Money Surplus Garden?

[GreenieCody]

Hello,

I am a new gardener. Last year was my first year growing vegetables. It was a good first year.

I have a money question. Can gardening save me money versus buying store fresh produce?

I love gardening so far, but I am worried about it being a money drain. Between fertilizer, seeds and transplants, and watering, do I still come out ahead growing my own vegetables?

I don’t want to sell anything, but I do want it to be a financial gain for my efforts.

For example, is growing my own cucumbers more affordable than buying them? (Is this true of all vegetables?)

Thanks everyone.

 

[Marck]

Greetings, welcome to the Forums.

A home garden may or may not save money. It depends on many factors. If you have receipts or can estimate out-of-pocket expenses, try to judge if you saved money last year. If not, then going forward, keep a ledger for this years expenses.

Several points to consider.
1) As you become a more experienced gardener, you may also become more efficient and productive.
2) Try to separate initial start-up costs from ongoing year-by-year expenses.
3) Save seeds from your successful crops for replanting next year.
4) Factor in quality. Often home-grown produce is better than what you can get in the store. ...but sometimes it's worse.

 

[dirtdigs]

As stated above, many many factors apply.

Gardening for me is just FUN!!!
Nothing better than walking out to my garden, picking whatever and having a tasty treat/meal.

My cucumbers do very well for me, I only have a few plants, but they really produce like crazy every year. I end up giving
about 1/2 of them away.

Financial feasibility on gardening you ask.
For me going to the store, costs money. Fuel, wear on my vehicle, cost of the product, quality of the vegetable/fruit.

Most items in every store are grown elsewhere, so I consider the cost of logistics to get the products to the store, the impact on the
planet to do that and the quality of the product.

Given the current conditions of the world economy, prices are just going up on everything it seems and if I can offset that
by a few bucks here and there plus get the nutrition, then it's all good in my little world

FWIW, I grew watermelons for the first-time last year, everybody loved them and have been asking if I would grow some more this year.
Some friends even offered to pay me for them as they really liked them. I could make money off my garden I suppose and use
the proceeds for my gardens the following year.

I am still amazed that I take these little seeds, put them in the dirt, let mother nature do her thing and it feeds me.
A WIN WIN in my book.

 

[Marck]

It' sounds like you are off to a great start.
I agree, independence from grocery stores and the pure enjoyment of gardening, are other important benefits of a home garden.

If selling, consider marketing. In Japan, perfectly shaped and presented watermelon sell for thousands of Yen (hundreds of Dollars).
They are intended as special gifts, not just regular produce.

 

[dirtdigs]

Definitely a market over there.

Darn logistic woes right now.

 

[Marck]

I was imagining marketing gift watermelons here in the u.S., perhaps at not such a steep sale price, unless demand warranted it.

Those gift watermelon are grown to be perfectly shaped and colored, as well as delicious. They are probably set on straw or cushions and perhaps lightly shaded (just the pepo, not the vine). There are also some melons that are put inside molds when small to become perfectly shaped spheres, cubes, hearts, or even like sitting Buddhas.

 

[dirtdigs]

My daughter has lots of friends from college in Japan and Taiwan that she sent pictures of the watermelon to.
They went crazy about all the stuff we grow here.

They told us to ship them over and they would pay shipping, we never did.

I did grow some square watermelon last year on accident.
The device I used to keep the vines off the ground are square shaped and a few fruits fell down in the square, thus square watermelons.

Might try it again this year.

 

[Ruderunner]

Cube shaped watermelon sure sounds easier to cut up.

I'm like others where I'm not too concerned on the money end but, I probably do come out ahead on some crops like pickles and tomatoes. Probably cheaper to buy potatoes and cabbage.

If you're concerned about getting ahead on the budget, focus on expensive stuff to buy and or things you buy the most of.

I squeeze pennies so hard Lincoln gets a nose bleed.

 

[DirtMechanic]

If you have ever had Wickles and Bread and Butter pickles then those two together might help you might know this flavor I just opened from last years garden.

 

[GardenOfEnglandGardener]

One simple way to potentially save a bit of money is: if you find a fruit you like at the local market, or indeed the supermarket (e.g. cucumbers, tomatoes, pears, etc), is to save the seeds from that fruit and they should grow in the right conditions*. Buying one pack of tomatoes from the supermarket for example, can cost less that some packs of tomato seeds and you may even get more seeds this way. Plus, as a bonus, some tomatoes to eat. Try to only buy seeds if you really feel you need that specialist variety (e.g. San Marzano tomatoes for pizza base).

*You can start apple and pear seeds off in the refrigerator, with some damp cloth (I put mine on a piece of toilet paper and put them in a sealed plastic container on the top shelf).

Other fruits you could try growing from seed from supermarket stock are peaches, nectarines, plums and goji berries. I am actually trying with melon seeds from a supermarket melon now myself, for something new and different. In the past, I have also chopped of the top of a pineapple and got it to root.

Do bear in mind that, depending on the fruit, the fruit you eventually get from your own seeds may not be exactly the same in taste as the one you purchased from the supermarket. For some fruits, grafting may be better. For "simpler" things like cucumbers and tomatoes, you probably do not need to worry.