reducing gardening cost ?

[zakity]

My garden is very frugal. I get tons of salad and tomatoes from a roughly $20 expenditure each year. Actually, most of the tomatoes don't even get a chance to get to the house. That is what happens when you send your children out to pick them, they eat them all. And, it gives my guys more work to do. I am a firm believer in children learning the value of hard work. It teaches them lots of skills and they learn about botany.

[JBinKC]

I agree with you that with many vegetables it is cheaper to buy than to grow.


However, I have to disagree with you on certain potentially high yielding vegetables that will start to produce ripe produce by the forth of July and will keep on producing until frost like peppers summer squash and tomatoes( provided the plants don't get a disease) and fruit trees.

I spend about $15 per annum in plants and materials and get about $30 from hot pepper sales to a bar/restaurant plus all the free fresh produce which will last through December. In addition, I usually am able to freeze/can about 100 lbs of tomatoes without all of that death laden salt in it.

I could cut that cost to almost zero by saving the seeds but I usually cannot grow my seedlings tall enough for the fabric I lay which increases the temp. of the soil to a point where the plant is at risk if it is not tall enough.


I don't spend much time weeding/watering either because the fabric that might cost a $1 total that lets water in and prevents it from escaping.

You only want to fertilize once before the plants blossom and it isn't necessary to spend anything there because urea, grey water from powdered detergent and wood ash are free waste products.

[Rei]

I spent about $100 on my garden last season... just getting up and running. Deer fencing, a little nitrogen, seeds and plants. I estimated about 500 lbs of produce from this garden. We are still eating beans, winter squash and home made spaghetti sauce. $5.00 for 25 lbs of fresh, "mostly" organic produce seems to meet the frugal qualifications. I have had poor years... lack of rain, bugs etc but overall our family has done well gardening.