would cost much more and doesn't taste as good. I spent around $4 on 8 tomato plants and was able to can the salsa, 8 (8 oz) jars tomato paste, 15 pints of ketchup, 25 pints diced tomatoes, 34 quarts of quartered tomatos, and 8 qts of sauce. I gave tomatoes away and still have green ones in the house ripening. I have a feeling I missed something, but even with what I listed I think I got my money's worth out of the plants? When I can, I do multiple batches of things one after another to save on electricity. If I can keep the jars moving through the hot water in the pan it saves on heating up a new batch each time. If I run the bwb I can pull water from it to use in the pressure canner when the bwb is done. Sorry to be long, but when we garden we try to make it as easy a possible to save time and energy.


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## ldc (Oct 11, 2006)

Until recently, I grew 1/2 of what I eat for about 15 yrs. Simple inputs: shovel, yard debris, a little gypsum for our clay soil. Grew tons of produce which was canned or frozen, or "eaten out of hand" in situ or at home! With 5cent-to 20cent seeds from the dollar stores, it was a cheap way to get quality food.


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## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

In response to the op:

My small garden has produced $540 to $600 a year for the last three years. My garden is only 20 x 20. last year I had to buy a new watering system, timers, soaker hoses, and tools, as well as seeds and transplants. Subtracting what I produced from my costs I was left $80 in the red. 

This year we built a new shed, a deck, a new fence, wood retainer walls, two trellises, as well as buying rolled fencing, t posts, paint, hardware, blueberry plants, and perennial herbs. Investment for this year was $700. 

All the long term investment should be paid off next year. Annual cost for the garden are $150 so the garden should save us $400 a year in grocery bills once the long term investments are paid off. Working in the garden saves money on a gym and all the fresh air and peaceful time save on doctors and shrinks. I find god in nature so I save on a church. Tools are a mix of store bought, yard sale finds, garbage finds, and hand-me-downs. most of the fence material was found in the garbage. 

If you grow organic then I suggest you go to local health food store and see what they are charging and apply those prices to what you produce because their prices are what would come out of your pocket if you had to go to the health food store to buy the same thing. I try to average the prices of the regular supermarket, whole foods health food store, trader joes health food store, and the local farmers market to get a monetary value for what I grow. Keep a garden journal and log all you produce and all the materials you have to pay for.


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## Txsteader (Aug 22, 2005)

I've never actually done the math but I guesstimate that, in the end, costs of homegrown may be only slightly more than store bought. 

But for us, costs don't matter. Quality and flavor superiority are worth any extra costs. There's just no comparison between my homegrown heirloom tomato and what passes for a tomato in the store.


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## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

Txsteader said:


> There's just no comparison between my homegrown heirloom tomato and what passes for a tomato in the store.


 amen to that.


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## FLAndy (Nov 6, 2015)

I agree with everyone. From a pure cost accounting basis using MACRS (Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System) to depreciate out equipment and covering all inputs including land, labor, etc, the garden may not yield a huge profit. However, any business manager worth their salt will take into account all variables to determine a profitable course of action. Using Net Present Value alone to make a business decision is a poor idea at best. Other variables such as the intangibles are hard to quantify, but can be just as important. For example, if the garden is a hobby then the labor cost can be mitigated or even dismissed, possible health benefits, better quality/tasting food, etc
I for one know that working in the garden, woods, pastures, woodshop, etc have saved me literally thousands of dollars in therapy and bail money when balanced against a 60hr work week staring at financial data


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

all I know is that when I was living by the skin of my teeth, if I didn't have that garden I was mighty hungry.....

now I don't have to worry about going hungry but I sure as heck make sure to still grow a lot of food even if I don't need it...its insurance for me...never sat down to figure the dollar amounts saved but I know I couldn't of eaten without it back then


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## LittleRedHen (Apr 26, 2006)

I do not buy fertilizers and i do not even buy hardly any for pesticides (i use dawn dish soap in a bucket of water for most stuff) I have cows so i use their manure. I might spend $500 a year to replace tools, gas for tiller, some flats of seeds or bags of soil for starting my own, I buy 30 bunches of onions from Dixondale etc. but for that last year I harvested $2400 worth of produce which was comparing the prices to veggies at a box store which was not organic and it was usually beat up looking. So i i bought at a health food store or something the price would have doubled.

FOR ME-its beyond worth it! not to mention the exercise and vitamin D i get... therapy and better health! saving money on future doctor visits


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

homesteadpastor said:


> Has anybody figured out how much money you save gardening versus shopping at the grocery store?


For me personally, it is not cheaper (my labor has value) but I don't know if or how to calculate the amount of money I do NOT or will not spend at the doctors office due to short and long term illnesses/effects of consuming chemical laden foods.



> I'm just curious about what you would save during the farming months and then what you might save if you canned for the winter. I know this is speculative on what you eat, how much you eat and grow, as well as how much you're growing...but just a general idea would be great.


I will spend MORE money starting my gardens (again) than I would spend eating "food" from Aldi's BUT.......again I have no idea how much money I will NOT spend at the doctors office, meds, etc because I choose to grow my own food, in my own soil, w/o chemicals additives etc.

Typically in a season (Zone 5) I would spend around 200 hours (or more) growing from seed, planting, weeding, harvesting, canning.
At minimum wage (7.50 an hour) X just 200 hours = 1500.00
It is MUCH cheaper to buy "food" at the store......but the value of knowing seed to jar what is going on with my food, is priceless.


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## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

how would it cost more? if you get double for your veg because it is organic like you say it would be $4,800. you say you invest $500 and your labor is $1,500. You made $2,800 extra in the process which is great.


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## whistech (Sep 11, 2014)

I grow a small garden for enjoyment, exercise and vegetables that taste better than anything I could buy at the grocery store. I grow what I like to eat and where I live I have something growing year round. I freeze or can whatever excess I have so I can eat good all year long. Right now I have snow peas, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, cabbage, and strawberries growing. The cabbage, broccoli, snow peas and cauliflower will be ready to pick toward the end of this month.  The strawberries were planted in early October and I should be able to start picking them at the end of March. My little garden gives me more enjoyment than almost anything other than my grandkids.


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

City Bound said:


> how would it cost more? if you get double for your veg because it is organic like you say it would be $4,800. you say you invest $500 and your labor is $1,500. You made $2,800 extra in the process which is great.


I'm saying to grow organically, my LABOR alone for the season would be 1500.00......that does not include, see, compost, equipment, electricity, etc.

It would be cheaper to buy the food at Aldis, than to do the above.....

BUT


> For me personally, it is not cheaper (my labor has value) but I don't know if or how to calculate the amount of money I do NOT or will not spend at the doctors office due to short and long term illnesses/effects of consuming chemical laden foods.


I hope that is more clear


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## King Valley (Mar 27, 2012)

Growing your own wins every time.


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## wwubben (Oct 13, 2004)

Most people do not save money by gardening and they didn't intend to in the beginning.You can save tons of dough if you want to.Use hand tools and mulch.Save seed and tubers.My potatoes,tomatoes,green beans,apples,pears,raspberries,elderberries,mulberries,and rhubarb are all real cheap to grow and preserve.You don't buy things to can to save money.Raise everything yourself.The peace of working in your garden and orchard is a great bonus.


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## light rain (Jan 14, 2013)

We are an older couple on a fixed budget and I am firmly convinced that we would not have as healthy a diet if we didn't garden. We grow lots of tomatoes and peppers. Beans, onions and greens are grown too! Tomatoes are a good source of vitamins for the eyes. Nothing better than fresh picked tomatoes that haven't traveled 500 miles and 4 days to get to you. A lot of the vegetables are picked at an unripe stage to not rot before they're sold at market. I understand the reasoning but I also understand the difference in taste of a tomato picked ripe and one picked unripe... :hohum:

I've got a couple of apple trees close to begin fruiting and I can't wait to start picking our own apples. Last weekend I bought 2 Honey Crisp apples and just about choked when I looked at the grocery store receipt. $4. They are big and beautiful but I will probably never be so unobservant again... :nono:

There is research that gardening may expose us to bacteria that help temper our mood and our immune systems. Also, if I stay away from the stores I avoid a lot of calorie and junk food temptation by just not being in arm's reach... If people have a place to grow some of their food and choose not that is their option. In the same breath I will also say I really don't want to hear about the quality of food in the store and how high their doctor bills are... Good nutritious food is not a guarantee of good health but it is primary first step in that direction. It's just commonsense.


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## cfuhrer (Jun 11, 2013)

wwubben said:


> You don't buy things to can to save money.


I do. For example: it's much cheaper to buy a case of in-season tomatoes to make tomato paste than it is to buy the manufactured tomato paste.


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## sandj81 (Apr 10, 2014)

Agreed. I think it's cheaper. We only have room for several small gardens. We chose to do raised beds and this year I plan on adding quite a few containers (which I saved from some of the hanging baskets I had last year) The raised beds didn't cost too much. The railroad ties were free from dhs work and the dirt was 25$ for a whole truck load. We had to amend the soil but we have composted chicken manure so that wasn't a cost. For the containers this year we obviously won't need a whole truckload of dirt so I plan on using lots of rabbit poo (getting buns very soon) with just a small amount of actual dirt added. Not sure if I will buy a bag or two from tsc or if I'll be able to get some for free from somewhere. Either way Cost will be minimal. My gardens don't require anything more than hand tools so that saves money too. I like to go out and tend the gardens so I don't figure in my time. I can't grow as much as I'd like to bc of space constraints but whatever I can grow myself is a bonus. To help make up what I can't grow I have a great relationship with one of the local farm stands and he gets me bushels of whatever I want for only a few dollars more than what he pays. I then can that and I have fresh local veggies/fruits year round. Not as good as growing it myself but it's the best I can do at the moment and it beats the heck out of the produce you get at the store.


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Summer of 2014 was my last garden to date. I had a total input of about $300. I think we canned and froze about 5 times that amount in produce, ate all we wanted during that summer and gave some away besides. 

Most of that input was seeds but maybe 10% for incidentals such as freezer bags, canning jar lids, that kind of thing. 

I had an old tiller from the 1980s that still runs and is still in use today that I paid maybe $400 for way back then. I didn't really use it much but it worked things up to get it all started. I have an old wheel hoe that got a lot more use than the tiller that my dad gave me years ago. It's older than I am and should outlive me. I've had a few hand tools like forever,... shovel, fork, rake, a couple different kinds of hoes, watering cans, that kind of thing. That stuff lasts a looooooong time if you take care of it.

Most of the work was done by hand but keeping after it all on pretty much a daily basis didn't require as much work as people make it out to be. Weeding is a real chore if you let the weeds get big. Running through with the stirrup hoe or even quickly by hand when they're very small is way less of a hassle and doesn't take that long. I think some of the longest days were harvesting and preserving, and some of that would need done if we had bought produce at a farmers market anyway.

People can make gardening very expensive by "needing" every tool known to mankind to make it happen. People can also garden very cheaply if they are so inclined. A pretty good sized garden can be done without any machinery at all if one decides to do so. 

It can be expensive. It can be cheap. It's not a lot different than many other things. How much does it cost to live in a house? How much does it cost to drive a car? How much money do you need to live comfortably? Ask the person that makes $500k/yr and the answers might be a little different than the person that manages to get by on $5k/yr. 

Good luck!


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

When you add everything up, I spend about 20 times more on gardening that what I could have store-bought veggies for, but then I was much better at northern gardening than I am at Texas gardening. In fact we've decided to let the big garden lie fallow next year and just do a few things in the raised bed.


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## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

light rain said:


> I've got a couple of apple trees close to begin fruiting and I can't wait to start picking our own apples. Last weekend I bought 2 Honey Crisp apples and just about choked when I looked at the grocery store receipt. $4. They are big and beautiful but I will probably never be so unobservant again... :nono:
> 
> There is research that gardening may expose us to bacteria that help temper our mood and our immune systems. Also, if I stay away from the stores I avoid a lot of calorie and junk food temptation by just not being in arm's reach... If people have a place to grow some of their food and choose not that is their option. In the same breath I will also say I really don't want to hear about the quality of food in the store and how high their doctor bills are... Good nutritious food is not a guarantee of good health but it is primary first step in that direction. It's just commonsense.


 store bought apple are a rip off.

The apple tree I planted is starting to fruit. Had 60 apples on the tree but only 20 made it to maturity because of windfall, crowding, and squirrels.

Next year I should get double and if I thin the clusters I should get a greater yield. 

At $2 an apple the tree has already paid for itself.


I thought it was just me. I am glad to hear that others think there are heath benefits to being around dirt. I always feel better when I turn my soil in spring and smell the sweet earth.


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## FarmChix (Mar 3, 2013)

TnAndy said:


> If you factor EVERYTHING in ( I mean tools like tiller/tractor/even hand tools), I doubt anyone saves much of anything.....especially if you include your time and figure you might be earning minimum wage doing something else. People will tell you they save, but they simply are leaving a lot out of the equation, I assure ya. Given enough years to amortize out your tools, canning jars, canners, freezers, etc....you 'might' come out a little ahead....but only a little. It's simply hard to beat a large factory at anything, cost wise...and that includes factory farming.
> 
> But to me, saving money is NOT the point.
> 
> ...


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This! It's not about saving money for me, it's about knowing what's going in it and being in control. I don't save money by baking all of our bread, either, but I bake every Sunday.


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## TheKingsTable (Jan 13, 2016)

I started gardening about 8 years ago as a way to save money on food while we were broke newlyweds. But we had no idea what we were doing, spent about $300, and probably didn't save much (if any) in the end. We do better now, but we have also been very blessed with supplies. Nearby family let us borrow a tractor and tiller. I've been given hand-me-downs of a water canner, pressure canner, and other kitchen supplies. They still work great -- the owners just no longer used them. A friend gave us a dozen bags of wood chips when they redid their yard. Another friend gave us a huge rain barrel. I buy a few seeds every year of new varieties to try and invest in a couple of edible perennial trees/bushes. So money spent is less than $100/year. It's slow going. I would rather spend a bunch at one time and have the garden of my dreams immediately, but financially, I need to wait until I find great deals or someone to barter with.

So do I save money? Yes, but only if you don't count my time invested. I'm very hands-on in the garden because I enjoy it. I like being out there, pruning, mulching, and harvesting. I'm currently unemployed because of health reasons, so I think the time in my garden is well-spent. It provides us with healthy food, and it also helps my health.

How much do I save? No idea. This is the first year that I'm actually keeping track of money spent and hope to keep track of how much produce comes from it.


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## Sandi (Oct 4, 2011)

I love these threads, it's like therapy just reading folks talking about why they garden and how it adds up for them. I spent a lot of money when I first started gardening. Those catalogues are slick and even good folks selling things encourage you to try the newest thing, buy more and bigger. It's so hard to resist. But I'm training myself to think differently and saving more money every year.

It's a combination of growing the things that are expensive to buy or hard to get, not eating out of season when those things are pricey at the store, preserving, and doing things by hand.

I don't use anything but hand tools. We have 2 500 gallon cisterns for rainwater which were a big expense when my FIL installed them, but are amazing. I consider the organic grains I sprout to supplement my laying hens a garden cost because that's where my fertilizer comes from. But I've carefully calculated the cost and it's still half of what pastured organic eggs cost at the store when I have to buy them in winter. I try to eat less eggs in winter, now. We save a lot of money on greens, which around here can be grown all year in some form or another. 

Seeds were a big cost for me but slowly I'm developing better habits and networks for sharing and trading. Doing more saving every year as I get the hang of it. Some places even have seeds for free at the library:
https://unbalancing.wordpress.com/2015/12/30/gardening-on-a-budget-10-ways-to-save-on-seeds/

We save the most in summer time, several hundred dollars a month for a family of 4 since we would otherwise buy organic. As others have said, it's also my primary form of exercise, and a good one, so I don't go to the gym or spend wasted time doing exercise to know purpose. I do occasionally pay for childcare so I can garden, which seems ridiculous but it's my me time.


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## ETurbanfarmer (Jan 20, 2016)

I used raised beds made from cheap or scrap wood, the soil comes from compost and rabbit manure mixure. The seeds I tend to buy online or at the farmers supply store in large quantities and in January and Februay I will go to Sams buy a couple of 600 count of 2oz paper cups.  I will start my seeds in there planting all I can. What I do not use myself will be placed for sale at our yearly garage sale in March or April. This usually generates enough to offset most of the yearly expenses for the garden and rabbits. We estimate we save a hundred a month in food costs.

As others have said the monetary gain is not the best savings the exercise and other benfits more than make up for everything.

Hoping our apple trees take off this year last couple of years all we have gotten are blooms.


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## light rain (Jan 14, 2013)

Hey, at least you got flowers. I hope we both get something edible from our apple trees this year. Two or my trees are from seeds and may not be a good eating apple. But they still could be good apple trees to graft upon. The other is a dwarf that should have a few apples to prove it's worth.

Currants should produce well this year. I've gotta learn different ways to use them because right off the bush is... :yuck:


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## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

Last spring my peach trees froze after they set little peaches...I was so bummed. Praying for a warmer spring this year for sure.


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## ETurbanfarmer (Jan 20, 2016)

Spring was rough for us last year we had snow twice last March and then around the first of April it rained almost every day til mid June. Made it to where it was hard to get out and tend to the garden and we did not have the beds last year. It was due to the rain I decided that doing 2x2 raised beds in the back yard would be the way to go.


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

I have one coworker that everytime I bring in homegrown goodness to share, says that she wants to garden when she retires.....All I can think is 'Why do you need to be retired to garden?' I've done it my entire life, through work and school and can find the time to do it.


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## Miss Kay (Mar 31, 2012)

If it's really all about money then make a list of the fruits and vegetable you buy, starting with your favorites and work you way down. Put a check mark by the most expensive and mark out the cheap ones like potatoes, beans, etc. Plant the most of what you like the best and freeze or can enough to last all year. supplement that with the cheap stuff from the store. 

Fruits will really save you money. We love blackberries and strawberries so we save big time on those plus you can easily take runners from those to increase your plants for free. Start small and build a little as you go. You don't need a tractor or tiller. You need a shovel and a hoe. Dig what you can and take care of it (keep the weeds and grass out). When you get good at that, work up another area and keep increasing your garden until it takes up the amount of time you are willing to spend each week. If you enjoy it, as most of us here do, you'll soon find yourself planting for the sake of planting and not necessarily for the financial benefit. 

For me, I love to grab my basket and run out to the garden each evening to see what I want to cook tonight. It's winter here (if you can call 80 degrees winter) so it's mostly greens but my husband loves a pretty little salad made of fresh curly lettuce, radish, onions, with my homemade dressing made of my fresh herbs and a little cheese. To add to that I may cook up a "mess" of kale, swiss chard, or other greens. Next month, we'll start planting the summer crops and we'll have a huge assortment of vegetables to choose from every night. 

I don't keep up with how much we take out of the garden but it's daily. I even share with family and friends and I don't worry that it costs me. I have it so why not share. I get a lot more from my garden than food though. It's what I do now that I am retired. If I'm not out working in the garden, I'm thinking about it!


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Miss Kay said:


> If it's really all about money then make a list of the fruits and vegetable you buy, starting with your favorites and work you way down. Put a check mark by the most expensive and *mark out the cheap ones like potatoes, beans, etc.* Plant the most of what you like the best and freeze or can enough to last all year. supplement that with the cheap stuff from the store.
> 
> Fruits will really save you money. We love blackberries and strawberries so we save big time on those plus you can easily take runners from those to increase your plants for free. Start small and build a little as you go. You don't need a tractor or tiller. You need a shovel and a hoe. Dig what you can and take care of it (keep the weeds and grass out). When you get good at that, work up another area and keep increasing your garden until it takes up the amount of time you are willing to spend each week. If you enjoy it, as most of us here do, you'll soon find yourself planting for the sake of planting and not necessarily for the financial benefit.
> 
> ...


Some might depend on just where you happen to be what is "cheap".

I used to think potatoes were cheap. And then when I see the price of them here, they don't look so cheap at all. It's not uncommon to see them priced somewhere near $1/pound. It wasn't that many years ago that I could get a 50 pound bag for $5. Haven't found any of those lately, at least not in this area. The people who had grown potatoes around here, for market, sold out very early. They were cheaper than $1/LB but still not quite what I'd consider "cheap". 

I used to think zucchini squash was cheap. And if there are some gardeners around you, they'll probably give you all you want while they have it. But if you don't have those people near you, they're way, way more expensive in the stores than I'm willing to pay. The other day, I saw a little blister pack of them, three small, nice looking zucchini, for like $5. OUCH!!! 

Not disagreeing with you, Miss Kay, only saying that what's cheap in one place may not be in another or what used to be cheap may not be anymore.


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## Mish (Oct 15, 2015)

Bellyman said:


> Some might depend on just where you happen to be what is "cheap".
> 
> I used to think potatoes were cheap. And then when I see the price of them here, they don't look so cheap at all. It's not uncommon to see them priced somewhere near $1/pound. It wasn't that many years ago that I could get a 50 pound bag for $5. Haven't found any of those lately, at least not in this area. The people who had grown potatoes around here, for market, sold out very early. They were cheaper than $1/LB but still not quite what I'd consider "cheap".
> 
> ...


Agree completely. I about choked a couple months ago - during the height of pepper production - when our local grocery had Bell peppers 2/$5.00. I don't know how much money I saved on Bell peppers alone since I had 6 plants because my kids really love them. 

In my area, grocery prices are reaching highway robbery levels. I probably don't save as much money gardening because our water rates are so high, but I physically cannot hand over $2.50 for a single pepper. Can't do it.


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## ETurbanfarmer (Jan 20, 2016)

A few weeks ago we were able to get russets for 99 cents for a 5# bag. I bought a 4 pound bag of reds the other day for 99 cents. Am actually going to use them as seed. Zucchini is 1.70 a pound here. I agree though it depends on your region as to what is cheap and what is not.


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## Miss Kay (Mar 31, 2012)

And I suppose you never know what the price is going to be down the line at the time of planting. The weather and various other things can happen to change the prices unexpectantly. That's why I plant what I like and what grows well here and not worry about the rest.


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## ETurbanfarmer (Jan 20, 2016)

Miss Kay said:


> And I suppose you never know what the price is going to be down the line at the time of planting. The weather and various other things can happen to change the prices unexpectantly. That's why I plant what I like and what grows well here and not worry about the rest.


Last year we had a lot of rain here in East Texas and it killed many of the gardens so it raised the price on many of the usually common things here, like squash


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## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

I am not sure if potatoes are cheap. Potato seed is expensive though, like way expensive. Supermarket potatoes usually turn to a stinky rotted mush if you try to plant them. 

I was strongly criticized for growing potatoes and onions one year. The person was saying that it is cheaper to buy them. I don't know about that because I was growing red Spanish onions and white sweet italian onions that I love and which are more expensive then the more common yellow ones. 

I don't have the space for potatoes so it does make it expensive to grow them because a zucchini or some kale plants would produce five times the amount of food in the same space.

I planted a fig tree this year. I hope to get many figs. I love figs but cant afford them in the store. I buy a few as a treat and that is all I can afford. The fig tree will eventually put out $80 or more of figs. 

Plants that give high yields in small spaces are mega money savers. kale, chard, pole beans (goodness are these plants productive in small spaces), zucchini (they take about four sq feet and kick out tons of food), carrots (wow, can you get a lot of carrots from a small space), cucumbers (grown on a trellis they produce a lot and take up little space). Intercropping saves money and makes money.


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## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

Start up cost can be low if you keep them low.

When I first started gardening I had no money and no land to dig. I went around on garbage day looking for material. Spring cleaning is a gold mine for discarded gardening stuff. I found worn out plastic planters (some with dirt still in them), scraps of wood, old garden hoses, and old trellises. I even found sage and lavender plants. I found lots of free dirt. In the end I just had to pay for transplants and a few parts to repair the hose. Drilled holes in one of the old hoses to make a watering system. 

Eventually I made a rain barrel from a garbage can. I had to buy a new can to keep the water sanitary. Turned the lid upside down and drilled holes in it, this was the basin that the drain pipe flooded into. This cut water bills. 

That summer I did not have to go to the produce section at all. Before I had the garden I had anxiety looking at the prices in the super market because I could not afford anything. After the garden I did not have anxiety. The money I saved from the garden help me afford the other thing I needed like bread and eggs.


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

I remember the height of gardening season, 2014. It was a good year and we had a good sized and very productive garden.

It was kind of a neat feeling when we did our occasional shopping trips to know that there wasn't a lot we really needed. Most of those kinds of trips were for some real basic stuff like salt or yeast or a few extra canning jar lids ... or... for treats!  

Having that big garden going sure did take the pressure off of the grocery bill, though.


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## light rain (Jan 14, 2013)

The sweet cayenne peppers we grew last summer were very productive and true to their word, they were sweet and not hot. We used them green, orange and red. One plant to a 5 gallon drilled bucket worked out well. We still have some cut and frozen in the freezer. 

I am ordering some dwarf tomato seeds for us and for our DD and DSL. They will be growing in containers this coming garden season. The description on the site says these particular varieties won't go over 24". I grew/grow currant tomatoes and was surprised that the plant itself will easily top 6 ft. 

Last year I read about using UV resistant pvc conduit and did two arches with pole beans. It was a winner in my estimation. I bought 48" rebar, pounded it into the earth by half and put the conduit over it. I would like to buy a few 10 ft. sections and cut them in half in the store parking lot to put in the pickup but I really don't know if I would have someone coming out screaming and shaking their fists... :hrm:

I do wonder why vegetables and fruit have gone up so high $$$ in the last couple of years. Is it because the US is shipping more out of the country or what??? I have balked at paying 50 cents a pound for winter squash and saw it for about $1.40/lb. recently. That to me is outrageous.


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## homesteadpastor (Jan 27, 2014)

Does anybody know roughly what yield a green bean plant will offer? I know there's different types and climates... Just an average. I've heard a quart of beans per plant, but I'd like to hear what other people have experienced.


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

I spend around $75 to $100 a month on grocerys now.


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## Knight9 (Dec 29, 2012)

I share the same thoughts as many of you. I don't know that it is much cheaper to garden, if at all, but that's not the point for me. And certainly if you include the pre-packaged foods in your normal grocery runs, it can be a lot cheaper! It's hard to put a price on personal satisfaction of a job well done and the knowledge that your food is YOURS


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## farmerDale (Jan 8, 2011)

My buddy and I did some figuring yesterday. Actual, hard numbers. We came up with a 5 to 6 thousand dollar savings in a yearly grocery bill because of gardening. Course this depends on your food prices and your family size.

Heck, if we can do that up here in a 120 day season, there is no excuse for y'all in the more temperate areas.


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## homesteadpastor (Jan 27, 2014)

I'm going to attempt to keep track of this year's garden expenses and harvest. My garden plans somewhat morphed into a more ambitious task than I originally anticipated due to certain circumstances. I've had my garden tilled with my old tiller and used the 2 cycle mix I already have for the weed water so I'm not counting it as an expense. I tilled in a good deal of rabbit manure for fertilizer so no expense there either. Today I was able to make it out and buy some plants and seeds and spent $33.47. More than I was expecting, but you know how it is when you're putting plants and seeds in the buggy. 

It's all basic staple foods that we generally eat and buy like tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, salads and whatnot. With each seed packet only about a dollar, I figure the end result saves me about $12-15. I also tilled another plot for watermelons. Again, seed packet about a dollar and watermelons usually sell for about $5 each so my kids will be getting fresh watermelon this summer for pennies each. 

Looking forward to seeing how much I will get for the year especially since we're pretty warm here until November/December time.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

homesteadpastor said:


> Does anybody know roughly what yield a green bean plant will offer? I know there's different types and climates... Just an average. I've heard a quart of beans per plant, but I'd like to hear what other people have experienced.


Might be easier to estimate by the row. Our fifty foot rows have yielded about five grocery bags per picking season, in a good year, without rabbits or groundhogs. Blue Lake 274, nearly always inoculated.

geo


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

One bush bean plant may give me a handful: an 8 foot long row may give me 2 gallons before they are sorted through and snapped. Then again, I plant wide rows. And, some years the weather is bad and then the plants bear less.

Climbing beans will give a better yield if the growing season is long enough, but I find the hot, dry summers often reduce the yields ad so I have been growing bush beans and planting for a Fall crop and a Spring crop instead of growing one crop of runner beans.
....................................

This year I spent about $15 on my main garden seeds, but then I went back and spent just as much on a few luxury vegetables like artichokes. How much you spend on your garden depends on your budget. I CAN and HAVE spent as little as $5 or $10 a year, but we are more comfortable this year and my garden is also my recreation, so I am going to enjoy it more than I do in some years.:nanner:


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