Speak to someone who loves their garden, and they will always say, “Yes, of course, it does.” And, if you look at the cost of organic produce these days, it is a tempting proposition to save some money by growing your own.
Will it really save you money? That’s more of an “It might” answer. In this post, we will look at what to consider when it comes to whether or not gardening will save you money.
Will You Eat It?
It’s great to get stuck in and start planting, but you need to know that the items will be eaten. I have a friend who faithfully plants spinach every year. He loves watching it grow, and it is easy to grow. Is this saving him money? Well, no, because no one in his family eats spinach.
He does give it to a local soup kitchen, so it isn’t going to waste, but the fact is that planting the spinach is actually costing him money. If you check dollar for dollar what a serious gardener pays to get the right nutrients, fertilizers, etc. and factor in the time spent, it’s an expensive enterprise.
But let’s play devil’s advocate here, say he and his family loved spinach. Make sense to plant lots of it, right? Except that how much of the crop will they be able to eat?
The first question you must ask yourself is whether or not you will eat your crop. If not, is there a way in which you could barter it for something else? Or is there a way to make sure it goes to a good cause?
Rather stick to a smaller patch and feed your family than waste time and effort on produce that might just go to waste.
You Must Be Prepared for Trial and Error
Here’s another wake-up call. Your first year with a veggie garden is going to be the most expensive. You will need to ensure that the soil is good, that everything is getting the right amount of nutrients, etc. It’s going to be hard work.
And, if you are banking on that first bumper crop, you might end up waiting a long time. Veggie gardening is part art and part science. One year we planted cauliflowers and cabbage in three-foot raised bed.
All the seedlings had the same access to water and nutrients and pretty much the same sun exposure. Still, there were two seedlings that stubbornly refused to thrive. And this is not uncommon so do expect to waste money while you are learning what works.
The good news is that it does start to get better. As you learn the ropes, it becomes a lot easier to get things moving. And you learn to let things lie. We, for example, always had problems when it came to growing tomatoes. It didn’t matter where we put them, we got a tiny crop.
Then we started noticing the tomatoes coming up all over the place. The birds had kindly distributed the seeds for us. We left one bush alone and it ended up being massive. We got hundreds of cherry tomatoes from that bush.
Control Your Spending
Yes, it is fun to get kitted out with a cool new wheelbarrow, gloves, water cans with different spouts, etc. But you really don’t need quite as much as you might think to get started. See what you have around the house that could be pressed into service.
You’d be surprised at what you might find. You’re going to have to buy some stuff, naturally, but you should be able to make do in a lot of cases.
The idea of controlling your spending is also useful in another area – when it comes to fertilizers, pest control, etc. Instead of just turning to costly chemicals, take a look at green gardening. You will be amazed at how easy it is and how much money you can save.
It is also an idea to watch how much you spend on water. Using the right settings on your Tractor Sprinkler Hub can help you save a lot of money.
Conclusion
Just planting a veggie garden to save money might end up being an expensive exercise over time. If you take some time to do your research and plan carefully, however, it will be a richly rewarding experience.
