Poll:Growing food to save money (and other reasons)

[morriss003]

Anyone growing a garden to help reduce their grocery spending?

We grow a very small garden right now, and hope to grow a lot more of our own food in retirement. In our case, this is for both money and health reasons. We buy almost all of our produce certified organic, so our food budget is rather large. Growing our own would enable us to have organic produce at a MUCH smaller cost.

I've never canned anything in my life, but would like to learn so that I can preserve what we can't eat fresh.

I've gardened for years, but never really saved much. Right now I have green beans, but considering the post of potting soil and effort it would have been easier to buy them at the store.

 

[Fedup]

I think of potting soil as money for cheap therapy. But I do compost my leftover vegs and dead plants so I recycle some soil. They are not all goes to waste.

 

[Janet H]

I grow herbs just outside the door. Fresh herbs are expensive to buy and so nice to cook with. Most of the rest of the things I've tried growing over the years have been eaten by critters or just not worth the effort.

This year we've been picking and freezing fresh blackberries as well. These grow wild in my area - especially good on french toast.

 

[vrijheid]

Hi MoneyChic
I’ve had small gardens in the past but this year was my first large garden effort. Tomatoes (beefsteak and Roma), sugar snap peas, green beans, red and yellow onions, russet potatoes and sweet potatoes, lettuce, spinach, radishes, beets, carrots, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, blueberries, hot and sweet peppers, pumpkins, asparagus and sunflowers!! It was large and a lot of work but so fun to watch it all grow. Nothing like deciding what veggies you want to eat that day and walking out to the garden to pick them fresh. All organic and all for the cost of seeds and some manual labor!! I love to cook and experiment. I also planted parsley, borage, bee balm, chives, lavender, basil and different varieties of mint. I’ve learned how to freeze and can and cure my veggies to keep over the winter. I had such a large bounty that I was able to share with family and friends. Will be expanding my garden next year with the addition of different varieties of garlic, onions, potatoes, cantaloupe. Enjoy your garden...one of the best health investments you can make IMHO [emoji68]*[emoji264]

 

[simple girl]

If you like small scale stuff check out Earthbox.

Here's a link:
https://earthbox.com/?gclid=CjwKCAj...SEO26BAAVhDTUVDGd5iYV9fw7Dpx2tTRoC8vIQAvD_BwE

While not an inexpensive solution they're better than pots. We did herbs in one and cherry tomatoes in another. Amazing harvest. I was making big batches of pesto with all the basil.

I am HOOKED on Earthboxes. I have 7 that I have been planting every year - on my 8th year now. I made my own to start with (out of plastic bins), but they broke down after a few years in the hot sun.

My earthboxes are going strong after several years. No weeding! My kind of gardening!

We don't grow enough for it to supply all of our veggie needs, by far - but it sure does supplement. I LOVE growing gypsy bell peppers - very high production, MUCH cheaper than organic bell peppers, and they freeze beautifully.

I also LOVE growing lettuce. Black seeded simpson is my favorite. There is nothing like it that you can buy in the store. SO fresh, soft, buttery - YUM!

And the tomatoes! Absolutely nothing better than homegrown!

Also - can't forget the beauty of walking out and snipping fresh herbs whenever you want.

I guess you can tell I absolutely love my garden.