Vegetable garden cost comparison

Tue. Jan. 21, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Vegetable garden cost comparison

I’ve talked about this many times before and continue to get the question…

Do you really save money planting your own vegetable garden?   That depends.  Things to consider:

  • how much effort will you put into creating your garden
  • how much you spend on seeds and/or plants
  • are you buying soil?  amendments?  fertilizer?
  • your time spent watering, weeding and harvesting
  • will you be building a raised bed
  • do you need to buy equipment

Your first garden will always cost more but as I noted in my radio show, the upfront cost, especially if building a raised bed, will be worth the money because your crop yield will be higher. The photo below is a raised bed I had years ago. Obviously this was a little more spendy! But lovely for sure!

This photo shows shrubs in the way background, a cottonwood tree, a raised bed with veggies and flowers and the septic mound, unfortunately, covered in weeds – oh but what insects and critters it held!

 

A wee bit simpler! And definitely less expensive but still does the job

And then there’s the benefit of being outside in the sun, working with nature, eating fresh, organically grown veggies!  PRICELESS

“The garden is no place to stress for success but to soak up some sun and renew your spirit”  Teri Knight

This was my garden in 2005 in another location! OMG it was WAY overgrown! But fun!!

There’s also the sense of community should you get involved in a neighborhood garden, or if you’re involving your kids and teaching them about gardening.

I also love just being able to walk out to my garden and grab a perfectly ripe tomato or a handful of cilantro whenever I want it!

Yum! 2008 pic

So, are you going to save by growing your own veggies?  You’ll have to answer that for yourself, however, your happiness quotient will rise. A recent study to discover the happiest places on earth, or Blue Zones, gave big kudos to places where people were out in nature  enjoying hobbies or working with the soil. It’s been well documented that gardening of any sort is a stress reliever and can, quite literally, make you happy.