May 27, 2025 • 43 mins
There’s a persistent myth floating around on social media that gardening is too expensive to be worth the effort when it comes to saving money on groceries. But what if I told you that with the right strategies, your backyard (or balcony!) garden could not only feed your family but actually save you money?
Today on Just Grow Something, we’re busting the myth thatgrowing your own food can’t compete with grocery store prices. We’ll explore how your location, soil type, and choices in the garden can make a huge difference in your return on investment. From essential tools and inputs to skip-the-splurge items and savvy seed saving, we’re diving deep into the real numbers and practical tips that make gardening not just a hobby—but a financially smart one. Let’s dig in!
In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
- Why some crops offer more bang for your buck than others
- What you really need to spend money on in your garden—and what you don’t
- How to track your gardening costs and harvest value to measure your savings
- Budget-friendly strategies like starting from seed, making your own compost, and using free or recycled materials
- How to choose crops and garden methods based on your climate and soil type for maximum return
References and Resources:
Save 20% on your new own-root rose plant atHeirloomRoses.com with code JUSTGROW https://heirloomroses.com
Get 10% off and FREE shipping on my favorite raisedplanters at Planter Box Direct using code JUSTGROW10: https://planterboxdirect.com/?ref=593
USDA Inflation Tracking – Retail Produce Prices: https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/fruit-and-vegetable-prices
Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.com
Just Grow Something Merch andDownloads: https://justgrowsomething.com/shop
Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18YgHveF5P/
Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JustGrowSomething
Bonus content for supporters of the Podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/justgrowsomething
Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/justgrowsomething
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I know you've seen the memes, the ones that say something
like, oh look, after four monthsof work and $200 in supplies, I
finally harvested my first $0.50tomato.
I mean, it's funny because sometimes it can feel like that.
But what's not funny is the posts and the videos that I've
seen going around where folks are actively warning people that
(00:20):
you won't save money growing a garden and that anyone telling
you that is lying to you. For someone like me, who started
gardening to save money as a single parent and who truly
believes that there is so much power in food, I find this
absolutely disturbing. Every garden situation and every
(00:41):
location and every gardener is different.
Our goals are different, our challenges are different, and
that warrants each garden to have a different approach.
So to blanketly say you can't save money because it's
expensive to garden is actively going to discourage some people.
And that frankly makes me very upset.
(01:01):
So today, under score something we're talking about the true
costs of gardening, what's necessary, what's not, what to
track to truly understand what you're harvesting versus what
you're spending. So you know, whether you're
saving money over what you can buy at the grocery or from the
farmers market. Plus, we'll talk about the fact
(01:22):
that maybe it's not always aboutsaving money in terms of what
you're harvesting. Maybe the quality is more
important than the quantity. Let's dig in.
Hey, I'm Karen and what started as a small backyard garden 20
years ago turned into a lifelongpassion for growing food.
Now as a market farmer and horticulturist, I want to help
you do the same. On this podcast, I am your
(01:45):
friend in the garden, teaching evidence based techniques to
help you grow your favorites andbuild confidence in your own
garden space. So grab your garden journal and
a cup of coffee and get ready tojust grow something.
OK, so some of the things that I'm hearing are, well, gardening
is too expensive to be worth it.It's cheaper to buy the produce
(02:05):
at the grocery store. And that is so absolutely not
true. Gardening can save money over
store bought produce, especiallywhen it's done with strategy and
efficiency. OK, gardening, vegetable
gardening, right? Growing our own produce, whether
it's veggies or fruits or whatever, can save us money in
(02:30):
several different ways, right? The first one is, have you seen
the cost of inflation on producehere lately?
OK, grocery prices have increased 20 to 30% in recent
years. This is from the USDA Economic
Research Service. So we know that the cost of food
is continuing to go up. And unfortunately, oftentimes it
seems that it's the cost of the fresh, like Whole Foods that are
(02:54):
going up faster than the cost ofthe boxed stuff and the
processed stuff. And unfortunately, at least here
in the US, it's because there are a lot more, you know,
subsidies and crop protections for the commodity crops like
corn and wheat and soy. And there are a lot more of
(03:15):
those products or those crops going into those boxed products.
So a lot of it is just that, I mean, that's kind of like a
nutritional filler, I guess. And that is a lot less expensive
to produce than something like, you know, fresh broccoli or
greens or whatever that have a shelf life and expire after a
(03:37):
while and can get damaged much more easily in transit and all
of those things. So there's a lot of things that
go into that produce cost, but in general, you know, grocery
prices overall have continued togo up in recent years and I mean
quite substantially here recently.
The way that we can save money on that is by growing our own
(04:00):
high value crops. So things that are much more
expensive to grow in or to buy in the grocery store can
absolutely be less expensive forus to grow.
OK, So things like leafy greens and culinary herbs, tomatoes,
Peppers, berries, these things all offer us a higher dollar per
(04:25):
square foot value. So the things that would cost us
the most in the grocery store are the things that we should
try to grow in our own garden inorder to save the most in our
garden. And if you think about the
amount of volume that you can get over time in your garden,
that is going to save you money.If you take a single $3 packet
(04:49):
of seeds, you can yield pounds and pounds of food over an
entire season or even multiple seasons, depending on how many
seeds you get in that packet andwhat it is that you're growing.
You know, so sometimes you're getting the equivalent of $100
or more in store bought produce from a single $3 packet of
(05:09):
seeds. And then if you're working with
perennials, well then you have that pay off as well.
So rhubarb, asparagus, fruit trees, small Berry bushes, these
things have an initial investment, but they will yield
for years if they are taken careof.
And so that significantly reduces the cost for those
foods, right? And then, you know, the other
(05:32):
thing you have to think about isthe transportation cost.
You have 0 transportation cost for what is coming out of your
garden. You're not paying for gas,
you're not paying for shipping or storage or shrinkage or any
of those types of things, right?But I think what it comes down
to, especially with beginning gardeners, is, you know, what do
we want to invest in what is essential and what is not
(05:55):
essential when it comes to our gardening, right?
So the places where we may want to invest in the garden, places
where we want to actually spend money would be for like our
seeds or our starter plants, right?
If we're really looking to save money, we can look at open
pollinated varieties. We want quality compost or soil
(06:18):
amendments, especially if we areworking with very poor native
soil. Maybe a watering system of some
sort, depending on where you live.
Remember I said a lot of how we garden is going to depend on
what our situation is and where we are.
So you might just need a watering can, OK, or just a
garden hose. But if you live some place
(06:39):
that's very arid and you are having to water very frequently,
a simple drip setup might be something that you have to spend
money on. Mulch.
OK. These mulch is always, always
important. How much you decide to spend on
it is going to depend on what you have available to you.
Do you have leaves that are fallen?
Do you have grass clippings? Or are you going to have to
spend some money on straw? And then, of course, there are
(07:02):
basic tools that you kind of have to have.
I mean, yeah, you can try to do everything with, you know, the
10 digits of your fingers, but ahand trowel and some pruners
and, you know, maybe some glovesmight be a good idea to invest
in things that you likely don't need to invest in.
Are, you know, really fancy raised beds.
You can do, you know, leftover materials to get yourself
(07:25):
started. Scrap wood.
That's how I started, right? We were doing scrap wood and
found materials that we were creating raised beds out of
cinder blocks if you have them leftover.
Gardening in the ground, if you have soil that is conducive to
that is the cheapest way, as long as you have a way to break
that soil up, right? You don't necessarily need
(07:47):
decorative containers or garden art or expensive potting mixes,
especially if you're guarding, you know, gardening in the
ground. You don't need smart sensors,
you don't need digital meters. You don't need app connected
devices or anything like that or, or high end grow lights for
crops that don't need them. You know, if you are starting
seeds indoors and you're going to transplant them outside, you
(08:10):
don't need really high end grow lights.
You need a simple LED light. That's it.
I think part of the problem is people get caught up in all the
things that we see that are available to us, that are
supposed to either make our lives easier or make the garden
more efficient or supposedly make it more productive.
(08:32):
And we just start to kind of, I don't know, gather all of these
things or accumulate all of these things for the garden.
And after a while, we just have so much stuff and not all of it
is necessary. So what is important to
remember? Where are you gardening?
OK, your soil conditions and your climate are going to
(08:54):
dictate what you have to purchase and what you can do
without. If you are gardening in sunny
Southern California and you havebeautiful native soil in your
backyard, you don't have to do anything but dig that ground up
and start to plant into it. Now, if you are gardening in the
(09:15):
arid plains of Colorado where you're lucky if the grass or the
native grasses grow much less anything else, there is very
little in the way of nutrients and that soil and it dries out
very, very quickly, especially in the summertime, then yes, you
are going to have to make some investments into some raised
(09:36):
garden beds and creating your your own soil that you can
garden in, right. You know, Speaking of that soil,
if you are gardening in ground and you have a way to be able to
break that up and get it plantedthe first time, you might find
that you have to add some amendments to that.
You may have to purchase compost.
(09:56):
If you are creating raised beds,even if you are using found
materials and you're not actually purchasing those beds,
you still are going to have to find a way to fill those beds.
You know, and and figure out a way that you can do that
inexpensively if that is a priority for you.
The seeds or the plants that youbuy.
If you can get away with starting directly from seed in
(10:17):
the spot where you are gardening, then you are going to
save yourself over having to go and buy started plants.
If you can figure out a way to start those seeds yourself
indoors in order to transplant them out, then that is also a
ginormous cost savings. Tools that you might need for
digging or things that you wouldneed for trellising or
(10:39):
harvesting. Really take a hard look at
whether it's a need or if it's anice to have.
I started with nothing. I got a few packets of seed.
I had a shovel and a rake that I'd already had.
And I had, I went and purchased a, a section of that kind of
(11:01):
garden lattice, the wooden lattice for really cheap at the
hardware store. And that was it.
Like I threw this, you know, I broke up the soil.
I sort of, you know, made it look neat in that corner and I
threw the seeds out there and made sure that I had access to
grab the hose to water it. That's it.
I did nothing in terms of fertilizing.
(11:21):
I did nothing in terms of amending the soil that
everything grow. No, absolutely not.
You know, I wasn't going to get carrots out of that ground no
matter how hard I tried. But I got cucumbers and I got
some green beans. And I mean, there was all kinds
of things that were growing in that corner and I knew
absolutely nothing. It was total beginner's luck.
That happens, right? But I could use that as a
(11:44):
learning year to figure out whatI should do better the next
year, you know, and we did get aharvest out of that crop and it
and it cost me less than 20 bucks.
It cost me less than $20. And I know that I got more than
$20 worth of produce out of that.
And the thing about it is once you have the infrastructure in
(12:04):
place, wasn't like I had to go and repurchase that latticework
again the next year. It was a one and done.
It was in place and it was doingwhat it needed to.
I already had the shovel. I already had the rake.
Even if I had to go and buy the shovel and the rake, I think I
may have the next year went and purchased a hand trowel to make
hand digging easier. You're buying it once and it's
(12:26):
lasting for years. You're not having to repurchase
it. So these are things to think
about in terms of what is it actually costing us to grow this
garden. It has been raining almost daily
here for the last several weeks,but I always say I'd rather have
too much rain than not enough, because I know Mother Nature is
(12:49):
going to turn the faucet off andcrank up the thermostat in no
time at all. When the summer finally does
bring long, hot days and the rain is scarce, the flowers in
our gardens do not have to struggle.
If we make a few simple adjustments, our roses and our
perennials can stay healthy and beautiful even through the
summer dry spells. Heirloom Roses knows this, and
(13:11):
they have some tips for you. The first thing to remember is
something we talk about all the time.
Less frequent, more thorough waterings.
Skip the light daily watering. Instead give your plants a
thorough soak a few times a week.
This builds deeper roots that can access water even when the
topsoil is dry. Next thing is something I always
(13:32):
preach and that is mulch. Heirloom Roses thinks it's just
as important as I do. A 2 to 3 inch layer of mulch
keeps the soil cool, it slows evaporation, and it helps reduce
weeds. It's a small step with a big
payoff, especially during hot stretches.
And finally, pair some heat tolerant roses with heat loving
(13:52):
perennials. Many perennials not only hold up
in heat, they actually thrive init.
And when planted with roses, they bring texture, pollinator
appeal and long lasting color tothe garden.
Roses that can handle the heat like Eden Climber, James
Galloway and Joseph's Coat can be paired with drought tolerant
perennials like Nephopia, Echinacea, Yarrow, Lavender,
(14:15):
Sage and Salvia. With the right care and the
right plant choices, your flowergarden can flourish all summer,
no matter the forecast. Get your heat tolerant roses and
heat loving perennials right nowat heirloomroses.com and save
20% by using code Just Grow at Checkout.
They have the varieties I mentioned and more ready to ship
(14:38):
on whatever schedule you choose.Heirloom Roses specializes in
own route roses, not grafted ones that stand up to extreme
weather conditions and the test of time.
Visit heirloomroses.com today and use code Just Grow to save
20% on their fabulous selection of roses and perennials for your
garden. The link is in the show notes.
(15:01):
So if our goal is to save money in the grocery store by growing
a lot of our own produce, what do we do to track what it is
that we're spending so that we can actually measure our
savings? And the, the way that I would
(15:23):
say to treat this is, you know, if your goal is to essentially
make money from your garden in terms of the fact that, you
know, you're not having to buy as much produce, you're
replacing the grocery store, then treat it like a side
hustle, treat it like a budget friendly side hustle.
So in that instance, we're tracking our expenses and we're
(15:46):
tracking our yields and we're tracking our preservation and
then we're kind of figuring out what our return on investment
is, right? So what are we tracking in terms
of expenses? You have two different
categories here. You've got your initial costs,
OK. These are things like raised
beds or tools or trellises or fencing or whatever.
(16:06):
These are long term things whosecosts are going to be divided
out over the lifetime of the item.
You know, when we started our gardens at the Five Acre
homestead, we just used scrap wood that we had laying around
to get us through the first couple of years until we could
buy the beds that we wanted. I mean, we were reusing screws
(16:30):
and nails to put these things together and we actually had
gotten some free things off of Craigslist that we were using to
like break up the soil or to mowdown the lawn or whatever.
Now, you know, even when we moved over to the 40 acres, we
were still using scrap wood and things to kind of build our
raised beds. Now most of those have already
fallen apart and they're being replaced, but using found
(16:52):
materials is a really great way to save my planter box.
Direct planters now that I use still only cost me around an
average of 140 dollars and they are going to last me now for
decades. And of course using my code to
just grow not only saves you 10%, but you also get free
shipping. So it really is a really good
(17:14):
deal. If you buy pressure treated
lumber, OK, that's also a longerterm wooden solution.
There's still an upfront investment that you'll need to
account for, but that is dividedout over the number of years of
life that you get out of that bed.
OK. So you have those sort of
initial costs and then we have the annual costs, the things
(17:38):
that we are having to repurchaseevery single year.
So you know, this might be things like seeds and plants
unless you're doing heirlooms and you're holding, you're
saving your own seeds. And you know, unless you are
really starting all of your transplants from seed, if you're
buying these, this is going to be sort of an annual cost for
you, right? Soil amendments, if you have to
(18:00):
purchase anything for that compost, if you can't make your
own, these are all things that you would have to purchase again
year after year. So that needs to be factored in
as a cost. Do those costs go down as you
continue to garden through the years?
Absolutely, because you're not going to have to buy unless
you're continuing to expand yourgarden year after year, you're
(18:21):
not going to have to continue tobuy the same volume of compost
or soil amendments or topsoil orwhatever, specifically if
you're, you know, filling up raised beds, but also if you are
amending, you know, in ground beds.
So hopefully those costs will godown year after year.
And if you manage those beds properly, you can use things
like cover crops that are less expensive to be able to help
(18:43):
improve that soil versus, you know, buying compost or soil
amendments. And you can manage that a little
bit more closely yourself. If the goal is to save money,
you got to get scrappy. OK, we were scrappy.
It was a broken shoestring job, shoestring budget.
There was no money to be had. And we were building a business
in this way. It started out just feeding the
(19:05):
family, but we built the farm this way.
And so you absolutely, absolutely can bootstrap your
garden. Easy, okay, but not easy.
It's not really easy, but you should be doing this.
You should be bootstrapping yourgardens, okay, If you're
concerned about saving money, the second thing to track now is
your yields. So first we're tracking our
(19:25):
expenses and now we want to makesure that we are tracking our
yields. I, I, I don't like it when I see
people say, oh, well, you know, it costs more to grow the garden
than it does to go buy in the grocery store.
When they admit that they're notactually weighing the produce
that they're bringing in from their own garden and they're not
keeping track of it. Like you should be weighing out
(19:47):
what you're harvesting and keeping note of it.
You know, I love a garden journal.
OK. And one of the things that we
keep track of is our yield. Now obviously this is a little
bit different for me because this is a business.
Business for me, right? And I am making money from these
gardens and so I need to know exactly what it's costing me to
do this and exactly how much I'mharvesting so I know exactly
(20:10):
what my return on investment is.But if your goal is to make
money in terms of you are savingon having to go to the grocery
store, then again, we should be treating this like a business
and tracking these things anyway.
And then when you're figuring out, you know, what that kind of
replacement value would be, you should be looking at your local
(20:32):
grocery store or your CSA's or your farmers market vendors to
price and estimate the value of what it is that you are
harvesting. And make sure that you are
comparing apples to apples. I mean, literally and
figuratively, right? If you are growing organically,
compare what you're growing and what you are harvesting to the
(20:56):
price of organic in the store orthe farmers market.
Don't you know, have your reallyhigh quality produce that you
were growing yourself using organic methods and then compare
it to the, you know, stuff that you can get in the conventional
section at Walmart. It's not the same product.
So make sure that you're comparing apples to apples when
(21:19):
you're estimating this value, OK?
And then make sure that you are also tracking your preservation.
If you're making salsa or Pickles or you're freezing your
green beans or you're storing upwinter squashes or potatoes.
Keep in mind that oftentimes these things are going to be
much more expensive in the grocery store during the time of
(21:39):
year that you would normally be purchasing them.
Because if you were to purchase these things in the winter time,
say you're buying the potatoes in the winter or you're buying
apples in the winter, it's goingto be more expensive than when
they were in season. So you might actually be saving
even more money by preserving all of these things yourself and
(21:59):
being able to like shop your pantry or your basement for all
of your goodies during the winter time, right?
So make sure that you're tracking how much it is that you
are saving yourself in terms of the amount of produce that
you're preserving. And then you just calculate your
return on your investment. So whatever you spent and then
(22:20):
the value of the produce that you grew in addition to
everything that you preserved. And then you get your net
savings, right. So if you spent 80 bucks on your
garden and you had $300 worth ofvalue in produce that you saved,
then it's a $220 net savings over what you would have spent
at the grocery store. Track your costs and your yield
so that you understand whether your garden is saving you money
(22:44):
or costing you in terms of expenses.
Our location and soil type are absolutely considerations,
right? So in ground beds, if you have
decent soil, wherever you are gardening, an in ground bed is
going to require very, very minimal investment.
(23:07):
You don't have to own a tiller in order to be able to break
this up. There are a lot of places where
you can either rent one or you can actually hire somebody to
come in and do this for you. But if you don't have the budget
for that, because I did not, youcan break up the ground in just
small little bits using, you know, a hand trowel, a a
(23:29):
pitchfork, a potato fork, anything that you can do to sort
of break that ground up and makeit to where it's loose enough
for you to be able to plant a seed or to transplant a plant.
Now, might you need to improve it with some compost, maybe.
Could this be done later on downthe road with some cover crops?
Absolutely. Even if you are, you know,
(23:50):
trying to garden in a 4 by 4 area that was nothing but turf
and you mow it down really, really low.
And you sort of take a shovel and kind of get the last of that
sod off of the top and then takea broad fork or take a potato
fork or a hand trowel or something and break up the, you
know, that that section into smaller sections.
(24:11):
And then even just get an inexpensive bag of potting soil
and kind of just improve the spots where you're going to
plant. You have a space to plant.
OK. But this again, is only if you
have, you know, a decent soil. If you live some place where you
don't and if you continue to tryto plant in that corner and it's
nothing but clay and nothing is going to grow and you really are
(24:33):
just going to be wasting your money, Then we look at container
gardening. OK, It could be just pots on
your deck. You can start with recycled, you
know, nursery containers or recycled flower pots or whatever
you can find. And then you can move your way
up to actual raised planters, right?
This can be a little bit more expensive per square foot
(24:57):
depending on how you are creating the soil within those
containers. So if you're just doing small
pots on the patio and you're using straight potting soil for
this, then that can be manageable depending on what
your budget is. But if you're talking larger
square footage, if you're getting those raised planters
(25:17):
and you need to fill those up, then there's going to be a
little bit of an expense that goes with that.
One of the ways to maximize yourreturn on that investment is
number 1, to grow those really high value crops, the ones that
you are going to pay a high dollar amount for in the grocery
(25:38):
store and to choose compact crops that are going to maximize
what the yield is that you can get out of those beds.
I just did the math on this for our own gardens.
Now I have, wait for it, 34 raised planter beds.
OK, most of them are from Planter box Direct.
(25:59):
Some of them are still the ones that are falling apart from
before. And this is in my kitchen garden
and also in the garden that's behind my greenhouse.
I am actively harvesting from 30of them right now.
In just the past three weeks, I have harvested over 250 lbs of
produce from those beds and theyare still full of things being
(26:23):
harvested. That's not including any of the
really heavy stuff like my carrots and my beets that
haven't, you know, reached maturity yet or any of the herbs
I'm not even counting, right. That's an average of over 8 lbs
per bed over the past three weeks.
And I expect over the next threeweeks that I will get an
additional 10 to 12 lbs from each of those beds based on what
(26:48):
is just still in them. OK, So now already at 20 lbs of
produce out of each one of thosebeds.
And then I will replant them with a summer succession
planting and then a summer succession for a fall harvest.
So on average, I will yield depending on the crops that I'm
(27:09):
growing because obviously some crops weigh more than others.
But those high dollar ones, those leafy greens, right, are
producing abundantly in these beds.
And eventually the tomatoes thatI will have in these beds and
the eggplant I will have, that'sthe heavier stuff, which again,
higher yield because they're compact varieties, but also
because I'm interplanting and I'm companion planting And just
(27:32):
the dollar value of those crops,on average, I will yield
anywhere from around 54 lbs to 120 lbs of produce per bed
across the season, depending on what I plant.
OK, so if we are strategic in what we plant and how we plant
(27:53):
it, container yields can be phenomenal, right?
You cannot tell me that you could buy 75 lbs of high value
produce in the grocery store forless than what you can grow it
in a small space like a raised bed.
Despite needing to make the initial purchase of the bed and
(28:15):
filling it with the soil and amending it each season a
special if you are growing organically and you compare that
with the cost of that same produce organic in the grocery
store, if you can even find it. Ever tried finding organic
collard greens in a grocery store in rural Missouri?
Good luck. OK.
So being strategic with what we grow means that we can save
(28:40):
money, and it also means that you might be able to grow things
organically that you otherwise wouldn't have been able to
afford organically in the grocery store.
That's a whole other thing that we haven't even talked about.
You know, it might be cost prohibitive for you to be able
to go and buy these things normally in the grocery store,
and so you're having to buy themconventionally.
(29:01):
But now because you're growing them yourself, you can opt to
grow them organically and now you get the advantages of that.
OK. Now if we have really clay heavy
soil again, we're probably goingto have to amend with some
compost and some other organic matter.
So obviously there is a cost there.
And in this instance, it really is a matter of trial and error
(29:24):
depending on, you know, trying to determine exactly how many of
those inputs you would need every year.
We learned the hard way that we shouldn't be like turning all of
those amendments in under the into our clay soil because it
doesn't ever last. You, you have to almost, you
know, replace that every single year in its entirety.
(29:45):
So instead we just layer it on top now and essentially we have
just sort of built an artificialbed, you know, on top of the
native soil and we have to add just a very little bit of it
every single year. And that has helped to make it
to where those in ground beds are very, very productive with a
lot less amending. Same thing goes if you have
(30:07):
sandy soil, you are going to have to add compost and you
likely are going to have to mulch very heavily and choose
drought crops. So all of these expenses and the
costs that are associated with it again are going to depend on
where it is that you are gardening and what type of soil
you are dealing with. So this is where you kind of run
(30:28):
into like, OK, well then is it, you know, saving me money in
order to be able to grow our ownvegetables?
And in some instances, it might not be, depending on where you
are in the availability of produce in your area.
That is a reality, but it's not the predominance of the reality,
right? Not like some of these people
are saying, like, oh, it never, never pays to grow your own.
(30:51):
It's always cheaper in the grocery store.
That is absolutely not the case.OK.
So you have to be very strategicand figuring out what it is that
you're planting. What does your family use the
most, you know, so that you can get the most out of it.
What are you paying the most forin the grocery store at the
moment? Is that something that you can
grow on your own? OK.
There's also the idea of qualityover quantity.
(31:15):
Your goal may not necessarily beabout getting the volume of
produce out of your garden that you might buy at the store.
You're going to get a higher nutritive value out of the
things that you are growing in your own garden, especially if
you're using, you know, you're not using any type of synthetic
(31:37):
inputs. You are actually focusing on the
soil health, which is an in turnmaking a healthier plant that is
giving you a, a healthier, you know, yield, right?
You also are getting a higher level of nutrition in these
things because there is a lot shorter time between when it's
harvested and when you're actually consuming it.
(31:58):
It's not sitting on a truck. It's not sitting on a store
shelf and degrading over those days or weeks before it gets to
your plate. You're harvesting it and you're
either eating it or you are preserving it for later.
A higher nutritive value means you actually are need to consume
less of those things to get the same amount of nutrition.
(32:23):
It's almost like store produce can sometimes be like empty
calories. You know, I always like to refer
back to broccoli in terms of #1 the studies that they did that
showed the decrease in the nutrition in a head of broccoli
nowadays versus what we were getting 70 years ago.
(32:45):
It's astonishing how much less nutrients or how fewer nutrients
there are in a head of broccoli now.
And then you combine that with the fact that broccoli has a
half life of 24 hours on a lot of its elements, on a lot of
it's, you know, nutritional content.
And so the vitamins and stuff inthere begin to degrade and they
(33:08):
have degraded by 50% within the 1st 24 hours after being picked
if they are not being held at asclose to freezing as possible,
you know. And So what happens when it's,
it's been 3 days before it, you know, has left the field and
gotten into the warehouse and gotten to the grocery store and
then it sits on the shelves for another 3 days and it's a day
(33:28):
before you buy it and you bring it home.
OK, so great. It's been sitting there for a
week now. You're getting a few little
calories out of it. You might be getting some fiber,
but who knows what you're getting in the way of nutrition
versus that head of broccoli that you managed to grow in your
garden and you picked it and youbrought it in and you serve it
to your family for dinner, right?
You actually have to eat less ofthat broccoli than the store
(33:49):
bought broccoli in order to get the same amount of nutrition.
That is something that is very difficult to quantify because
you don't know, you don't know how much better those vegetables
are for you because there's not a lot of studies being done
because nobody wants to admit what's going on, at least in
industry. They don't, right?
They don't want to admit that what we're doing to the soils
(34:11):
and, and how we're growing things and how we're harvesting
things isn't feeding us properlyanymore.
So, you know, with that little tangent aside, we just, we want
to understand why we are gardening and what is important
to us and then use those metricsto decide whether or not we are
successful in the garden or not.OK, so money saving tips.
(34:37):
All right, first thing, obviously we're going to start
with seeds. They are much cheaper than
starts. One packet equals a whole bunch
of plants. If you can manage to start your
own seeds indoors, fantastic. Do what you can with that.
Use recycled containers, yogurt cups, milk jugs, takeout trays.
Use all of these things for yourseeds starting rather than
having to go and buy fancy trays.
(34:59):
Or go to your local nursery and see if they have extra plastic
laying around. I almost guarantee you they do
and they are very happy to get rid of it rather than having to
pay to dispose of it or have it recycled.
OK, so if you can, you know, go big, borrow and steal.
No steal, but just beg and borrow recycled containers of
some sort to be able to start your seeds, that's a great way
(35:21):
to save some money. OK?
If you can grow open pollinated crops, your tomatoes, your
Peppers, your beans, whatever, prevent them from cross
pollinating and save those seeds.
Well, boom, now you don't even have to buy seeds anymore,
you're creating your own. So that's just one more way to
save money in the garden. OK, you can DIY your compost.
(35:42):
Go back and search for any of the compost episodes that I have
done. This is going to reduce the need
for buying those soil amendments, not to mention
you're going to save landfill space.
But you don't even have to do anything other than the lazy
compost method. If you think I have time to be
out there turning my soil multiple times during the season
(36:02):
and making sure it's getting theright air in the water.
No, no, no, no, I don't. I don't have time to do that.
I am a lazy composter. But what I do do is I take that
compost that compiles all duringthe season and at the end of the
gardening season, I am taking that compost whether it is
finished or not, and I am addingit to those garden beds.
It's going to continue to break down over the winter time.
(36:24):
I'm mulching over the top and I'm letting it sit and it is
breaking down beautifully over the winter and is ready for me
to plant into in the spring. If there's anything that's still
kind of big and chunky, it gets pulled out and tossed back in
the compost pile. OK, it doesn't have to be
complicated to make your own compost.
Now, obviously if you are in a homeowners association or
(36:46):
something like that, then you got to be careful about how
you're doing this. But you can compost for free and
that is going to reduce the needfor you to have to go and
purchase a bunch of soil amendments.
And Speaking of that mulch, I know that I'm a proponent of
straw. Often times you have to go and
buy that straw. You can find mulch for free.
You can get a chip drop done. There's a a website that you can
(37:07):
go to where you can put in your address and let them know, hey,
I want a chip drop. And local tree trimmers, you
know, may drop off a whole load of wood chips for free just
right in your yard. OK.
Make sure that you have the place for them to dump it.
And he doesn't always work. We're in a very rural area.
I was on the chip drop list for three years and never got a
single one. But if you see local tree
(37:27):
trimming companies in your neighborhood cutting down
neighbors trees, ask them if they'll drop those wood chips in
your yard. You can use leaves from your
yard. You can use leaves from your
neighbor's yard if you know thatthey're not spraying for
anything or grass clippings thathave not been sprayed with any
pesticides. Whatever you can use to retain
the moisture in your soil and suppress those weeds is going to
(37:52):
maintain the soil better. The soil health as means that
you are going to have to amend less.
So it's just one more way. Not only are you saving money on
the mulch, but now you're also saving money on soil amendments
even further because you're maintaining the health of that
soil, right? Skip the synthetic fertilizers.
They're going to cost you money.Use compost tea, use warm
(38:14):
castings. You see if you can find some
aged manure, OK, A lot of times you can get this stuff for free.
And the problem with the synthetic fertilizers is they
are not feeding your soil. They are only feeding the plant
that happens to be in that soil at the time.
So you're not doing anything to maintain that soil, which again,
just means you're going to have to continually feed and continue
(38:35):
to amend. When it comes to tools, you may
not necessarily need to buy tools outright initially.
There are local organizations ina lot of different areas that
will do like a tool library, like a lending library for
garden tools. So, you know, see if you can
find one of those organizations,your area and go check out the
(38:57):
tools that you need. And sometimes they've got like
good tools like not just the hand trails and other things
that you might need to use, but like tillers and walk behind
Cedars and all kinds of different things.
Find out if your neighbors have any of these tools.
If you're doing a small garden to start with, you're not going
to need those tools for the longterm.
You might be able to borrow themfrom a weekend and then give
(39:17):
them back. And then of course, we're
looking at like, what are we going to grow?
Grow what you eat the most. Don't grow kohlrabi if your
household doesn't like it, right?
Don't grow turnips just because they're going to be easy for you
to grow. It's a waste if nobody's
actually going to eat them. Okay, I mean, for the record, I
love kohlrabi and I love salad turnips, but whatever.
But, you know, focus on those high yield, high cost crops,
(39:42):
leafy greens, culinary herbs, cherry tomatoes, Peppers,
zucchini, if you can get away with it in your area, berries if
space allows. All those things generally can
be very, very pricey, again, especially if you're doing them
organically. And so these are all things that
are going to yield a lot in a very small space and also cost
(40:02):
you a lot if you go to buy them.I absolutely.
I am a proponent of succession planting and interplanting or
companion planting, OK, You should be growing more than one
crop per space each season, and you should be maximizing that
(40:23):
space at the same time that you're reducing the pests and
the weed pressure. OK?
How do you think I am getting all of those pounds of food out
of those raised beds? It's interplanting and
succession planting and I have continued to work and experiment
with all of my different combinations and pairings and
(40:44):
continued to increase my yield over the past few years.
It just takes you keeping track of what it is that you're doing
and how you're doing it, what you're growing with, what what
your yield is, and then tweakingit again the next year.
So again, if this is really yourgoal to save money over buying
(41:07):
in the grocery store, then you kind of have to take it
seriously and again, treat it like a side hustle, like a
little job and keep track of everything that is going on so
that you can compare notes from year to year to be able to
figure it out. Use that garden planner, use the
journal, track your timing. You know, it reduce the kind of
(41:28):
like craziness of like, oh, well, I'm not sure what's going
to go in that spot. And then you get something in
and it's too late and it doesn'tproduce.
The more you have it on a calendar, the more you figure it
out ahead of time, the easier it's going to be for you to be
able to increase that yield. And then, of course, preserve
your harvest as much as you can.I know if you are growing a lot
of stuff and you're pulling a lot of stuff out of your beds,
(41:49):
freezing, drying, canning, fermenting, all of these things,
it's less waste, which means more savings for you.
And it means less stuff that youactually have to go to the
grocery store and buy when it's not the gardening season.
And you know what? None of this applies to you if
you garden as a hobby and a formof exercise and fresh air and
(42:13):
the yield that you get from yourgarden is just a happy bonus.
Seriously, hobbies cost money and gardening can be no
different. So if you want the prettiest
raised planters and the coolest looking trellises and a fancy
pants Arbor over an even fanciergate entering your garden, then
go for it. And don't let anybody discourage
you from doing that if it's within your means.
(42:35):
Trust me, when I get into something that looks a little
bit more like retirement than a nine to five job in my gardens,
then things will start to look alittle different.
But until then, I'm actually making money from those gardens.
So nobody can convince me that you can't grow your own food,
real food, for cheaper than you can buy in the store, unless
(42:57):
your circumstances are very extreme or you are at the very
beginning of your journey. All right, I'm off my soapbox
now. Until next time, my gardening
friends, keep on cultivating that dream garden, and we'll
talk again soon.
I know you've seen the memes, the ones that say something
like, oh look, after four monthsof work and $200 in supplies, I
finally harvested my first $0.50tomato.
I mean, it's funny because sometimes it can feel like that.
But what's not funny is the posts and the videos that I've
seen going around where folks are actively warning people that
(00:20):
you won't save money growing a garden and that anyone telling
you that is lying to you. For someone like me, who started
gardening to save money as a single parent and who truly
believes that there is so much power in food, I find this
absolutely disturbing. Every garden situation and every
(00:41):
location and every gardener is different.
Our goals are different, our challenges are different, and
that warrants each garden to have a different approach.
So to blanketly say you can't save money because it's
expensive to garden is actively going to discourage some people.
And that frankly makes me very upset.
(01:01):
So today, under score something we're talking about the true
costs of gardening, what's necessary, what's not, what to
track to truly understand what you're harvesting versus what
you're spending. So you know, whether you're
saving money over what you can buy at the grocery or from the
farmers market. Plus, we'll talk about the fact
(01:22):
that maybe it's not always aboutsaving money in terms of what
you're harvesting. Maybe the quality is more
important than the quantity. Let's dig in.
Hey, I'm Karen and what started as a small backyard garden 20
years ago turned into a lifelongpassion for growing food.
Now as a market farmer and horticulturist, I want to help
you do the same. On this podcast, I am your
(01:45):
friend in the garden, teaching evidence based techniques to
help you grow your favorites andbuild confidence in your own
garden space. So grab your garden journal and
a cup of coffee and get ready tojust grow something.
OK, so some of the things that I'm hearing are, well, gardening
is too expensive to be worth it.It's cheaper to buy the produce
(02:05):
at the grocery store. And that is so absolutely not
true. Gardening can save money over
store bought produce, especiallywhen it's done with strategy and
efficiency. OK, gardening, vegetable
gardening, right? Growing our own produce, whether
it's veggies or fruits or whatever, can save us money in
(02:30):
several different ways, right? The first one is, have you seen
the cost of inflation on producehere lately?
OK, grocery prices have increased 20 to 30% in recent
years. This is from the USDA Economic
Research Service. So we know that the cost of food
is continuing to go up. And unfortunately, oftentimes it
seems that it's the cost of the fresh, like Whole Foods that are
(02:54):
going up faster than the cost ofthe boxed stuff and the
processed stuff. And unfortunately, at least here
in the US, it's because there are a lot more, you know,
subsidies and crop protections for the commodity crops like
corn and wheat and soy. And there are a lot more of
(03:15):
those products or those crops going into those boxed products.
So a lot of it is just that, I mean, that's kind of like a
nutritional filler, I guess. And that is a lot less expensive
to produce than something like, you know, fresh broccoli or
greens or whatever that have a shelf life and expire after a
(03:37):
while and can get damaged much more easily in transit and all
of those things. So there's a lot of things that
go into that produce cost, but in general, you know, grocery
prices overall have continued togo up in recent years and I mean
quite substantially here recently.
The way that we can save money on that is by growing our own
(04:00):
high value crops. So things that are much more
expensive to grow in or to buy in the grocery store can
absolutely be less expensive forus to grow.
OK, So things like leafy greens and culinary herbs, tomatoes,
Peppers, berries, these things all offer us a higher dollar per
(04:25):
square foot value. So the things that would cost us
the most in the grocery store are the things that we should
try to grow in our own garden inorder to save the most in our
garden. And if you think about the
amount of volume that you can get over time in your garden,
that is going to save you money.If you take a single $3 packet
(04:49):
of seeds, you can yield pounds and pounds of food over an
entire season or even multiple seasons, depending on how many
seeds you get in that packet andwhat it is that you're growing.
You know, so sometimes you're getting the equivalent of $100
or more in store bought produce from a single $3 packet of
(05:09):
seeds. And then if you're working with
perennials, well then you have that pay off as well.
So rhubarb, asparagus, fruit trees, small Berry bushes, these
things have an initial investment, but they will yield
for years if they are taken careof.
And so that significantly reduces the cost for those
foods, right? And then, you know, the other
(05:32):
thing you have to think about isthe transportation cost.
You have 0 transportation cost for what is coming out of your
garden. You're not paying for gas,
you're not paying for shipping or storage or shrinkage or any
of those types of things, right?But I think what it comes down
to, especially with beginning gardeners, is, you know, what do
we want to invest in what is essential and what is not
(05:55):
essential when it comes to our gardening, right?
So the places where we may want to invest in the garden, places
where we want to actually spend money would be for like our
seeds or our starter plants, right?
If we're really looking to save money, we can look at open
pollinated varieties. We want quality compost or soil
(06:18):
amendments, especially if we areworking with very poor native
soil. Maybe a watering system of some
sort, depending on where you live.
Remember I said a lot of how we garden is going to depend on
what our situation is and where we are.
So you might just need a watering can, OK, or just a
garden hose. But if you live some place
(06:39):
that's very arid and you are having to water very frequently,
a simple drip setup might be something that you have to spend
money on. Mulch.
OK. These mulch is always, always
important. How much you decide to spend on
it is going to depend on what you have available to you.
Do you have leaves that are fallen?
Do you have grass clippings? Or are you going to have to
spend some money on straw? And then, of course, there are
(07:02):
basic tools that you kind of have to have.
I mean, yeah, you can try to do everything with, you know, the
10 digits of your fingers, but ahand trowel and some pruners
and, you know, maybe some glovesmight be a good idea to invest
in things that you likely don't need to invest in.
Are, you know, really fancy raised beds.
You can do, you know, leftover materials to get yourself
(07:25):
started. Scrap wood.
That's how I started, right? We were doing scrap wood and
found materials that we were creating raised beds out of
cinder blocks if you have them leftover.
Gardening in the ground, if you have soil that is conducive to
that is the cheapest way, as long as you have a way to break
that soil up, right? You don't necessarily need
(07:47):
decorative containers or garden art or expensive potting mixes,
especially if you're guarding, you know, gardening in the
ground. You don't need smart sensors,
you don't need digital meters. You don't need app connected
devices or anything like that or, or high end grow lights for
crops that don't need them. You know, if you are starting
seeds indoors and you're going to transplant them outside, you
(08:10):
don't need really high end grow lights.
You need a simple LED light. That's it.
I think part of the problem is people get caught up in all the
things that we see that are available to us, that are
supposed to either make our lives easier or make the garden
more efficient or supposedly make it more productive.
(08:32):
And we just start to kind of, I don't know, gather all of these
things or accumulate all of these things for the garden.
And after a while, we just have so much stuff and not all of it
is necessary. So what is important to
remember? Where are you gardening?
OK, your soil conditions and your climate are going to
(08:54):
dictate what you have to purchase and what you can do
without. If you are gardening in sunny
Southern California and you havebeautiful native soil in your
backyard, you don't have to do anything but dig that ground up
and start to plant into it. Now, if you are gardening in the
(09:15):
arid plains of Colorado where you're lucky if the grass or the
native grasses grow much less anything else, there is very
little in the way of nutrients and that soil and it dries out
very, very quickly, especially in the summertime, then yes, you
are going to have to make some investments into some raised
(09:36):
garden beds and creating your your own soil that you can
garden in, right. You know, Speaking of that soil,
if you are gardening in ground and you have a way to be able to
break that up and get it plantedthe first time, you might find
that you have to add some amendments to that.
You may have to purchase compost.
(09:56):
If you are creating raised beds,even if you are using found
materials and you're not actually purchasing those beds,
you still are going to have to find a way to fill those beds.
You know, and and figure out a way that you can do that
inexpensively if that is a priority for you.
The seeds or the plants that youbuy.
If you can get away with starting directly from seed in
(10:17):
the spot where you are gardening, then you are going to
save yourself over having to go and buy started plants.
If you can figure out a way to start those seeds yourself
indoors in order to transplant them out, then that is also a
ginormous cost savings. Tools that you might need for
digging or things that you wouldneed for trellising or
(10:39):
harvesting. Really take a hard look at
whether it's a need or if it's anice to have.
I started with nothing. I got a few packets of seed.
I had a shovel and a rake that I'd already had.
And I had, I went and purchased a, a section of that kind of
(11:01):
garden lattice, the wooden lattice for really cheap at the
hardware store. And that was it.
Like I threw this, you know, I broke up the soil.
I sort of, you know, made it look neat in that corner and I
threw the seeds out there and made sure that I had access to
grab the hose to water it. That's it.
I did nothing in terms of fertilizing.
(11:21):
I did nothing in terms of amending the soil that
everything grow. No, absolutely not.
You know, I wasn't going to get carrots out of that ground no
matter how hard I tried. But I got cucumbers and I got
some green beans. And I mean, there was all kinds
of things that were growing in that corner and I knew
absolutely nothing. It was total beginner's luck.
That happens, right? But I could use that as a
(11:44):
learning year to figure out whatI should do better the next
year, you know, and we did get aharvest out of that crop and it
and it cost me less than 20 bucks.
It cost me less than $20. And I know that I got more than
$20 worth of produce out of that.
And the thing about it is once you have the infrastructure in
(12:04):
place, wasn't like I had to go and repurchase that latticework
again the next year. It was a one and done.
It was in place and it was doingwhat it needed to.
I already had the shovel. I already had the rake.
Even if I had to go and buy the shovel and the rake, I think I
may have the next year went and purchased a hand trowel to make
hand digging easier. You're buying it once and it's
(12:26):
lasting for years. You're not having to repurchase
it. So these are things to think
about in terms of what is it actually costing us to grow this
garden. It has been raining almost daily
here for the last several weeks,but I always say I'd rather have
too much rain than not enough, because I know Mother Nature is
(12:49):
going to turn the faucet off andcrank up the thermostat in no
time at all. When the summer finally does
bring long, hot days and the rain is scarce, the flowers in
our gardens do not have to struggle.
If we make a few simple adjustments, our roses and our
perennials can stay healthy and beautiful even through the
summer dry spells. Heirloom Roses knows this, and
(13:11):
they have some tips for you. The first thing to remember is
something we talk about all the time.
Less frequent, more thorough waterings.
Skip the light daily watering. Instead give your plants a
thorough soak a few times a week.
This builds deeper roots that can access water even when the
topsoil is dry. Next thing is something I always
(13:32):
preach and that is mulch. Heirloom Roses thinks it's just
as important as I do. A 2 to 3 inch layer of mulch
keeps the soil cool, it slows evaporation, and it helps reduce
weeds. It's a small step with a big
payoff, especially during hot stretches.
And finally, pair some heat tolerant roses with heat loving
(13:52):
perennials. Many perennials not only hold up
in heat, they actually thrive init.
And when planted with roses, they bring texture, pollinator
appeal and long lasting color tothe garden.
Roses that can handle the heat like Eden Climber, James
Galloway and Joseph's Coat can be paired with drought tolerant
perennials like Nephopia, Echinacea, Yarrow, Lavender,
(14:15):
Sage and Salvia. With the right care and the
right plant choices, your flowergarden can flourish all summer,
no matter the forecast. Get your heat tolerant roses and
heat loving perennials right nowat heirloomroses.com and save
20% by using code Just Grow at Checkout.
They have the varieties I mentioned and more ready to ship
(14:38):
on whatever schedule you choose.Heirloom Roses specializes in
own route roses, not grafted ones that stand up to extreme
weather conditions and the test of time.
Visit heirloomroses.com today and use code Just Grow to save
20% on their fabulous selection of roses and perennials for your
garden. The link is in the show notes.
(15:01):
So if our goal is to save money in the grocery store by growing
a lot of our own produce, what do we do to track what it is
that we're spending so that we can actually measure our
savings? And the, the way that I would
(15:23):
say to treat this is, you know, if your goal is to essentially
make money from your garden in terms of the fact that, you
know, you're not having to buy as much produce, you're
replacing the grocery store, then treat it like a side
hustle, treat it like a budget friendly side hustle.
So in that instance, we're tracking our expenses and we're
(15:46):
tracking our yields and we're tracking our preservation and
then we're kind of figuring out what our return on investment
is, right? So what are we tracking in terms
of expenses? You have two different
categories here. You've got your initial costs,
OK. These are things like raised
beds or tools or trellises or fencing or whatever.
(16:06):
These are long term things whosecosts are going to be divided
out over the lifetime of the item.
You know, when we started our gardens at the Five Acre
homestead, we just used scrap wood that we had laying around
to get us through the first couple of years until we could
buy the beds that we wanted. I mean, we were reusing screws
(16:30):
and nails to put these things together and we actually had
gotten some free things off of Craigslist that we were using to
like break up the soil or to mowdown the lawn or whatever.
Now, you know, even when we moved over to the 40 acres, we
were still using scrap wood and things to kind of build our
raised beds. Now most of those have already
fallen apart and they're being replaced, but using found
(16:52):
materials is a really great way to save my planter box.
Direct planters now that I use still only cost me around an
average of 140 dollars and they are going to last me now for
decades. And of course using my code to
just grow not only saves you 10%, but you also get free
shipping. So it really is a really good
(17:14):
deal. If you buy pressure treated
lumber, OK, that's also a longerterm wooden solution.
There's still an upfront investment that you'll need to
account for, but that is dividedout over the number of years of
life that you get out of that bed.
OK. So you have those sort of
initial costs and then we have the annual costs, the things
(17:38):
that we are having to repurchaseevery single year.
So you know, this might be things like seeds and plants
unless you're doing heirlooms and you're holding, you're
saving your own seeds. And you know, unless you are
really starting all of your transplants from seed, if you're
buying these, this is going to be sort of an annual cost for
you, right? Soil amendments, if you have to
(18:00):
purchase anything for that compost, if you can't make your
own, these are all things that you would have to purchase again
year after year. So that needs to be factored in
as a cost. Do those costs go down as you
continue to garden through the years?
Absolutely, because you're not going to have to buy unless
you're continuing to expand yourgarden year after year, you're
(18:21):
not going to have to continue tobuy the same volume of compost
or soil amendments or topsoil orwhatever, specifically if
you're, you know, filling up raised beds, but also if you are
amending, you know, in ground beds.
So hopefully those costs will godown year after year.
And if you manage those beds properly, you can use things
like cover crops that are less expensive to be able to help
(18:43):
improve that soil versus, you know, buying compost or soil
amendments. And you can manage that a little
bit more closely yourself. If the goal is to save money,
you got to get scrappy. OK, we were scrappy.
It was a broken shoestring job, shoestring budget.
There was no money to be had. And we were building a business
in this way. It started out just feeding the
(19:05):
family, but we built the farm this way.
And so you absolutely, absolutely can bootstrap your
garden. Easy, okay, but not easy.
It's not really easy, but you should be doing this.
You should be bootstrapping yourgardens, okay, If you're
concerned about saving money, the second thing to track now is
your yields. So first we're tracking our
(19:25):
expenses and now we want to makesure that we are tracking our
yields. I, I, I don't like it when I see
people say, oh, well, you know, it costs more to grow the garden
than it does to go buy in the grocery store.
When they admit that they're notactually weighing the produce
that they're bringing in from their own garden and they're not
keeping track of it. Like you should be weighing out
(19:47):
what you're harvesting and keeping note of it.
You know, I love a garden journal.
OK. And one of the things that we
keep track of is our yield. Now obviously this is a little
bit different for me because this is a business.
Business for me, right? And I am making money from these
gardens and so I need to know exactly what it's costing me to
do this and exactly how much I'mharvesting so I know exactly
(20:10):
what my return on investment is.But if your goal is to make
money in terms of you are savingon having to go to the grocery
store, then again, we should be treating this like a business
and tracking these things anyway.
And then when you're figuring out, you know, what that kind of
replacement value would be, you should be looking at your local
(20:32):
grocery store or your CSA's or your farmers market vendors to
price and estimate the value of what it is that you are
harvesting. And make sure that you are
comparing apples to apples. I mean, literally and
figuratively, right? If you are growing organically,
compare what you're growing and what you are harvesting to the
(20:56):
price of organic in the store orthe farmers market.
Don't you know, have your reallyhigh quality produce that you
were growing yourself using organic methods and then compare
it to the, you know, stuff that you can get in the conventional
section at Walmart. It's not the same product.
So make sure that you're comparing apples to apples when
(21:19):
you're estimating this value, OK?
And then make sure that you are also tracking your preservation.
If you're making salsa or Pickles or you're freezing your
green beans or you're storing upwinter squashes or potatoes.
Keep in mind that oftentimes these things are going to be
much more expensive in the grocery store during the time of
(21:39):
year that you would normally be purchasing them.
Because if you were to purchase these things in the winter time,
say you're buying the potatoes in the winter or you're buying
apples in the winter, it's goingto be more expensive than when
they were in season. So you might actually be saving
even more money by preserving all of these things yourself and
(21:59):
being able to like shop your pantry or your basement for all
of your goodies during the winter time, right?
So make sure that you're tracking how much it is that you
are saving yourself in terms of the amount of produce that
you're preserving. And then you just calculate your
return on your investment. So whatever you spent and then
(22:20):
the value of the produce that you grew in addition to
everything that you preserved. And then you get your net
savings, right. So if you spent 80 bucks on your
garden and you had $300 worth ofvalue in produce that you saved,
then it's a $220 net savings over what you would have spent
at the grocery store. Track your costs and your yield
so that you understand whether your garden is saving you money
(22:44):
or costing you in terms of expenses.
Our location and soil type are absolutely considerations,
right? So in ground beds, if you have
decent soil, wherever you are gardening, an in ground bed is
going to require very, very minimal investment.
(23:07):
You don't have to own a tiller in order to be able to break
this up. There are a lot of places where
you can either rent one or you can actually hire somebody to
come in and do this for you. But if you don't have the budget
for that, because I did not, youcan break up the ground in just
small little bits using, you know, a hand trowel, a a
(23:29):
pitchfork, a potato fork, anything that you can do to sort
of break that ground up and makeit to where it's loose enough
for you to be able to plant a seed or to transplant a plant.
Now, might you need to improve it with some compost, maybe.
Could this be done later on downthe road with some cover crops?
Absolutely. Even if you are, you know,
(23:50):
trying to garden in a 4 by 4 area that was nothing but turf
and you mow it down really, really low.
And you sort of take a shovel and kind of get the last of that
sod off of the top and then takea broad fork or take a potato
fork or a hand trowel or something and break up the, you
know, that that section into smaller sections.
(24:11):
And then even just get an inexpensive bag of potting soil
and kind of just improve the spots where you're going to
plant. You have a space to plant.
OK. But this again, is only if you
have, you know, a decent soil. If you live some place where you
don't and if you continue to tryto plant in that corner and it's
nothing but clay and nothing is going to grow and you really are
(24:33):
just going to be wasting your money, Then we look at container
gardening. OK, It could be just pots on
your deck. You can start with recycled, you
know, nursery containers or recycled flower pots or whatever
you can find. And then you can move your way
up to actual raised planters, right?
This can be a little bit more expensive per square foot
(24:57):
depending on how you are creating the soil within those
containers. So if you're just doing small
pots on the patio and you're using straight potting soil for
this, then that can be manageable depending on what
your budget is. But if you're talking larger
square footage, if you're getting those raised planters
(25:17):
and you need to fill those up, then there's going to be a
little bit of an expense that goes with that.
One of the ways to maximize yourreturn on that investment is
number 1, to grow those really high value crops, the ones that
you are going to pay a high dollar amount for in the grocery
(25:38):
store and to choose compact crops that are going to maximize
what the yield is that you can get out of those beds.
I just did the math on this for our own gardens.
Now I have, wait for it, 34 raised planter beds.
OK, most of them are from Planter box Direct.
(25:59):
Some of them are still the ones that are falling apart from
before. And this is in my kitchen garden
and also in the garden that's behind my greenhouse.
I am actively harvesting from 30of them right now.
In just the past three weeks, I have harvested over 250 lbs of
produce from those beds and theyare still full of things being
(26:23):
harvested. That's not including any of the
really heavy stuff like my carrots and my beets that
haven't, you know, reached maturity yet or any of the herbs
I'm not even counting, right. That's an average of over 8 lbs
per bed over the past three weeks.
And I expect over the next threeweeks that I will get an
additional 10 to 12 lbs from each of those beds based on what
(26:48):
is just still in them. OK, So now already at 20 lbs of
produce out of each one of thosebeds.
And then I will replant them with a summer succession
planting and then a summer succession for a fall harvest.
So on average, I will yield depending on the crops that I'm
(27:09):
growing because obviously some crops weigh more than others.
But those high dollar ones, those leafy greens, right, are
producing abundantly in these beds.
And eventually the tomatoes thatI will have in these beds and
the eggplant I will have, that'sthe heavier stuff, which again,
higher yield because they're compact varieties, but also
because I'm interplanting and I'm companion planting And just
(27:32):
the dollar value of those crops,on average, I will yield
anywhere from around 54 lbs to 120 lbs of produce per bed
across the season, depending on what I plant.
OK, so if we are strategic in what we plant and how we plant
(27:53):
it, container yields can be phenomenal, right?
You cannot tell me that you could buy 75 lbs of high value
produce in the grocery store forless than what you can grow it
in a small space like a raised bed.
Despite needing to make the initial purchase of the bed and
(28:15):
filling it with the soil and amending it each season a
special if you are growing organically and you compare that
with the cost of that same produce organic in the grocery
store, if you can even find it. Ever tried finding organic
collard greens in a grocery store in rural Missouri?
Good luck. OK.
So being strategic with what we grow means that we can save
(28:40):
money, and it also means that you might be able to grow things
organically that you otherwise wouldn't have been able to
afford organically in the grocery store.
That's a whole other thing that we haven't even talked about.
You know, it might be cost prohibitive for you to be able
to go and buy these things normally in the grocery store,
and so you're having to buy themconventionally.
(29:01):
But now because you're growing them yourself, you can opt to
grow them organically and now you get the advantages of that.
OK. Now if we have really clay heavy
soil again, we're probably goingto have to amend with some
compost and some other organic matter.
So obviously there is a cost there.
And in this instance, it really is a matter of trial and error
(29:24):
depending on, you know, trying to determine exactly how many of
those inputs you would need every year.
We learned the hard way that we shouldn't be like turning all of
those amendments in under the into our clay soil because it
doesn't ever last. You, you have to almost, you
know, replace that every single year in its entirety.
(29:45):
So instead we just layer it on top now and essentially we have
just sort of built an artificialbed, you know, on top of the
native soil and we have to add just a very little bit of it
every single year. And that has helped to make it
to where those in ground beds are very, very productive with a
lot less amending. Same thing goes if you have
(30:07):
sandy soil, you are going to have to add compost and you
likely are going to have to mulch very heavily and choose
drought crops. So all of these expenses and the
costs that are associated with it again are going to depend on
where it is that you are gardening and what type of soil
you are dealing with. So this is where you kind of run
(30:28):
into like, OK, well then is it, you know, saving me money in
order to be able to grow our ownvegetables?
And in some instances, it might not be, depending on where you
are in the availability of produce in your area.
That is a reality, but it's not the predominance of the reality,
right? Not like some of these people
are saying, like, oh, it never, never pays to grow your own.
(30:51):
It's always cheaper in the grocery store.
That is absolutely not the case.OK.
So you have to be very strategicand figuring out what it is that
you're planting. What does your family use the
most, you know, so that you can get the most out of it.
What are you paying the most forin the grocery store at the
moment? Is that something that you can
grow on your own? OK.
There's also the idea of qualityover quantity.
(31:15):
Your goal may not necessarily beabout getting the volume of
produce out of your garden that you might buy at the store.
You're going to get a higher nutritive value out of the
things that you are growing in your own garden, especially if
you're using, you know, you're not using any type of synthetic
(31:37):
inputs. You are actually focusing on the
soil health, which is an in turnmaking a healthier plant that is
giving you a, a healthier, you know, yield, right?
You also are getting a higher level of nutrition in these
things because there is a lot shorter time between when it's
harvested and when you're actually consuming it.
(31:58):
It's not sitting on a truck. It's not sitting on a store
shelf and degrading over those days or weeks before it gets to
your plate. You're harvesting it and you're
either eating it or you are preserving it for later.
A higher nutritive value means you actually are need to consume
less of those things to get the same amount of nutrition.
(32:23):
It's almost like store produce can sometimes be like empty
calories. You know, I always like to refer
back to broccoli in terms of #1 the studies that they did that
showed the decrease in the nutrition in a head of broccoli
nowadays versus what we were getting 70 years ago.
(32:45):
It's astonishing how much less nutrients or how fewer nutrients
there are in a head of broccoli now.
And then you combine that with the fact that broccoli has a
half life of 24 hours on a lot of its elements, on a lot of
it's, you know, nutritional content.
And so the vitamins and stuff inthere begin to degrade and they
(33:08):
have degraded by 50% within the 1st 24 hours after being picked
if they are not being held at asclose to freezing as possible,
you know. And So what happens when it's,
it's been 3 days before it, you know, has left the field and
gotten into the warehouse and gotten to the grocery store and
then it sits on the shelves for another 3 days and it's a day
(33:28):
before you buy it and you bring it home.
OK, so great. It's been sitting there for a
week now. You're getting a few little
calories out of it. You might be getting some fiber,
but who knows what you're getting in the way of nutrition
versus that head of broccoli that you managed to grow in your
garden and you picked it and youbrought it in and you serve it
to your family for dinner, right?
You actually have to eat less ofthat broccoli than the store
(33:49):
bought broccoli in order to get the same amount of nutrition.
That is something that is very difficult to quantify because
you don't know, you don't know how much better those vegetables
are for you because there's not a lot of studies being done
because nobody wants to admit what's going on, at least in
industry. They don't, right?
They don't want to admit that what we're doing to the soils
(34:11):
and, and how we're growing things and how we're harvesting
things isn't feeding us properlyanymore.
So, you know, with that little tangent aside, we just, we want
to understand why we are gardening and what is important
to us and then use those metricsto decide whether or not we are
successful in the garden or not.OK, so money saving tips.
(34:37):
All right, first thing, obviously we're going to start
with seeds. They are much cheaper than
starts. One packet equals a whole bunch
of plants. If you can manage to start your
own seeds indoors, fantastic. Do what you can with that.
Use recycled containers, yogurt cups, milk jugs, takeout trays.
Use all of these things for yourseeds starting rather than
having to go and buy fancy trays.
(34:59):
Or go to your local nursery and see if they have extra plastic
laying around. I almost guarantee you they do
and they are very happy to get rid of it rather than having to
pay to dispose of it or have it recycled.
OK, so if you can, you know, go big, borrow and steal.
No steal, but just beg and borrow recycled containers of
some sort to be able to start your seeds, that's a great way
(35:21):
to save some money. OK?
If you can grow open pollinated crops, your tomatoes, your
Peppers, your beans, whatever, prevent them from cross
pollinating and save those seeds.
Well, boom, now you don't even have to buy seeds anymore,
you're creating your own. So that's just one more way to
save money in the garden. OK, you can DIY your compost.
(35:42):
Go back and search for any of the compost episodes that I have
done. This is going to reduce the need
for buying those soil amendments, not to mention
you're going to save landfill space.
But you don't even have to do anything other than the lazy
compost method. If you think I have time to be
out there turning my soil multiple times during the season
(36:02):
and making sure it's getting theright air in the water.
No, no, no, no, I don't. I don't have time to do that.
I am a lazy composter. But what I do do is I take that
compost that compiles all duringthe season and at the end of the
gardening season, I am taking that compost whether it is
finished or not, and I am addingit to those garden beds.
It's going to continue to break down over the winter time.
(36:24):
I'm mulching over the top and I'm letting it sit and it is
breaking down beautifully over the winter and is ready for me
to plant into in the spring. If there's anything that's still
kind of big and chunky, it gets pulled out and tossed back in
the compost pile. OK, it doesn't have to be
complicated to make your own compost.
Now, obviously if you are in a homeowners association or
(36:46):
something like that, then you got to be careful about how
you're doing this. But you can compost for free and
that is going to reduce the needfor you to have to go and
purchase a bunch of soil amendments.
And Speaking of that mulch, I know that I'm a proponent of
straw. Often times you have to go and
buy that straw. You can find mulch for free.
You can get a chip drop done. There's a a website that you can
(37:07):
go to where you can put in your address and let them know, hey,
I want a chip drop. And local tree trimmers, you
know, may drop off a whole load of wood chips for free just
right in your yard. OK.
Make sure that you have the place for them to dump it.
And he doesn't always work. We're in a very rural area.
I was on the chip drop list for three years and never got a
single one. But if you see local tree
(37:27):
trimming companies in your neighborhood cutting down
neighbors trees, ask them if they'll drop those wood chips in
your yard. You can use leaves from your
yard. You can use leaves from your
neighbor's yard if you know thatthey're not spraying for
anything or grass clippings thathave not been sprayed with any
pesticides. Whatever you can use to retain
the moisture in your soil and suppress those weeds is going to
(37:52):
maintain the soil better. The soil health as means that
you are going to have to amend less.
So it's just one more way. Not only are you saving money on
the mulch, but now you're also saving money on soil amendments
even further because you're maintaining the health of that
soil, right? Skip the synthetic fertilizers.
They're going to cost you money.Use compost tea, use warm
(38:14):
castings. You see if you can find some
aged manure, OK, A lot of times you can get this stuff for free.
And the problem with the synthetic fertilizers is they
are not feeding your soil. They are only feeding the plant
that happens to be in that soil at the time.
So you're not doing anything to maintain that soil, which again,
just means you're going to have to continually feed and continue
(38:35):
to amend. When it comes to tools, you may
not necessarily need to buy tools outright initially.
There are local organizations ina lot of different areas that
will do like a tool library, like a lending library for
garden tools. So, you know, see if you can
find one of those organizations,your area and go check out the
(38:57):
tools that you need. And sometimes they've got like
good tools like not just the hand trails and other things
that you might need to use, but like tillers and walk behind
Cedars and all kinds of different things.
Find out if your neighbors have any of these tools.
If you're doing a small garden to start with, you're not going
to need those tools for the longterm.
You might be able to borrow themfrom a weekend and then give
(39:17):
them back. And then of course, we're
looking at like, what are we going to grow?
Grow what you eat the most. Don't grow kohlrabi if your
household doesn't like it, right?
Don't grow turnips just because they're going to be easy for you
to grow. It's a waste if nobody's
actually going to eat them. Okay, I mean, for the record, I
love kohlrabi and I love salad turnips, but whatever.
But, you know, focus on those high yield, high cost crops,
(39:42):
leafy greens, culinary herbs, cherry tomatoes, Peppers,
zucchini, if you can get away with it in your area, berries if
space allows. All those things generally can
be very, very pricey, again, especially if you're doing them
organically. And so these are all things that
are going to yield a lot in a very small space and also cost
(40:02):
you a lot if you go to buy them.I absolutely.
I am a proponent of succession planting and interplanting or
companion planting, OK, You should be growing more than one
crop per space each season, and you should be maximizing that
(40:23):
space at the same time that you're reducing the pests and
the weed pressure. OK?
How do you think I am getting all of those pounds of food out
of those raised beds? It's interplanting and
succession planting and I have continued to work and experiment
with all of my different combinations and pairings and
(40:44):
continued to increase my yield over the past few years.
It just takes you keeping track of what it is that you're doing
and how you're doing it, what you're growing with, what what
your yield is, and then tweakingit again the next year.
So again, if this is really yourgoal to save money over buying
(41:07):
in the grocery store, then you kind of have to take it
seriously and again, treat it like a side hustle, like a
little job and keep track of everything that is going on so
that you can compare notes from year to year to be able to
figure it out. Use that garden planner, use the
journal, track your timing. You know, it reduce the kind of
(41:28):
like craziness of like, oh, well, I'm not sure what's going
to go in that spot. And then you get something in
and it's too late and it doesn'tproduce.
The more you have it on a calendar, the more you figure it
out ahead of time, the easier it's going to be for you to be
able to increase that yield. And then, of course, preserve
your harvest as much as you can.I know if you are growing a lot
of stuff and you're pulling a lot of stuff out of your beds,
(41:49):
freezing, drying, canning, fermenting, all of these things,
it's less waste, which means more savings for you.
And it means less stuff that youactually have to go to the
grocery store and buy when it's not the gardening season.
And you know what? None of this applies to you if
you garden as a hobby and a formof exercise and fresh air and
(42:13):
the yield that you get from yourgarden is just a happy bonus.
Seriously, hobbies cost money and gardening can be no
different. So if you want the prettiest
raised planters and the coolest looking trellises and a fancy
pants Arbor over an even fanciergate entering your garden, then
go for it. And don't let anybody discourage
you from doing that if it's within your means.
(42:35):
Trust me, when I get into something that looks a little
bit more like retirement than a nine to five job in my gardens,
then things will start to look alittle different.
But until then, I'm actually making money from those gardens.
So nobody can convince me that you can't grow your own food,
real food, for cheaper than you can buy in the store, unless
(42:57):
your circumstances are very extreme or you are at the very
beginning of your journey. All right, I'm off my soapbox
now. Until next time, my gardening
friends, keep on cultivating that dream garden, and we'll
talk again soon.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!