Save Money on Living Home Garden

Save Money with Home Gardening

Are you tired of paying expensive prices for vegetables at the grocery stores, health food stores and farmers markets? Prices seem to keep zipping up and up and yet most folks have not seen an increase in their paycheck lately. Why not think about what many people are doing these days and grow your own living home garden? Some people panic when they hear the word garden thinking about the lack of their gardening skills. However, the truth is, you really can garden with a bit of practice and concentrated effort. Once you hear about how much you really can save by gardening yourself, you are liable to become highly motivated and ready to learn about gardening vegetables.

 

 

 

 

Step 1

So, you have wondered if you can really save money on a living home garden. Yes, you can, especially if you put up many of the vegetables by freezing, canning or storing them in a cool basement or root seller. By putting up vegetables all spring, summer and fall, you will have a wonderful supply of vegetables to carry you through the winter without spending hard-earned money at the store. Seeds costs varies across the country, but many seed packets are around a dollar, a little less or a bit more depending upon the amount of seeds in a package. One vegetable plant from one seed produces all summer long. You will have to contribute lots of time and energy to growing the garden, which of course earns you no money to start with. However, once you get a taste of fresh home-grown melons, jalapeño peppers, beans, carrots, tomatoes and squash, you will wonder why you did not start a living home garden years earlier.

Step 2

You decide if you are really saving money and just how much on a living home garden. Try a little experiment and calculate a rough estimate of what you have invested in your garden versus what the same vegetables would cost at the store. Most homeowners already have their own tools, shovels, spades and gardening equipment needed for gardening or landscaping and do not count the initial investment of gardening tools when figuring gardening savings. To keep track of how much you are saving on a living home garden, track seed costs, compost purchases, seedling purchases and fertilizer. Keep a log of these expenses for basic startup costs.

Write down a list of every type of vegetable you are growing, and next to each variety of vegetable list the number of pounds you have harvested. Each time you harvest write down the new weights in a log. Visit the grocery store or wherever you purchase most of your vegetables and note the cost per pound next to your log for each vegetable. At the end of the season multiply the number of pounds harvested times the pound price from the store. This amount is equal to what you would have paid for the same vegetables at the store. This is your savings on vegetables.

Step 3

There is more to gardening than planting seeds. The interesting thing about a living home garden is that many people focus on the money they will save by raising crops themselves. However, the benefits of gardening far out way the monetary value you may gain. You will be cooking and eating the freshest vegetables possible right out of the garden. If you refrain from using pesticides and use natural insect control, you will have fresh organically grown vegetables, which are expensive at the store. Fresh air, sunshine, exercise and families working together to grow fresh vegetables while saving money is priceless.

Tips

If you have never had a living home garden, do some research on the Internet or purchase a vegetable book on gardening to get started. Start your living home garden small if you have no experience. Choose easy to grow vegetables for your first garden such as lettuce, carrots and squash. Save lots of money on vegetables by learning the value of fertilizing for increased yields.

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