Don't Start a Veggie Garden to Save Money

[jeffrey]

Saving money is a popular rationale for starting a vegetable garden at home. A commonly cited statistic from the National Gardening Association suggests that home gardeners can expect a return of $8 worth of produce for each $1 they invest in seeds, starts, fertilizers and pest control. Roger Doiron of Kitchen Gardeners International ran the numbers on his home garden and turned a profit of more than $2,000 with a return on investment of 852 percent. And a 2009 survey suggests that saving money on groceries was the second most commonly cited reason for food gardening...

At this point, it would take some very generous assumptions for this investment to pan out. Even assuming that we grant our median food gardener two growing seasons and a $3 per pound value for her produce, the math is not looking good. She has grown $282 worth of food while investing $50 and 156 hours of her time. That comes out to $1.57 per hour, or less than one-fifth of California's minimum wage...

Dan Allen: Don't Start a Veggie Garden to Save Money

[J.Apple902]

Saving money is a popular rationale for starting a vegetable garden at home. A commonly cited statistic from the National Gardening Association suggests that home gardeners can expect a return of $8 worth of produce for each $1 they invest in seeds, starts, fertilizers and pest control. Roger Doiron of Kitchen Gardeners International ran the numbers on his home garden and turned a profit of more than $2,000 with a return on investment of 852 percent. And a 2009 survey suggests that saving money on groceries was the second most commonly cited reason for food gardening...

At this point, it would take some very generous assumptions for this investment to pan out. Even assuming that we grant our median food gardener two growing seasons and a $3 per pound value for her produce, the math is not looking good. She has grown $282 worth of food while investing $50 and 156 hours of her time. That comes out to $1.57 per hour, or less than one-fifth of California's minimum wage...

Dan Allen: Don't Start a Veggie Garden to Save Money

Yeah but this attitude holds true for all things frugal. If it's time you have and money you don't, then it doesn't matter. Be frugal.

When it comes to cost/benefit ratio sure, run the figures. Some people enjoy gardening and growing their own food, enjoy zero transportation costs of attaining food, enjoy zero additives and self-made organic consumption, add oxygen to their world, etc etc etc.

[bjl584]

My dad is retired and is an avid gardener. He does it because he enjoys being outside and occupying his time by growing things. Money really doesn't come into the equation with him. It's more of a hobby and a pastime than it is a money saving strategy.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Garden where I do and it is a constant treasure hunt, anyway. I wrote in my blog recently about the 1904 World's Fair souvenir coin I found in the soil. That has value. I've also found a number of mercury dimes (silver!) a tiny ceramic antique doll, collectible bottles, handmade decorated clay marbles, and a variety of interesting even if totally worthless odds and ends. Just yesterday I found an old water valve cover and a huge door hinge. There is a minor trend in interior decorating called Steampunk. It makes use of such antiquities. So even this junk has some mnonetary value. Oh, yeah, I'm getting rich off of gardening.

[JBinKC]

I think harvest preservation is where all the time is expended in gardening. I spend very little work time gardening because I use weed barriers and only grow nearly maintenance free crops with a continuous harvest.