Is food cheaper to grow?

[ninnymary]

I plan on having a small veggie garden this spring. I know there are many benefits to veggie gardening such as fresher, better tasting, organic, enjoyment, etc.

I was wondering if the veggies are cheaper to grow than store bought. We have a small farmers market in town with what I think are reasonable prices. My husband keeps telling me that it is cheaper for me to buy because when stuff is in season prices are low. He says there is too much work in growing to make it worthwhile.

What do you think? I plan to use starts since I'm not at the level yet to try seeds. I want to be able to have a good response! when he grumbles about putting in compost, drip system, etc.!

Thanks
Mary

 

[wifezilla]

Well, there are times when it was cheaper to grow it myself and times when I am better off buying from the farmer's market.

What was the difference?

What I was able to grow easily on my land
Food prices for what I want
The time required
The way I grew the plants
Availability locally of specific foods
Healthiness of home grown vs commercial grown foods

Examples
WIN: Rhubarb in the store is expensive. I grow it easily under some trees in the back yard. All it requires is an occasional watering. This is a no brainer.

LOSE: The soil in Colorado is hard and compact. It takes a lot of work to loosen up the soil deep enough to allow the carrots to grow. I did all the work, planted carrots, and between the bugs, the soil re-compacting, and crummy weather, I got 4 carrots. 4. Pathetic. These are not worth my time.

WIN: I got a grape vine on clearance at a home & garden store that was going out of business. I paid 3 or 4 dollars for it. I planted it and watered it. No other special attention was paid to the vine. It started giving me grapes after 2 years. It is now huge 7 years later. Last year I harvested over 50lbs of grapes from one vine. (We actually have 2...the other one was also a clearance, charlie brown plant.) Since it only required a bit of trimming here and there AND it now covers a shade arbor, this was a big win.

WIN and LOSE: Beans. I got a few dragon tongue bean seeds from a seed swap. I planted them in an experimental garden that uses pond water irrigation in trays. They went NUTS. Lots of tasty beans. I ate most of them myself (but my ducks also helped. If they saw me anywhere near the beans they started begging. We liked them a LOT!) Now, for my other bean patch...I planted it in the ground in the front yard. Between the pill bugs, the earwigs, and the slugs, I got 2 beans from 6 plants. This spring I will be planting ALL my beans in the pond irrigation system using trays and ditch the bean patch in bugland.

LOSE: Zucchini. I have a small growing area. Zucchini vines take up a LOT of space. Since I can get them 4/$1 at the farmer's market it really doesn't make sense for me to waste the space I could be using for other things I CAN'T get cheaply like heirloom tomatoes.

NEW EXPERIMENT: I am planting ground cherries this year. You can't buy them in the stores. Since a pack of seeds is $3, I think it is worth a try. If I can get a halfway descent harvest, this is a win.

WIN: Knowing your plants aren't coated with chemicals, raised in conditions that lead to bacterial contamination (E. Coli from spinach anyone??) and aren't artificially ripened (and nutritionally deficient)? Total win!

So, I guess my reply can be condensed in to a very helpful "it depends"

 

[Ridgerunner]

In my opinion, a big part of the answer depends on your start-up costs. If you buy tillers, fencing, material for staking, soil, materials to make raised beds, compost, containers, lamps for starting seeds, fertilizer, what ever, the costs can get pretty high very quickly. Pressure canners and all those jars, lids and rings, or maybe a freezer can run your costs up too. If you have the area, compost (say from chickens, grass trimings, leaves, kitchen wastes), good rich soil to start, and just use a shovel you already have to turn the soil, the costs can be pretty low. If you count the number of hours you spend you will probably find that you get very little per hour that you spend working in the garden. You also have to watch what you actually grow if you are counting the cost of your labor. An example is that dried beans take a lot more time due to shelling them than growing green beans, especially if you look at the time spent per serving.

If you keep your start-up costs down and look at it as doing something you enjoy as recreation, therapy, and enjoyment with a side benefit of better tasting food than you can get in a supermarket (not going to discuss a Farmer's Market) then it can be pretty cheap.

 

[bid]

About 10 years ago I told myself the same thing your husband said..."It's cheaper for me to buy the stuff." In season it can be cheaper sometimes, but what about out of season? Has he been to the grocery store lately? Higher prices and smaller quantities!

There is always work involved with a garden, but the work and cost, or investment , is the greatest in getting started. After a few years it really doesn't take nearly as much effort or money (I spent $9.53 on the veggie garden last year) to get ready to plant for me as I use no till. I still have to turn in compost, straighten up rows and beds etc., but it is a welcome labor of love. I would love to be out there right now...I am tired of the cold already.

I can grow enough beans, cukes for pickles, relish etc, usually tomatos for sauce, corn, a few herbs etc. and can, dry or freeze so that we don't have to buy most of these items. We aren't even close to self sufficient, but it does save a few dollars.

Go ahead and start some seeds. They are not that difficult and much less expensive than starts. Besides, you have to start sometime. You can still use starts as well. Seeds usually show up before starts anyway. Good luck!

 

[boggybranch]

For me...it's more about regaining my sanity by working in the garden. But it's sure nice to have TASTY, fresh, vine riped tomatoes 'running out the kazoo', when they are $2.00 a pound at the grocery store and the pack of seed costs less than that.

 

[digitS']

Probably better go with the argument, "And, what price do you place on the pleasure I have in the garden?"

However, if you get all the pleasure and he pays the price of all the heavy work . . .

I'm a wimp. I cannot do all sorts of heavy work. But, I can garden even without assigning backbreaking stuff to others. If you want compost, maybe you should plan on moving it yourself and limiting the size of the garden to match your abilities. If you want water for your plants, a garden hose doesn't cost much.

After you have a few seasons as a gardener, you will find crops that you can grow for a lot less than you could purchase them.

Steve

 

[jamespm_98]

I would say a garden is a labor of love. Unless you enjoy the process of growing your own food and learning from mistakes the garden will cost you more than purchasing the veggies. I mean this not only from a cost standpoint, but also from the aggravation. If you see it as work it is work, however if you love to learn and want to know where your food comes from than a garden is wonderful. Seeing your little seedlings sprout, caring for your plants and the excitment of tasting the first vegetables of the summer is a feeling that cannot be described unless you experience it.

Here is my advice:

Start small, consider containers. Maybe a tomato plant, some squash or whatever you like. You probably have some suitable containers already.

Or consider a small raised bed. If you have room to garden then you probably have enough yard waste and kitchen scraps etc... to support a raised bed with compost. Three eight foot 2X4s and eight nails gets you started for around $10. Cut one of the 2X4s in half and nail them together and you have a 4X8 raised bed. One 4X8 bed planted intensively will yeild an amazing amount of veggies. I would say two tomato plants, one squash, one zuchinni and a pack of pole or bush beans and maybe something for fun like carrots or a specialty veggie and you are up and gardening. Go ahead and cover it with a layer of card board or newspaper now then pile on the leaves and yard waste and the ground will be super soft by spring, no digging, just plant through your layer of leaves.
Look for seeds on sale, I know my local Lowes already has them out. Look for organizations selling plants, we can get tomatoes locally from our high school for about $1.50 a plant.

Go organic, compost is free, good for the enviroment and you will get great plants. Start a small compost pile with your kitchen scraps and yard waste and you have free fertilizer.

Save some seeds, and next years garden is free. ( hint: look for heirloom or open pollantated varieties)

I would say for less than $20 you could be up and gardening. Where people go wrong is they purchase a $300 tiller, plow up 1/2 of an acre, buy $200 in seed and $100 in fertilizer and expect the garden to pay for itself. Typically have poor results the first year because it is too much to care for, can't support the watering needs and weeds run rampant. They then give up. This describes me around 12 years ago. I now have raised beds, mulched and easy to care for. I now use tons of organic matter so my garden is no till and I love to garden! The $300 tiller is in the garage an only used when my wife wants a new flower bed.

My two cents worth hope it helps. Good luck and I say go for it, even if it is one tomato plant in a bucket.

 

[HiDelight]

Honestly

and I really am being honest here

growing food is not at all cheaper than buying food for me no matter how I look at it I can seriously find what I want in varios markets for much less than it costs me to grow it here ..especially since I had to import a lot of dirt and build beds ...

but if you look at the bigger picture and like Steve says the "price of pleasure" ..for me I have to do something to maintain my mental and physical and mental health and therapists are EXPENSIVE and only get on my nerves ...this it is a Heck of a lot cheaper than paying a therapist! and way more productive ..and the pleasure it brings to not only my life but those around me ..especially a 3 year old who l would rather eat freshly picked buttered carrots than candy

so in the big picture to include healthcare costs to myself ... I use gardening to secure my self the best I can ...I love the food... I grow food ...set goals meet challenges ... and growing things keeps me healthier than I would or could ever be with out it!

so my answer is yes and no! or no and yes either way I vote for doing this because you will save money in the end ..there is nothing I can think of that makes you feel "healthier"

great topic

 

[boggybranch]

True that, Hi.......very well "said".

Heck, you can buy dressed fish cheaper than you can catch them......same thing.

 

[ducks4you]

I'm going to throw in my

You should do a study, and use a spreadsheet. Find out the following:
1) cost of seeds which Includes S & H, tax (if bought locally) and gasoline to drive to get the seeds and supplies
2) cost of basic garden supplies
3) cost of permanant, perennial plants that you want but are hard to grow from seed
examples: grape vines, berry bushes

Pretend that you are on a fixed income and you cannot make an unplanned garden purchases.

Add in the cost of your time spent preparation of soil, planting, tending and harvesting. It should be something like what you earn/hour.

It's hard to put a cost on your pleasure eating stuff that you've grown yourself. It's also hard to put a cost on the enjoyment of the workout that you get from gardening.

I think that your question is a good one. There are a lot of couples where one is the visionary, and the other is practical, and this is certainly a practical question.

..most of us here would NEVER do this!!!!!