How to Save Money by Growing More of Your Own Food
Grow highly productive vegetables – lots of yield for the space allocated - that you enjoy eating and that you can harvest from spring through fall.
Since you’re limited to the surface area that you have on the ground, “go vertical” to get the most production from the space that you have.
Waste nothing. Eat it, share it with someone in the community, or compost it.
Money-saving Vegetables
Pole beans – they’re delicious, good for you, can be harvested over a long period of time, and the seeds are easy to plant. A single 20 foot row of pole beans on a homemade twine trellis will provide dozens of fresh servings and some extra beans to freeze for later.
Growing beans on a trellis also makes them easier to pick than bush beans … there’s little bending or stooping required.
Greens packed with Nutrients – spinach, Swiss chard, and mesclun mixes are more interesting and more nutritious than lettuce. Bright lights Swiss chard is also extremely attractive in the garden.
Tomatoes – are America’s #1 home garden vegetable … and for good reasons. Entire books have been dedicated to the tomato! There are many gardening benefits to growing tomatoes – they’re good for you, they’re tasty, they add delightful color to the garden, and the dollar value of the yield can be very significant.
Peas are another high-yield crop. They’re not as easy, and not quite as productive as pole beans, but, if you have the space, Sugar Snap or Sugar Ann peas are wonderful because you can eat the entire pod.
Leaf lettuce is extremely easy to grow from seed and will yield plenty of produce over a long period of time. Multiple plantings will extend your harvest. You can save a lot of money by growing your own.
Less Obvious Money-Saving Gardening Ideas
Composting – making your own compost is, by far, the best long-term investment you can make for your garden. There’s just nothing better than natural compost for your garden’s soil. It will help your plants defend themselves from diseases, too!
Grow Your Own Tomato Plants from Seeds - it’s fun and it’s easier than you might think. All you need is a container (egg carton, yogurt cups, etc), a little soil, and a sunny windowsill.
An Apple a Day – well, not immediately. How about planting an apple tree? Apple trees are great dual purpose trees – obviously they provide good fruit; but, they’re also an attractive shade tree.
Garden Grown Gifts – home grown vegetables and flowers make wonderful hostess gifts. All you need is a little basket or vase, and you can create a gift that is inexpensive and attractive at the same time.
