Growing your own food is a healthy way to save money and enjoy fresh produce at home. When done correctly, even the smallest backyard plot can produce copious amounts of fruits and vegetables and possibly even a significant savingto the grocery budget.
However, it takes time and patience, and a small outlay of money to buy seeds, and tools, if you need them.
Key Takeaways
- Growing herbs (mint, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme) is one way to save money, as fresh herbs can be expensive.
- If you live in an apartment or have a small backyard, consider square foot gardening.
- The National Gardening Association is a good resource for new and seasoned gardeners.
- Heirloom and organic vegetables are often more expensive than other types of plants.
- Growing a food garden takes time, commitment, and patience, but the potential outcome in produce may lower your grocery bill.
What Are the Expenses to Garden?
The total bill for a do-it-yourself veggie plot will vary by type of plant grown, the number of plants purchased, and the length of a growing season in your home region.
To calculate the true cost of starting a garden and maintaining it throughout the year, add together the following factors:
- Cost of plants or seeds
- Cost to provide nutrient-rich soil (dirt, fertilizer, and worms)
- Cost to protect and structure plants (cages, coverings, and fences)
- Cost to water plants
- Cost of tools and accessories (tiller, gloves, and spade)
The Real Return on Investment
The National Gardening Association reported that the average gardening household experiences a positive return on investment. Food gardening does have some risks. An infestation of bugs, a streak of unseasonable weather, or other nature-related problems may wreak havoc on your investment. But for most gardeners, the return on investment pays off. How much can you save? It depends on what vegetables you grow and how many crops your garden yields.
For example, one pound of organic tomatoes from Whole Foods costs $3.29 as of June 2024, but a package of organic, heirloom tomato seeds can yield multiple tomato plants over time, costs $4.99. To put it into perspective: one tomato plant may equal 10lbs to 30lbs of tomatoes.
Another bonus of home gardening? Growing your favorite vegetables and fruits may insulate you from the impact of drought and diseases that slow down production in the fields and orchards of large-scale growers across the country that ship and sell produce.
As much potential as a garden can bring to the bottom line of the average foodie, it helps research where to obtain affordable plants and seeds for your garden. Seeds can often be purchased in bulk packets, too.
Ways to Save
There are ways to stretch your dollars and it is possible to start a food garden on a shoestring budget. Below are three suggestions to get you started.
Start Early With Seeds
At a few dollars a package (or less), gardeners can give their plants a home-grown start and spread the risk over several tiny plants. Picking the strongest from the bunch for transplanting outdoors will give you a comparable alternative to that expensive plant from the nursery.
Give Square Foot Gardening a Try
This popular gardening technique isn't just highly effective at producing the healthiest plants with the smallest effort, and it's affordable, too. If you live in an apartment or have a small backyard, square foot gardening is also a space-saving garden. The costs associated with a square foot garden vary wildly, depending on materials (garden box versus ground) and what you are planting, but a small square foot garden is 4 feet by 4 feet.
Grow Only What You Need and Like to Eat
While it's nice to have an abundance of produce to share with family and friends, the upkeep of a larger-than-life garden could be too expensive and too much effort to maintain. Also, don't plant vegetables and fruits that your family doesn't eat. It may be cheap to plant rows of zucchini plants, but if no one likes zucchini, that's a lot of wasted produce.
Consider just one or two of each of the plants you like most, and avoid planting rows and rows of veggies simply because you have the room. Food waste is a common problem for overzealous gardeners.
The Bottom Line
In the end, the decision to create a food garden is a personal one. Don't feel that it's necessary to go 100% into a gardening scenario. Many gardeners grow things that are the easiest to produce like cherry tomatoes, carrots, and herbs, like mint, rosemary, thyme, and lemon verbena. Consider starting small your first season, and purchase trickier varieties of fruits and vegetables at your local farmer's market.
FAQs
WILL A FOOD GARDEN REALLY SAVE MONEY? The average household with a food garden will spend $70 a year for seeds and garden supplies; but will reap $600 worth of food. That's a $530 return on your investment. With food costs skyrocketing you can expect even greater returns in 2023.
Is growing tomatoes cost effective? ›
Whatever your tomato preference, you'll find a good cross-section of hybrid and heirloom varieties of Bonnie tomatoes. At several cents apiece at the grocery store, a homegrown cluster of grape tomatoes adds up to big savings from the garden, especially if you buy organic.
Is gardening good for the economy? ›
Consumer horticulture not only benefits the economy, it also enhances human health and well-being and the environment. Springtime is gardening time in North Carolina — and time to celebrate the value that plants bring to people's lives.
Is it cheaper to grow or buy? ›
Growing your own vegetables can be a cost-effective way to supplement your grocery shopping. Not only can it save you money in the long run, but it also offers a host of other benefits, from the satisfaction of eating food you've grown yourself to the simple joy of spending time outdoors.
Is gardening really worth it? ›
When done correctly, even the smallest backyard plot can produce copious amounts of fruits and vegetables and possibly even a significant saving to the grocery budget. However, it takes time and patience, and a small outlay of money to buy seeds, and tools, if you need them.
Does growing a garden save energy? ›
It has been proven that an effective, environmental landscape design can cool your home in summer and warm it in winter. Energy efficient landscaping can actually reduce your energy costs by up to 20%, according to the Plants for Clean Air Council.
What vegetables are cheaper to grow than buy? ›
Popular vegetables found in home gardens like cherry tomatoes, peppers, or strawberries can be costly in a grocery store but is it cheaper to grow them? The six most cost-effective vegetables to grow in a home garden are curly kale, tomatoes, lettuce, broccoli, potatoes, and asparagus, according to Country Living.
What are the best money saving garden plants? ›
To save money, grow more expensive items, like tomatoes and melons, or large quantities of vegetables that you purchase regularly. Consider vegetables like beans, beets, onions, spinach, broccoli, peppers, carrots, summer squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, peas, and Swiss chard.
Is growing potatoes cheaper than buying? ›
There are numerous reasons to grow potatoes, but there are also legitimate reasons that justify skipping out on putting them on your farm. In terms of cost-effectiveness, it would be cheaper to buy potatoes from a store than grow them yourself because of the cost of farming equipment.
Is gardening lucrative? ›
Gardening can, in fact, be very profitable but requires a lot of time and energy. On the other hand, garden money-making can consist of simply earning a little pocket change to spend on new gardening tools or something else you enjoy. Are you intrigued? Let's explore some ideas for making money from gardening.
You can, of course, start simply for a couple hundred dollars, or you can invest more significantly with a few thousand. If you're DIY'ing your garden installation, expect to spend anywhere from $25 to $50 per square foot of garden space for wood raised beds. Stone, brick, and steel will be more expensive.
What vegetables are worth growing? ›
10 Vegetables That Provide the Best Payback
- Tomatoes. These aren't the easiest to grow, but if you can nurse tomato plants through issues such as blight, septoria leaf spot, and groundhog attacks, the payoff is huge. ...
- Peppers. ...
- Cucumbers. ...
- Asparagus. ...
- Onions, Leeks, Shallots, Garlic. ...
- Lettuce. ...
- Squash. ...
- Rhubarb.
Lettuce is the one vegetable I consistently grow in my garden. If you've seen the price of lettuce lately, then you will want to go out and get a packet of seeds ASAP. One packet of seeds will cost you the same amount of money as one container of lettuce at the grocery store, which you'll inevitably throw out half of.
How to grow food cheaply? ›
Grow plants from seed.
Most vegetables, herbs and flowers can be grown from seeds or nursery starts. But if you're gardening on a budget, you'll want to grow plants from seed whenever you can. Plants grown from seed may be slower to start, but they're much less expensive than full grown plants!
Does a garden increase property value? ›
If you were thinking of planting a garden to increase property value, you may want to reconsider. You should update the exterior of your home before selling to increase its value, but adding a garden is likely not the best choice.
Are raised gardens worth it? ›
Planting in raised beds gives you more control over soil quality from the beginning, and adding compost will also ensure the best conditions for your veggies to thrive. Since raised garden beds warm up quicker in spring, you can start planting your vegetables earlier in the season.
How much does the average person spend on gardening? ›
Gardening is an enjoyable hobby many people use to allow themselves to connect with nature, focus on their well-being, and grow their own fruits, veggies, and flowers. The average household spends about $616 on lawn and gardening activities a year, based on the 2023 National Gardening Survey.
Does gardening have to be expensive? ›
Gardening can be an expensive hobby, but it doesn't have to be. These money-saving tips from industry insiders will dramatically cut the costs – from getting plants for free, to a touch of DIY. It's easy to overspend on gardening – buying costly plants, treatments, and equipment.
