Growing veggies in small backyard-does it really save money

[annod]

Anyone here has a small backyard and grow edibles in raised beds? I assume that the set-up cost in the first year will be the most-buying tools, new soil, seeds, raised bed building (we live in a house built in 1930s, so I assume that the soil probably is contaminated with lead, and who know what other pesticides previous owners used)

We only have probably 140 sq. ft of raised beds space, which according Square Foot Gardening book, it enough to grow produce and salads for 2 people, with enough to can and preserve.

For me, gardening is a hobby, and having fresh, organic produce so close on hand is a joy. Even if it is a break-even hobby, it is still worthwhile, but if I know that I can actually save some money, it is even better.

Anyone here garden on a similar scale find that they actually save money over buying produce from grocery stores? if so, how much do you think you have saved?

[annod]

Forgot to add that we live in the Bay Area (East bay), where we can practically grow food all year round. I assume that would make gardening more cost-effective because we can grow 3-4 crops per year.

[Ozstache]

I have a similar sized vege patch with which I have had some, but not a great deal of, success with over the last two years.

Mine has two issues that affect productivity that I have to contend with. The first is shading, caused by it being located on the south side of a fence and being near a huge tree in the neighbour's yard, meaning it only gets patchy sunlight during summer and more than half of it is fully shaded in winter. The second is that we get sub-zero temperatures in the morning for the three months over winter, meaning a much more limited set of crops that can be grown in the winter.

As a result, I've only had great success with one crop in producing more than I can consume, namely cherry tomatoes. Everything else has either been too sporadic in its production to not have to supplement with shopping or have been total failures and never producing a crop.

The funny thing about the cherry tomatoes is that I bought four original seedlings from a local school fete and they were quite prolific themselves that first year. I just let them die in place at the end of summer and just as I was getting ready to plant something else in their place in early spring, there were cherry tomato seedlings covering about half the vege garden.

Ever the mustachian I am, I thought not to look a gift horse in the mouth and just left them to fight it out amongst themselves. Fast forward to now and we get about a breakfast bowl full of ripe cherry tomatoes every day!

In short, no my small vege garden has not been the food bowl that I originally envisaged, but it hasn't been a total failure and it has been fun and satisfying with what it has produced.

[quilter]

There is a book called " the $64 tomato" or something similar that addresses this. I don't think I ever saved a huge amount when I gardened but I had ultimate control over what happened to the veggies. I used to grow awesome heirloom tomatoes, greens for salads and had berry bushes that I fought with the birds over.   I at least came out even, probably a little ahead.  But the therapeutic value of working in the garden made it way cheaper than psychiatric care when I worked in a job that was sucking the life out of me.

[Emilyngh]

Anyone here has a small backyard and grow edibles in raised beds? I assume that the set-up cost in the first year will be the most-buying tools, new soil, seeds, raised bed building (we live in a house built in 1930s, so I assume that the soil probably is contaminated with lead, and who know what other pesticides previous owners used)

We only have probably 140 sq. ft of raised beds space, which according Square Foot Gardening book, it enough to grow produce and salads for 2 people, with enough to can and preserve.

For me, gardening is a hobby, and having fresh, organic produce so close on hand is a joy. Even if it is a break-even hobby, it is still worthwhile, but if I know that I can actually save some money, it is even better.

Anyone here garden on a similar scale find that they actually save money over buying produce from grocery stores? if so, how much do you think you have saved?

IME, it will not save money at first.   But, once you've purchased all of the supplies, and tried various things, you might be able to figure out what grows really well and does save you money over the long term.   For example, for us this has been lettuce/greens.   We usually buy one huge tub or organic lettuce a week for $6, and then kale and spinach.   In one 8x4 area we can grow all the lettuce, spinach, and kale that we can eat for the cost of 3 packs of seeds from May through Oct or Nov.   Even considering the cost of the wood frame, deer net, etc, this will save us money over the long term.   We also grow a whole window box of basil for the cost of a pack of seeds; this again saves us money.

So far the tomatoes have been a bust cost-wise (but are sooo good), and the bell peppers have not been cost-effective either.   I'm going to try to starting them from seeds in the basement using a grow-light we got for free, and they might wind up being worth growing cost-wise (I write down how many we get each year and money put in and see what we're really paying per tomato).   But, regardless I like the idea of being more self-sufficient and knowing where my food comes from.   So, I also try to think of the lettuce/greens savings paying for the tomatoes/peppers and overall being a good thing.

[Rural]

It can save a lot of money even in the first year if you are openminded, resourceful, and a bit lucky. It helps if you're willing and able to substitute a lot of manual labor for expenditures. If you have just a few of these traits and /or resources, I think you can break even or close to it the first year and be set to really start saving in year 2.

My first year at our old rental farmhouse was when I was tracking expenses. I put a total of $64 into the garden and fed us all of our vegetables (except potatoes which I decided were too cheap to spend the growing space on) from late May to November and about half through the winter.

I didn't build raised beds but double-dug beds for French intensive gardening. (Lead might be a problem for you here, but it might be worth a soil test before you invest in bed materials and bought soil). I amended with compost I'd made (resourceful) and aged manure from the old barn on the property (lucky).

I bought all my seeds for cheap at a dollar store, and then I saved seeds for everything but tomatoes for the next year.

I weeded by hand, but with French intensive planting there's not much to weed once the plants get to a respectable size. I had a little fence, but not enough to keep the deer out. My "lucky" in this regard was the nearby hay field, which was much more interesting to the deer than my garden. I also ringed the beds with marigold, which may have helped a bit if the deer tried a marigold first. I went out at dusk and listened for and killed the tomato hornworms, and I put out dished of beer for the squash bugs, plus slaughtered them by the thousands myself. :-)

I watered with a cheap soaker hose from the same dollar store (you could do the same with an old hose, sealed off at one end, with pinholes in it). I moved it from bed to bed manually, and about half the time it ran off grey water from our bathtub. Other times I carried bath water to the garden in buckets. (We use Dr. Bronners liquid soap, so I wasn't too worried about that).

We were in a situation where I was freelancing, and I hadn't built the business up as much as I was able to later, so I had a lot of time. Since I couldn't bring in more money right then (though I was building the business), I worked pretty hard to save. If your situation is different, you'll want to take some short cuts that will mean your inputs are higher. Still, though, think each expenditure through to see if it's worthwhile or if you have a good alternative (or a free option). That will get you to the point where your garden is a money-maker much faster.

[Gray Matter]

I have never had much luck with this, but have done a lot of things wrong.  I bought seedings, procrastinated in planting them, put up a mostly-decorative fence that did nothing to stop the rabbits or my dog who has a penchant for green tomatoes, and we live in a place with a short growing season.  So a real case study in what not to do.

I am interested in building raised beds and trying my hand at starting with seeds indoors.  I'm not convinced it will save money, but I think it's good for me and my kids to remember where food comes from and to be able to eat fresh, in-season, home grown veggies, so intangible value.

[NV Teacher]

Don't forget to consider the cost of water.  My brother-in-law always puts in a big garden and then complains all summer when his water bill is $200-$300 a month.  They could buy a lot of veggies for that much money.

[jawisco]

I don't think you will save much money - you definitely won't save anything if you value your time.  That being said, I grow a small garden each year.

I usually grow things that are expensive to purchase or that just taste better homegrown.  An herb garden is a no brainer since herbs can be expensive and it is great to have them on hand.  I live in a differnt climate, but I always grow garlic, tomatoes, and salad greens and then a little bit of a few other things.

But I think you have to get more out of it than just saving money or getting extra fresh produce.  For me, I enjoy the extra time outdoors and watching things grow.  I have gotten into saving my own seed as well, which is fun. 

Raised beds are good if you have plenty of precipitation, but can be a water hog if you don't. 

[Peter]

If you are doing a strict financial comparison, make sure your "grocery" side of the equation is the most expensive, organic, pesticide free, hand harvested, locally grown, sustainable hippy produce you could possibly buy from that gourmet farmers market! It wouldn't really be fair to compare your backyard pickings to 89c/lb tomatoes, lettuce and peppers from Walmart...

[Catbert]

Well I live in So Cal so I can also garden all year.  Similar size with 4 raised beds and about 100 sq. feet.  You can raise a lot of veggies in that much space.  I freeze some but I don't can much of it.  (Do you can now?  Most veggies need a pressure canner which I don't do.)

I track all costs except my labor and water (mostly grey water or captured rain water) and lbs harvested.  1st year it was $14.45 a lb!  It could have been much cheaper if I'd been focused on getting salvaged or garage sale items but I was more excited about getting started.  Costs have steady dropped so that 5 years in I'm at 26 cents a lb. last year for organic produce. (over 400 lbs.)

However, not worth doing if it isn't something you enjoy.

[Another Reader]

The OP lives in an area that will likely be subject to water restrictions this year because there has been no rain.  I used to plant a 16 x 25 vegetable garden, but the water bill made this not financially feasible.  It was costing an extra $200 to $250 a year for the water.  Because of the drought, this year the last of the lawn is going and I will use more of the water that would otherwise be wasted (such as the water run waiting for hot water) to water the shrubs. 

[engineerjourney]

I have a veggie garden in CT.  Its not the greatest growing season and we had some awful weather last year that caused fungus problems BUT I will always do it.  We didn't raise the bed, we removed grass in a sunny area, bought nice top soil the first year, and used rocks from our yard to make a border.  I grow everything from seed in my basement using super cheap lights from walmart with the cheap bulbs that emulate those expensive grow lights (Not worth the extra $$). 

What saves me money and makes it worth it is growing from seed and specializing in tomatoes, sweet peppers and hot peppers.  We also tried watermelon and pumpkins last year.  We only grow things we really enjoy eating a lot of and can preserve easily.  I have planted about 14 tomato plants each year with no more than two plants being the same kind.  I am still figuring out what grows best here.   This coming season I will have about 14 tomato plants, 5 sweet pepper plants, some hot pepper plants, cucumbers, sunflowers and sugar pumpkins.  I also water by hand using a watering can.  Saves lots of watering money BUT I also have to spend 15 mins every morning watering them or they get angry if it doesnt rain, haha. 

The first year I was able to eat to my content, so many tomato salads, and also can 6 pints of pasta sauce, 6 pints of salsa, 3 quarts of bloody mary mix (wasn't that great) and freeze a shit ton of cored tomatoes for soups.  Last year I only got 8 pints of salsa because of the weather but I was still able to eat to my content and didn't buy any veggies at the store. 

Every year, besides maybe the first year with set up costs, was definitely worth doing and saved money, besides for being ridiculously delicious!

[totoro]

I have no garden this year because we are landscaping a new place.  I am putting a limited amount of raised beds in as part of the landscaping plan even though it may not be cost effective.  The reason is that I enjoy watching plants grow and I enjoy canning, drying and saving the produce.  I think it is associated with some nostalgia for the past for me and I enjoy it enough to pay a bit more to do it.

In the past my kids really enjoyed the garden.  I planted things they liked and would eat straight from the garden.  These included: peas, cherry tomatoes, purple beans, strawberries, raspberries, red currants, blueberries and alpine strawberries.  We also had basil, cilantro, parsley, shiso, kale, spinach, squash, zucchini and our Halloween pumpkins.  The best producers were the cherry tomatoes.

You might want to take a look at this blog: http://theprudenthomemaker.com/index.php/kitchen-garden/gardening-for-less.  She has lots of post on edible landscaping and gardening for less and she is in a desert climate with water restrictions.

[Hedge_87]

I have never put a pencil to it but here in ks store bought butternut squash is pretty expensive. We try and eat paleo and have squash a couple times a week. We had great luck with butternut this year and with it being a winter squash and you cure it right will last until next years summer squash starts producing. It taste a lot better than store bought too (just like everything from your garden does.) I don't know how much of this is fact and how much of it is prideful biased. Only downside to the squash plants is they will take the whole garden over.

[Indio]

I have been a backyard gardener since I was a teenager living with my parents. Now that I have a suburban 1/4 acre lot, I grow a lot of my own veggies. We only eat organic produce so the value of my garden is huge for me. I spend about $500 per month on the grocery budget. We don't eat out. From May to Oct my grocery bill drops to less than $50 per month and it's mostly for milk.
I have fruit trees, berry bushes (that I cover with netting to keep the birds off), herb and tea garden, and 8 raised beds that are fenced in. The cost to build the beds/infrastructure was about $500 because I used cedar and didn't want any chemicals leaching into the soil. The soil was an initiatl investment too. Since I compost every piece of newspaper, junk mail (non glossy paper), kitchen scraps, coffee grinds from Starbucks (I keep buckets there and rotate them out every week), leaves from my trees and my neighbors leaves (that I scoop up off the street every Fall and shred them), and chicken manure I haven't had to purchase soil since the start up.  I get about 25 yards of mulch every year for free from local tree companies. When they cut and mulch trees they would have to pay to take it to the dump. Instead they gladly donate it to me.  I've also gotten free unaged manure off of craigslist that I had to age in a corner of my yard. The key to a good garden is the soil. If you get that right, you should be good to go. The food tastes much better when it has a high Brix index (sweetness) and the soil is key to that.
I've repurposed garbage cans, scavenged form the dump, and covnerted them into rain barrels. My plants prefer rainwater to the stuff that comes out of the tap. I've tested growth rates. I also have a surface water fed well that I dropped a pump down and use that for the garden, but the rain barrels are my first choice. I plan to hook the barrels up to a solar pump this year.
Now that I've found varieties that I like, I save seeds every year and don't have to buy new ones. All of the extra produce, I can throughout the Summer. Last year we had 80lbs of Red Haven peaches leftover after we ate as much of them as we could. We had peaches on oatmeal, peaches for snacks, grilled peach for dinner dessert. With the leftovers, I canned them into lavender/peach jam, peach chutney and made peaches in syrup. We had leftover cucumbers that became pickles. The tomatoes also get canned into salsa, pizza/pasta sauce or frozen. The leaftover blueberries became 30lbs of fruit leather and dried for including in baked goods. My spare freezer had a power surge during Hurricane Sandy and I didn't replace it, so now I preserve everything by either dehydrating or canning it. We just ate our last batch of homegrown, non GMO edamame last night. I also grow my own shittake mushrooms, originally from nushroom spawn, but learned to innouclate my own logs and wood chips. I saved seed so I'm going to start the plants indoors probably next week.
I would guess that I save about $4-5K a year from my garden. For me the real value is knowing that everything I grow is organic and my family eats healthy food throughout the year. 
I started 2 gardens at the local schools and now I'm passing my gardening knowledge on to local school kids. All kids love playing in dirt.

[horsepoor]

With practice, you can get a lot of production out of that amount of space.  There are many things you can do to maximize the space by layering and succession planting.  For instance, I plant lettuce in the spring, and then harvest it in a patter so that there are holes in the planting bed where I put in the tomato plants.  The tomato plants then provide shade for the lettuces so that they don't bolt as quickly in the summer heat.  Green beans are grown at the edge of the bed on a trellis, so they take up almost no room in the bed.  They can be put on the north or south end, depending of if you're trying to achieve shading or maximum sunlight for your other crops.  Same thing with cucumbers.  1-2 pickling cucumber plants will only take up a couple feet of trellis, and will keep you in cukes for months in your climate, plus you can make homemade fermented cukes, which will blow away anything you can buy in the store.  Mine are twice as good as the Bubbies brand that costs about $8/quart.  Snow peas and sugar snap peas are another high-value crop that can be grown vertically (look for pole varieties, not bush or self-supporting).  Kale and chard are awesome because you can just cut off leaves as you need them, and the plants keep on growing.  In your area, they will grow all winter.  Brussels sprouts may also work well for you as a winter crop, and they are fairly vertical in growth form, so if you stake them, you can cut the lower leaves off, and plant lettuce or other low crops under and around.

Like others have touched on, things like gourmet baby greens give you great bang for the buck/space requirement.  Even with my larger garden, I've decided not to grow potatoes or yellow onions this year.  They take up a lot of room and I can buy 50# sacks of them in the fall for less than $10.

Squash is usually pretty cheap to buy, and takes up a lot of space, so I probably wouldn't bother with that in your situation.

On the water use, consider what would be growing in that space if it wasn't in vegetables.  For us, the water use is pretty much a wash, because I would otherwise have about 2,000 more square feet of thirsty lawn to maintain.  Instead I have raised beds, with about 40% of the area devoted to paths, which do not take any water.  I keep the vegetables heavily mulched, so water demands are pretty low.  Putting drip lines to the roots of larger plants can also increase your water efficiency, as does having good soil with plenty of organic matter in it.  Once plants are established, they can do fine being watered once a week or so.

Also, don't forget about container planting.  With good organic potting mix, vermiculite and mulch, watering needs can be really low, and you can grow some additional crops on your patio or other places where there's enough room for a pot or two.  5-gallon buckets make perfectly good planters for many types of veggies. There are all sorts of containers that can be recycled for use as seedling containers - yogurt, cottage cheese, tin cans, etc.

On seeds, check out Pinetree - www.superseeds.com.  They have many seed packets for around $1, and most are under $2.  Most seeds will stay viable for several years, so you don't have to purchase new seed every year.  If you google "vegetable seed viability" there are charts on the web that will give you an idea of how long seed will last.

[oceanowl]

I'm not sure we've saved money over the years because of water bill (hopefully our new rain barrel drip system will help with this), but we definitely increased out savings by planting veggies that are expensive rather than cheap ones. We don't bother with carrots because we can get them cheaply and it takes forever/a lot of space to get enough. BUT we've had good luck with things like yellow peppers and jalapenos, which are more expensive in the store. My husband then makes jalapeno poppers and freezes them for "emergency" snack attacks. We also devote a good third of the garden to garlic and basil and make the winter supply of pesto from it, since store bought pesto is ridiculously expensive, and that's the one condiment that I could eat every single day of my life.

Also, if you have friends who garden see if they want to split seedlings with you. We buys seeds for some things and seedlings for others, since we never seem to have luck growing seeds in the house (too dark in our New England winterized house, and we don't want to spend extra electricity for the plant lights). In a small garden we just don't need 6 melon plants (or whatever) so we'll swap with others. A swap is also fun because you might get things you wouldn't have picked on your own, like the year a friend gave me a bunch of tomatillo plants, which were awesome (and we are still getting seedlings randomly coming up several years later).

[Rural]

You guys have some expensive water! I've never seen one over $40/month here, and that was when we had a bigass leak.

Factor it in if yours is expensive, definitely. I also try to grow things that, most years, won't require any watering, but that's an option here.... Might have something to do with the cheap water.

Grey water solves a lot of the problem, but it's a PITA unless you plumb for it originally.

[oldtoyota]

Anyone here has a small backyard and grow edibles in raised beds? I assume that the set-up cost in the first year will be the most-buying tools, new soil, seeds, raised bed building (we live in a house built in 1930s, so I assume that the soil probably is contaminated with lead, and who know what other pesticides previous owners used)

We only have probably 140 sq. ft of raised beds space, which according Square Foot Gardening book, it enough to grow produce and salads for 2 people, with enough to can and preserve.

For me, gardening is a hobby, and having fresh, organic produce so close on hand is a joy. Even if it is a break-even hobby, it is still worthwhile, but if I know that I can actually save some money, it is even better.

Anyone here garden on a similar scale find that they actually save money over buying produce from grocery stores? if so, how much do you think you have saved?

First off, I'll say that I have not calculated exactly how much I've grown nor the time spent figuring out what will grow well (beets, carrots, leafy greens, herbs, potatoes) and what won't (melons, tomatoes) against the cost of items in the grocery store.

My successes have thus far outweighed the failures, so that is good.

A Facebook friend in LA said she could not believe how experience it was to buy organic rosemary. Why, I had that in my back yard growing for free. As you may know, rosemary loves a harsh climate and is nearly impossible to kill. I have not bought rosemary in a store in years.

Where I think I saved the most was in the fresh greens--kale, lettuce, spinach. Organic green things are expensive. Once you figure out planting in cycles so you have a steady supply, you can save a lot.

You can lose money on foods that don't like your climate or that your local animals like to eat...

[happy]

This is my 3rd vege season, starting from a complete novice.  I would echo what others have said, you can save money, once you figure out what you are doing.  Its hard to figure out how much, because for me the joy is picking just what I need when I need it. For example I grow silver beet:  the crappy leaves get eaten by our guinea pigs. Originally my kids said "yuck", but I learned to put it in all sorts of dishes. Now it even gets eaten cold out of the fridge as leftovers.  I would have to buy a bunch of silverbeet every week, to have silverbeet on tap...but I would probably end up wasting some. When they start to die down at this time of year I really miss it.

Another side benefit is the self seeders: 2 volunteer tomatoes  I let grow out of the edge of the compost heap have been my biggest producers this year.  Very large toms, some commercial variety I think: not that tasty but huge and prolific.

If you have space, consider growing perennials ( as well as annuals): less work and you only buy once eg asparagus, potato onions, perennial rocket, sweet potato, malabar spinach and herbs (parsley, rosemary, oregano, marjoram, thyme,  ginger, turmeric).

Currently I'm doing  the "eat everything in your house" challenge. I've decimated my vege budget by eating the garden, as well as the pantry. This week I bought only 3 items, all on special: lemons (yes a lemon tree is next), grapes and broccoli <$10 - usually I would spend $25-40.

[Jamesqf]

I don't think you will save much money - you definitely won't save anything if you value your time.

But I value the time I spend gardening :-)

Most of my gardening is ornamental, though I combine things by e.g. having trees & shrubs that also give fruit.  Vegetables are mostly things that are hard to find in stores - like fresh peas, real sweet corn, &c.  Same with fruit: this year I had a good bunch of quince, fresh strawberries, elderberries...

[oldtoyota]

I don't think you will save much money - you definitely won't save anything if you value your time.

But I value the time I spend gardening :-)

[/quote

Exactly.

On a related note, I am aiming to create an edible landscape. We have blackberries that grow nearby, and we can raid them since no one cares. I planted several fig trees and look forward to them bearing fruit when they get bigger.

Apple trees did not do well, sadly.

[Simple Abundant Living]

This is my 3rd vege season, starting from a complete novice.  I would echo what others have said, you can save money, once you figure out what you are doing.  Its hard to figure out how much, because for me the joy is picking just what I need when I need it. For example I grow silver beet:  the crappy leaves get eaten by our guinea pigs. Originally my kids said "yuck", but I learned to put it in all sorts of dishes. Now it even gets eaten cold out of the fridge as leftovers.  I would have to buy a bunch of silverbeet every week, to have silverbeet on tap...but I would probably end up wasting some. When they start to die down at this time of year I really miss it.

Another side benefit is the self seeders: 2 volunteer tomatoes  I let grow out of the edge of the compost heap have been my biggest producers this year.  Very large toms, some commercial variety I think: not that tasty but huge and prolific.

If you have space, consider growing perennials ( as well as annuals): less work and you only buy once eg asparagus, potato onions, perennial rocket, sweet potato, malabar spinach and herbs (parsley, rosemary, oregano, marjoram, thyme,  ginger, turmeric).

Currently I'm doing  the "eat everything in your house" challenge. I've decimated my vege budget by eating the garden, as well as the pantry. This week I bought only 3 items, all on special: lemons (yes a lemon tree is next), grapes and broccoli <$10 - usually I would spend $25-40.

I love the ideas for more perennial vegs and herbs. Would they work in zone 5b, do you think?

[happy]

Sorry I can't help with 5B zone: I'm down under, not sure what this means. However you can grow all sorts of perennial foods - just keep on the lookout for them. There is for example perennial basil and perennial coriander (I think you call it cilantro). These are 2 American guys : look what they did. I don't recognise hardly any of the plants so I guess they're US plants.http://www.geofflawton.com/fe/61569-perennial-abundance

[MrsPete]

Cheapest way to get vegetables:  Buy canned or frozen off-brands when they're on sale
Con:  Although the nutritional value is the same, the taste is not nearly as good. 

Cheapest way to get fresh-grown vegetables:  Buy them at the farmer's market
Con:  You're limited to what the farmer chose to grow, and you probably have a once-a-week shot at purchasing

Moderately cheap way to get exactly the fresh-grown vegetables you want:  Grow them yourself.
Con:  You will invest some money your first year in tools, you must invest your time, if you go out of town your plants suffer

The square-foot gardening concept is great for a first-time or small gardener.  Before you start planting, consider that you can get tomatoes pretty cheaply from a number of sources, and bird want to steal them from you.  Similarly, you can't grow carrots that'll taste any better than the ones at the grocery store, so they're not worth the effort.  Peppers, though, are expensive to buy and easy to grow -- and they freeze well.  Squash, too, are a good first crop -- try Patty Pans instead of the usual crookneck.  Peas are another good first crop, and fresh peas will definitely motivate you to grow more vegetables.  Start small and increase your efforts as your skill grows.

If you are doing a strict financial comparison, make sure your "grocery" side of the equation is the most expensive, organic, pesticide free, hand harvested, locally grown, sustainable hippy produce you could possibly buy from that gourmet farmers market! It wouldn't really be fair to compare your backyard pickings to 89c/lb tomatoes, lettuce and peppers from Walmart...

Disagree.  If you're being strictly financial, compare against what you would normally buy at the store -- not the most expensive items.  If you'd pay $4 for a single tomato that's grown "hippy style", then use that for your comparison.  On the other hand, if you've always been happy with the .89/lb tomatoes, then that's your comparison number.   

[horsepoor]

Similarly, you can't grow carrots that'll taste any better than the ones at the grocery store, so they're not worth the effort.

Actually, homegrown fancy Nantes or Parisienne carrots are amazing.  Sweet, delicate, crisp, juicy - totally different than grocery store carrots.  That's part of what I love about gardening - discovering that there is so much more to vegetables than what can be found at the local grocery store.  There are even tons of varieties of radishes that have a broad spectrum of uses and flavors and colors.

On the perennials for zone 5b - there is definitely stuff you can grow - blueberries and raspberries should work, as will many fruit trees. Blackberries would be very marginal at best.  I think gooseberries would work as well as rhubarb.  For herbs, you would need to keep them in pots and bring them indoors for the winter.  Rosemary for instance, is only hardy down to about Zone 7 or 8, and I don't think oregano is especially hardy either.

[oceanowl]

I'm envious of places with cheap farmer's markets. We have lots of great markets around here, but they are definitely not cheap-some things can be two or three times more expensive than the grocery.. Sometimes doing a CSA plan with a local farm can be cheaper, but you definitely have to carefully choose which one to join.

[fragglebock]

This thread makes me long for summertime.

[Tami1982]

I do come out ahead.  If you actually price out the cost of the food you've grown I think you will be surprised.  That said, it depends on what you grow too.  If you grow loads of onions and potatoes - generally inexpensive items- you may not do so well. 

And it usually takes at least a year to break even because of initial costs.  As for water, I didn't have an increase in my bill at all, but I am very moderate in my water usage.

If you count the cost of your time, you will never break even.  But I enjoy it a lot.  There is a ton of satisfaction in growing and preserving food.  Plus, the quality of what you grown is better than most of what you'd find in the store.  You can't put a price on the flavor of a home grown tomato! 

Some mistakes I made were to get overzealous in seed packets and buy too much, so really plan your space out.  And also, overestimating what I'd eat of a certain item.  Like, "I SHOULD eat lots of this.  Is healthy!"  When in practical terms I didn't really care for it and didn't want to eat it.  Plant what you KNOW you will eat. 

[Rural]

And also, overestimating what I'd eat of a certain item.  Like, "I SHOULD eat lots of this.  Is healthy!"  When in practical terms I didn't really care for it and didn't want to eat it.  Plant what you KNOW you will eat.

And the reverse: eat what grows. Some crops will do well some years and terribly on other ones. Eat what you get. Not planting things someone in your household hates will make this easier.

And I'll second the wisdom of growing expensive things. Bell peppers cost way too much at the store, and they don't grow reliably, for that matter. So, my second year, I planted cowhorn peppers, which have a similar taste but grow better here. We didn't have to buy bell peppers that summer or the following winter. I actually paid a little more for those seeds, which I didn't find at my dollar store, but the 4-5 dollars I spent on seeds would only have bought 4-5 peppers in the wintertime and not that many more in summer, whle I had gallons to put away in my freezer.

[Jamesqf]

On the perennials for zone 5b - there is definitely stuff you can grow - blueberries and raspberries should work, as will many fruit trees. Blackberries would be very marginal at best. 

Have to disagree: blackberries should grow just about anywhere outside the subtropics.  Used to pick them in the northeast (zone 3?), and along the roads in the mountains between San Jose & Santa Cruz, zone 7 or 8.  Blueberries, OTOH, should do ok IF you have acidic soil, otherwise not.

There's quite a bit more to growing than just climate zone.  Soil type, sun/shade, whether your area is prone to late frosts, and more.

[MrsPete]

On the perennials for zone 5b - there is definitely stuff you can grow - blueberries and raspberries should work, as will many fruit trees. Blackberries would be very marginal at best. 

Have to disagree: blackberries should grow just about anywhere outside the subtropics.  Used to pick them in the northeast (zone 3?), and along the roads in the mountains between San Jose & Santa Cruz, zone 7 or 8.  Blueberries, OTOH, should do ok IF you have acidic soil, otherwise not.

There's quite a bit more to growing than just climate zone.  Soil type, sun/shade, whether your area is prone to late frosts, and more.

Ugh.  Blackberries are nothing but weeds!  If you know how NOT to grow them, I'd love to hear your secret.  I do not care for Blackberries, yet they've grown like crazy at every house I've ever lived.  I've done everything except pour straight bleach on them.

If you're new to gardening, blueberries would be a good starting point.  They're moderately cheap to buy, and if you just give them a good start in life, you will have plenty of blueberries to eat -- for years.  You should invest in some netting with which to cover them when the fruits begin to appear; otherwise, you'll lose them to the birds. 

Blueberries have the benefit of being super-healthy and easy to freeze, though they are outrageously expensive to buy at the store. 

[horsepoor]

It really depends on the blackberry variety.  Same thing with blueberries, actually, though there are more choices for the northern climes.  We have alkaline soil out here, but I plant my blueberries in regular potting soil and they do fine.  In the spring, they will go in a dedicated bed that will be amended with peat moss to acidify it.  My garden soil is actually so heavily amended that the native soil pH probably doesn't play in too heavily any more.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fruit/msg1015272015216.html

[Ms Betterhome]

It has taken us 3 years to be able to say we save money by growing our own veggies & fruit... And we built our raised beds mainly with salvage material. I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned 'aspect' yet...it's not just climate, but light you need to consider- if your yard is overshadowed by neighbours, you will have trouble with fruiting veg like zucchini and tomatoes - they like at least 6 hours direct sun each day.

As many have said here, you can really save on fresh greens and herbs - they grow like weeds once you work out how to keep them happy, and they don't mind part shade. Cherry tomatoes are pretty much unstoppable. I've also had consistent results from trellised snow peas ( in winter), and purple king beans ( they grow purple, but cook green) in summer.

 I highly recommend a dwarf lemon tree too, either in the ground, or a large pot... fresh lemon juice and zest adds a touch of luxury to many an otherwise bland drink or sauce.

We have a fig and a pomegranate tree, too... Both are drought-friendly, and should be happy in the California climate ( I'm in Sydney, so also vey water-conscious).

Finally, its' not always emphasised in gardening books, but it's important to continually feed a small garden to keep it productive, and this can be really expensive if you don't generate your own soil-food. We have a worm farm and compost bin to keep cycling the nutrients back to the garden. 'Weed tea' (not that kind of weed, just garden weeds brewed in a bucket of water) is free too, but is incredibly stinky.

[annod]

Glad to hear so many people here grow veggies!
 First of all, beyond financial...
1) spending time gardening and watching veggies/ plants grow is just one of my favorite things to do. It is therapeutic, it is a great exercise, and good way to get some sun. I just always feel great after gardening. Since it is a hobby, I won't count the labor/ time cost for gardening.

2) Having veggies ready in the garden means we can grow the most nutrient-dense variety of veggies and fruit. Also we can have them when they are freshly picked, when they are ripe, which makes a difference. http://www.phoenixhelix.com/2013/07/17/the-most-nutrient-dense-fruits-vegetables/

3) Having veggies on hand may save us trips to grocery store...

as for financials....

Produces in farmer's market here aren't that cheap and I happen to work on Saturdays when the local farmer's market open anyway. bummer.

So we have been buying organic (prefer local, seasonal) produce from our local health food store, so it is expensive. I'd say they range from $2/lb (kale, lettuce, apples) to more than $3 /lb (cherry tomatoes, broccoli, eggplant,  etc.)

We already have some fruit trees on premise (pear, dwarf lemon, orange), and we plan to add more. We also started a compost bin. I understand that our edible garden will have most upfront cost (new raised beds, soil, fruit trees, having someone prune trees that haven't been pruned for years).

And we do have good sun.

But by my estimate...in our 2nd year, all raised beds will be up and running... If I can grow $5 worth of organic veggies (avg. $2.5 per pound) per season (3 seasons) per square foot (let's say not everything will grow well, so I am only counting 100 sq. ft instead of 140 sq ft).  This would a conservative estimate of $1,500 yield per year.

That's not counting existing fruit tree yield...

Let's say in 5 years, we can start getting more fruit...200lb of fruit...That adds $500.

So in a few years, we should be getting at least $2,000 of food per year from our garden.

So even if we have to invest $1,500 in the first year, then $500 2nd year, $300 3nd year...we should still come out ahead financially in 2-3 years...

Does any calculate their yield this way?

-Donna

[netskyblue]

Last year (2013), my mom canned over 500 jars of produce, and that's not counting everything that was eaten fresh, frozen, and dehydrated.

She does have a pretty big garden, I think there were 24 tomato plants (which is the only thing I knew a number on), plus green beans, red potatoes, yellow potatoes, onions, sweet corn, peppers of all varieties, peas, cucumbers, ummmm.... that's all I can think of off the top of my head.  I'm sure I'm missing some things.  And 2 pear trees. 

And that was with me taking home 100lbs of tomatoes from one picking.  They had at least 3-4 pickings that size.  I know she traded one picking to a neighbor who had an apple orchard, they came and picked all the ripe tomatoes they could haul, and she got to pick their apple trees for a similar amount.

There's a lot of outlay in terms of labor, but much less so at this point (after doing it for 30 years) in terms of money spent.  Plus, if you save your own seeds for many things, you have the security of knowing if the stuff ever REALLY hits the fan, you have what it takes to keep your family fed.

[happy]

Wow thats amazing netskyblue. There's a lot of skill ( and sweat) in getting that sort of yield. They say it takes a few years to learn.

[zinnie]

I have no idea how much my veggie garden costs. I've only been doing it for just shy of two years, and I haven't noticed an increase in my expenses, so I guess it doesn't matter to me. I only have 40 square feet in a raised bed and another ten or so in smaller pots, and we usually pull something out of the garden to eat most days of the week, even if it just some chives or the greens of whatever I am actually trying to grow.

I was thinking that for me the cost of gardening might have been offset by the fact that I now eat with the seasons because I understand them. Before, it would have never occurred to me that I shouldn't use a recipe that needs fresh tomatoes certain times of the year. I used a lot more recipes before I gardened, too, which caused more waste in terms of buying items for specific meals and then not knowing how to use up the extra. Having fresh veggies outside has made me really think about what I need to eat up at any given time of year. If we need to eat nothing but summer squash for weeks straight, we do it! :)

And as others have mentioned it is fun/ therapeutic/ teaches you about the importance of the delicate balance that is nature! When there aren't a lot of bees around, the garden really suffers...

[Ms Betterhome]

So true about the bees, Zinnie. At first I didn't plant flowers, as I figured they wasted good veggie growing space. Eventually I realised I needed something in flower year-round to keep the bees visiting me!

[Strawberrykiwi75]

I have to say I've found this really interesting reading everyone's responses. I just purchased a small semi-detached house with a very little yard, but it has quite impractical little beds and a lawn so tiny I can't justify buying a lawnmower. Here in Christchurch we have a wide range of weather conditions- sometimes very hot summers and very cold winters, and sometimes its just a bit blah and mild all year.

The yard is about half shaded and half sunny- so I was thinking about putting in a couple of these or similar: http://www.mitre10.co.nz/shop/garden_centre/garden_sheds_aviaries/2_tier_greenhouse_235330/ and filling it with expensive items, like cherry tomatoes, herbs, blueberries, strawberries, chillies, courgettes etc. So only the pricey stuff.

Then I thought I could rip out most of the plants already there and put in lemon trees, kale, lettuce, pumpkin etc. And I was thinking I could cut into sections but planting daisies, snowpeas and other easy growing flowers in rows between as a divider and to make it pretty.

Would this work? And would it be worthwhile? I'm not a gardener at all and thought I'd give it a go. To give costings as perspective, strawberries are about $5 for a small punnet, blueberries about $6 for a half punnet, cherry tomatoes vary from $4-$7 a punnet. We don't pay for water here, it's included in our property taxes. I have no idea if my plan is worthwhile or if it would work, so please tell me what you think!! :-)

[Ms Betterhome]

Strawberrykiwi, my advice is start small, and experiment. I started with large pots in a small courtyard at my last house (rental). If you start small, it's easier to deal with your failures, and discover whether you actually enjoy gardening. As others have said here, the hobby/relaxation aspect of gardening is what gets most people hooked. If there's a local permaculture group around Christchurch, they should be able to offer good advice on what grows well in our area, too.

[MayDay]

I love veggie gardening so I don't really care if I break even, although I think I do.  We put in raised beds last year, and yah it cost 300$, but it is my main hobby.  I would have happily spent 300$ in a hobby in a year anyway, at least this way I get organic veggies from it!

For anyone with kids I highly recommend sungold Cherry tomatoes.  They are so sweet.  My kids go nuts for them.  From july until October, I swear that is the only snack the kids eat.  And a tiny container costs 3$ at the market!

I do can a lot (water bath only).  I make all our jam for the year (husband wants no sugar added all fruit jam which costs a fortune) as well as all our salsa and pickles.  This year a friend gave us 1000 lbs of apples in exchange for help picking, so we have several years worth of applesauce canned.  I planted my own peach trees, so I hope to see a big peach harvest soon.

I do concentrate on trying to plant expensive "treat" food that we don't normally spring for.  Either that or food that when conventionally grown uses lots of pesticides.  Examples of ones with lots of pesticides are brassicas (kale, broccoli, etc) and asparagus.  Asparagus is perennial so you have to wait a few years.  It is expensive to buy, so worth growing if you have the space.  We have good luck with peppers *if it is a dry year* but sometimes they flop. 

We can't plant year round, but we can do several platings of some things.  I start stuff indoors at the kitchen table (only place with a south facing window) to get a head start.  I try to keep harvesting through the fall and cover things at night if we get early frosts. 

[nora]

Strawberrykiwi. We had a large 58m2 vege garden in Christchurch so can tell you our experience. We had huge success with courgettes, peas, snow peas, beans, broad beans, tomatoes, silverbeet, spinach, lettuces, herbs, strawberries, pumpkin, potatoes, asparagus. Couldn't get capsicums to grow, nor cucumbers, watermelons due to such a short growing season. And Never had any luck with brassicas either except the odd cabbage worked out ok but that might have been because we had too much manure in soil so too much leafy growth for broccoli and cauli.

A house like the one you are thinking of at mitre ten would help with early tomatoes and getting a long enough warm season for capsicums and peppers. But beware of it blowing away in a norwest wind. The shady part of your garden will probably never be productive even with the glasshouse I imagine.

You might find some more info re gardening at lifestyleblock.co.nz which has a lively forum including a gardening one. I recall a conversation there about glasshouses which might be useful to you. it has a good search function.

The thing about expensive crops is that by the time they are growing in your garden, they are at their cheapest in the shops too. So the benefit is much less financial and more about other things. Growing from seed will save you a lot of money compared with buying plants. And i never sprouted anything indoors, just planted the seed straight in the garden using square foot gardening which I really thought was great.

[happy]

Just came in from having flower sex - fertilizing the curcubits.:)

[Derek]

Since you live in SF, check out growingyourgreens on you tube.  This guy lives in SF and has the most amazing front yard garden ever!  Hundreds of videos. 
     I have been raising vegetables in MO for 5 years.  I have 11, 4'x8' compost filled raised beds.  Best ROI with tomatoes but spinach, squash (summer and winter), kale, and herbs are also good.  Other vegetables for me have been a much bigger time investment with a smaller returns (eggplant, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, turnips, sweet corn, beets, salad greens).  Growing organic is nice but some things such as squash are hard to grow without pesticides (area dependent) and mice, rabbits, raccoons, and deer can be a problem.  BT is an organic pesticide that is needed if you want to grow brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts), unless you don't mind eating worms!
   If saving money is your goal, I would just stick to tomatoes.  Hard to kill unless you don't water them with a tremendous yield.  We have a chest freezer and just pick them whole and place in ziplock bag and freeze.  Much easier than canning (I'm lazy).  Other vegetables are harder to grow and there will be quite a learning curve for a few years.  Even if it's a money losing proposition, as long as you don't go crazy with spending it's a very rewarding hobby and useful skill.

[Torgo]

Sweet potatoes.  Incredibly bug-and-deer resistant, needs no weeding, all you need to do is water it once it's in the ground, produces mounds of tasty and nutritious food.

Over the winter take a sweet potato or three that you like from the store and put it pointy-end down in a glass of water where it can get some full spectrum light.  Makes a nice temporary houseplant.  Eventually snap off the stems that grow and cut them into 6 inch long segments, let them grow roots in water for a week, and stick them in the ground.  They will spread all over the place gathering light and each one will produce multiple pounds.  I've gotten several dozen pounds from a 20x4 foot patch (with the vines branching out away from there).

[TheRedHead]

I too live in the East Bay (hi!) and have about 240 sq ft of terraced beds to garden. We have also used other space (like cherries on either side of the driveway) to maximize our plantings. We definitely do NOT save money but being able to walk out and pick raspberries, tomatoes, cherries, apples, apriums, citrus, etc. makes it worth whatever cost. We have a preschooler and he helps plant the seeds and seedlings, helps to maintain the garden, watches us do maintenance and the fact that he's growing up knowing where his food comes from and the effort taken to grow said food is an immeasurable benefit.

That said we do tend to plant bang for buck - tomatoes, raspberries are good examples. No store-bought tomato can compete with one from your own vines and raspberries are an initial cost that returns benefits year after year. Same with the citrus trees and the bare root cherries, apple and aprium we planted.

[TheRedHead]

I would liken my garden to our keeping hens. Definitely not cost effective given that I buy organic feed pellets for them and we built a pretty coop BUT the benefits far outweigh the costs. I didn't get hens to save money, I got them because I want to know where our food comes from and because it's a lot of fun having them. That holds true for my garden too.

[JessieImproved]

Sweet potatoes.  Incredibly bug-and-deer resistant, needs no weeding, all you need to do is water it once it's in the ground, produces mounds of tasty and nutritious food.

I only recommend sweet potatoes where it gets hot for a long portion of the summer.  Here in Atlanta, they grow like weeds.  In the PacNW?  Not a chance.

Look into traditional varieties for your region.  Buy from local seed companies.  Swap with long time gardening neighbors.  You're going to kill yourself trying to grow stuff that's not well adapted to your climate, not to mention drain your pocketbook.