Most people who garden, while cautious of costs, are not trying to profit from a garden.
Some want healthier food, some want a guaranteed source of food (this will grow in importance over the next two years - wait and see), and some just want the spiritual satisfaction that comes from independence.
Only the naive think it will save money in the short term (even though it can).
Starting a garden can be expensive. The one-time costs should be spread out over the expected life of the item though: putting up $250 worth of welded wire fence does NOT add $250 to your produce expenses this year! That fence will last ten years, so it adds about $25 to this year's produce expense.
Pro tips:
Don't buy junk. If you need a spade, buy one of the all-steel spades. It costs twice as much, but will last for the rest of your life. Home Depot, Lowes, K-Mart, and WalMart sell mostly junk (and you might want to have the paint on their tools tested for lead...)
Learn about beneficial plants and insects.
Milky Spore. Get some.
Moles are harmless at worst, and they eat grubs that will rip your garden to shreds. The mole-trap, mole-repellant, and mole-bait markets are a racket aimed at the naive.
Take the time to learn. A great online resource for raising food is www.homesteadingtoday.com, but you really need to read books. Lots of them.
If you put rain barrels under your downspouts or do as we do: plug the tub drain during a shower and re-use that water to water the garden. We also have a chlorine filter on the shower so our water is chlorine free--a plus for gardens and compost bins.
Thanks for the great coverage, Nora. It was lovely to talk with you the other day and to be able to talk candidly about why Thrive exists and who we are trying to serve. It is still, even in the midst of these financial times, shocking to me the degree to which young people do not have a source for credible financial advice. Some are lucky enough to have parents with good financial sense, but for the rest, it is hard to find someone that is more fact than rumor, more science than guesswork.
As always, we're working to improve Thrive, so hopefully your readers can take it out for a spin and tell us not only what we do right but what we can do better!
That way, I get what I want, like heirloom tomatoes that I LOVE to eat, and I know that I grew it, and not someone like a slave in the U.S. in Florida, or that it was shipped across the country in a polluting truck.
I think I'd be willing to pay more for that, even if it was more expensive (which I don't think it is).
They also have options to grow tomatoes for example (what I love to eat the most), up from the ground in something I saw on TV called a Topsy Turvy.. There are ways to grow specifically what you love to eat so that you don't waste time.
Tomatoes, Potatoes, Chives and Onions would be my thing.
I came here to suggest SFG and found someone else had already mentioned it. I looked into it yesterday after deciding I want some herbs / plants / veggies on my (fairly small) balcony.
From what I understand from people already using it, it's pretty low maintenance. I'd really like some tomatoes on my balcony, not out of frugality per se, but more for the freshness and the convenience. Plus, I'm looking forward to taking care of the plants a bit, and watching them grow.
For me, growing them is also 'fun' and a way to fill my time (and get something out of it too), all of which I can't express in money.
And I love tomatoes, so growing my own will make me so very happy :D (priceless)
But yes, use your common sense. Don't start out too big, start small to see if it works for you. Don't count on a garden replacing your need to go buy groceries if you've never done it before. However, if you enjoy it, and manage to keep the spending limited, whatever you can harvest will be something you do not need to buy and that doesn't cost you that much (with the added benefit of you knowing where it came from and it probably tastes better).
It's all about what really matters to you.
I agree- I probably spend more on gardening then I get out of it, in terms of vegetables, but I enjoy doing it. I grow just a few tomato plants each year, as I can only eat so many when they start to ripen, but each year, at least 1 plant doesn't do well. I spend most of my time growing herbs, but I'm sure I never get my investment back, but there's nothing like fresh herbs when you're cooking, and it's also wonderful to smell when sitting on the patio.
The methods are certainly different than expected. We have a 4' x 4' box that will produce lettuce, cauliflower, and a TON of strawberries (which my daughter would eat by the gallon, if we let her). Labor is minimal (by design) and although initial setup can be high, if you have farm stands near by, they can often provide you with better and cheaper compost, seedlings, etc.
This is our second year. We have spent $45 so far and I anticipate a harvest worth triple that. We could have spent less but we needed to build a fence box to protect our garden from local rabbits. Next year, we'll probably get under way for around $15.
It is a great method, especially for new gardeners, people short on space, renters (like us -- we can take our garden with us when we leave)
I don't know if my husband and I save money by having a garden. However, we take pride in being more self sufficient. It is also deeply satisfying to be able to enjoy the results of your labor all year long.
I agree with the idea of planning out your garden over the long term. For example, we have planted raspberries, asparagus, strawberries and fruit trees. These are expensive food items at the grocery store. By growing our own we eat many more of them than I would ever buy. Also we have made the fruit trees part of our landscaping so they do double duty.
Also having a garden allows you to experiment with vegetables that you might not normally purchase. For example, I don't normally like Brussel sprouts. However, when we grew our own, I found that I really liked them.
Another thing to think about is planning the garden out so that you get early season, mid season and late season crops. This extends the growing season for you and in some cases you can re-use the same section of the garden.
Plan on saving some of your crops for the winter. Nothing is better than cooking your own vegetables all winter long. You can also plant crops that store well such as winter squash, onions and potatoes.
Square Foot Gardening saves a lot of time, once the initial work is done to get your raised beds made and filled with a soil mixture. I never have to week, cutting the actual time I spend gardening way down. The initial work is a lot, but maintaining them is nothing. I'm a lazy gardener, too so I pretty much just water the garden as needed and that's about it.
I like what the above poster says about gardening feeding the spirit. It's very satisfying to grow your own food. And don't get me started on how much better the tomatoes taste when they are fresh picked out of your own back yard! I'm counting down the days until Tomato Time!
Turning off breakers is not an option. As an electrical Contractor i can tell you that excessive use of circuit breakers will render them useless. Breakers are not designed to be an on/off switch.
I live in Chicago and work as a branch manager for a large national bank. A regional bank around here, TCF, charges somewhere in the neighborhood of $0.35 to $0.50 per transaction if you choose debit. I can only imagine that this is not only another way to increase bank fee income but also acts as a deterrent for customers to always use credit.
The bank I work for heavily focuses on getting customers to select credit for all their purposes. Personally, I have a rewards debit card that has an annual fee of $25 and gets me 4 points for every dollar I spend. Now some might say an annual fee on a debit card is insane but I get more than $100 back each year in gift cards.
I agree with this post. Gardening at this scale should not be regarded as a tool for saving money. The big deal about such a garden is being able to grow what you like, getting it as fresh as possible, being comfortable with the growing and harvesting process (truly organic or simply no pesticides and so on).
I think people need to think more broadly about growing your own food. Here's a longer term plan for people that can grow orchard plants like blueberries, almonds and apples. I came up with 61K each for three families yard sharing over 20 years. It's a back of the napkin calculation, but still it frames things a little differently.
I think if people think in terms of an entire food plan rather than JUST growing veg, the more you fit together the more you save in the long run. Initial investments are important to consider but so is a long term vision. You buy one shovel in 20 years if you care for your tools. You plant one apricot tree and it feeds your family apricots for life.
Some things make a long of sense to grow because they are expensive in the store - some don't because they are way cheap.
Seed saving and trading is the way to go. Compost done right doesn't cost you a lot. Companion planting and other natural pest plans mean you don't HAVE to spend a lot of money - You just need to inform your self on techniques that have been around for a long time.
Also for people that cannot afford food at the store banding together in a yard share group to share muscle, time and space makes sense.
Factor in the fact that we are past peak oil, the burbs are collapsing, and kids spend way too much time watching TV eating non-food that makes them huge farting machines...well getting out in the yard and gardening with your neighbors starts to make a lot more sense.
I always did debit but I just signed up for points with my debit card that i accumulate when i use it was a credit card. since i spend that money anyway i am now earning points towards cash back (forget the dang gift cards) rewards. i love it.
Okay, I thought the picture was kind of funny, personally. Maybe you just had to grow up w/ my siblings.
I spend money to have my grass cut monthly and to have my house cleaned every three weeks. It'd certainly be cheaper to do either myself (well, in fairness, I'd have to buy a lawn mower, but whatever), but I value the time I save AND the misery I get to skip (both activities are so sucky in my mind that it's worth the money to skip the misery) so much that the money is really nothing relative to what I gain.
The cooking, however, I still do myself. It's a joy for me so I'd lose out all around otherwise.
Sometimes I pay ATM fees based on a time/money analysis. But really, whenever I find myself at an ATM machine paying a fee, it's because I planned poorly. Sure, it might not be worth the extra time to find my bank's ATM at that moment, but had I planned better, I wouldn't have to think about it or pay for it.
Most people who garden, while cautious of costs, are not trying to profit from a garden.
Some want healthier food, some want a guaranteed source of food (this will grow in importance over the next two years - wait and see), and some just want the spiritual satisfaction that comes from independence.
Only the naive think it will save money in the short term (even though it can).
Starting a garden can be expensive. The one-time costs should be spread out over the expected life of the item though: putting up $250 worth of welded wire fence does NOT add $250 to your produce expenses this year! That fence will last ten years, so it adds about $25 to this year's produce expense.
Pro tips:
Don't buy junk. If you need a spade, buy one of the all-steel spades. It costs twice as much, but will last for the rest of your life. Home Depot, Lowes, K-Mart, and WalMart sell mostly junk (and you might want to have the paint on their tools tested for lead...)
Learn about beneficial plants and insects.
Milky Spore. Get some.
Moles are harmless at worst, and they eat grubs that will rip your garden to shreds. The mole-trap, mole-repellant, and mole-bait markets are a racket aimed at the naive.
Take the time to learn. A great online resource for raising food is www.homesteadingtoday.com, but you really need to read books. Lots of them.
If you put rain barrels under your downspouts or do as we do: plug the tub drain during a shower and re-use that water to water the garden. We also have a chlorine filter on the shower so our water is chlorine free--a plus for gardens and compost bins.
Thanks for the great coverage, Nora. It was lovely to talk with you the other day and to be able to talk candidly about why Thrive exists and who we are trying to serve. It is still, even in the midst of these financial times, shocking to me the degree to which young people do not have a source for credible financial advice. Some are lucky enough to have parents with good financial sense, but for the rest, it is hard to find someone that is more fact than rumor, more science than guesswork.
As always, we're working to improve Thrive, so hopefully your readers can take it out for a spin and tell us not only what we do right but what we can do better!
... that it's a good idea.
That way, I get what I want, like heirloom tomatoes that I LOVE to eat, and I know that I grew it, and not someone like a slave in the U.S. in Florida, or that it was shipped across the country in a polluting truck.
I think I'd be willing to pay more for that, even if it was more expensive (which I don't think it is).
They also have options to grow tomatoes for example (what I love to eat the most), up from the ground in something I saw on TV called a Topsy Turvy.. There are ways to grow specifically what you love to eat so that you don't waste time.
Tomatoes, Potatoes, Chives and Onions would be my thing.
I came here to suggest SFG and found someone else had already mentioned it. I looked into it yesterday after deciding I want some herbs / plants / veggies on my (fairly small) balcony.
I found: http://www.squarefootgardening.com/
From what I understand from people already using it, it's pretty low maintenance. I'd really like some tomatoes on my balcony, not out of frugality per se, but more for the freshness and the convenience. Plus, I'm looking forward to taking care of the plants a bit, and watching them grow.
For me, growing them is also 'fun' and a way to fill my time (and get something out of it too), all of which I can't express in money.
And I love tomatoes, so growing my own will make me so very happy :D (priceless)
But yes, use your common sense. Don't start out too big, start small to see if it works for you. Don't count on a garden replacing your need to go buy groceries if you've never done it before. However, if you enjoy it, and manage to keep the spending limited, whatever you can harvest will be something you do not need to buy and that doesn't cost you that much (with the added benefit of you knowing where it came from and it probably tastes better).
It's all about what really matters to you.
I agree- I probably spend more on gardening then I get out of it, in terms of vegetables, but I enjoy doing it. I grow just a few tomato plants each year, as I can only eat so many when they start to ripen, but each year, at least 1 plant doesn't do well. I spend most of my time growing herbs, but I'm sure I never get my investment back, but there's nothing like fresh herbs when you're cooking, and it's also wonderful to smell when sitting on the patio.
http://www.squarefootgardening.com/
The methods are certainly different than expected. We have a 4' x 4' box that will produce lettuce, cauliflower, and a TON of strawberries (which my daughter would eat by the gallon, if we let her). Labor is minimal (by design) and although initial setup can be high, if you have farm stands near by, they can often provide you with better and cheaper compost, seedlings, etc.
This is our second year. We have spent $45 so far and I anticipate a harvest worth triple that. We could have spent less but we needed to build a fence box to protect our garden from local rabbits. Next year, we'll probably get under way for around $15.
It is a great method, especially for new gardeners, people short on space, renters (like us -- we can take our garden with us when we leave)
I don't know if my husband and I save money by having a garden. However, we take pride in being more self sufficient. It is also deeply satisfying to be able to enjoy the results of your labor all year long.
I agree with the idea of planning out your garden over the long term. For example, we have planted raspberries, asparagus, strawberries and fruit trees. These are expensive food items at the grocery store. By growing our own we eat many more of them than I would ever buy. Also we have made the fruit trees part of our landscaping so they do double duty.
Also having a garden allows you to experiment with vegetables that you might not normally purchase. For example, I don't normally like Brussel sprouts. However, when we grew our own, I found that I really liked them.
Another thing to think about is planning the garden out so that you get early season, mid season and late season crops. This extends the growing season for you and in some cases you can re-use the same section of the garden.
Plan on saving some of your crops for the winter. Nothing is better than cooking your own vegetables all winter long. You can also plant crops that store well such as winter squash, onions and potatoes.
Square Foot Gardening saves a lot of time, once the initial work is done to get your raised beds made and filled with a soil mixture. I never have to week, cutting the actual time I spend gardening way down. The initial work is a lot, but maintaining them is nothing. I'm a lazy gardener, too so I pretty much just water the garden as needed and that's about it.
I like what the above poster says about gardening feeding the spirit. It's very satisfying to grow your own food. And don't get me started on how much better the tomatoes taste when they are fresh picked out of your own back yard! I'm counting down the days until Tomato Time!
Gardening feeds the spirit as well...
Turning off breakers is not an option. As an electrical Contractor i can tell you that excessive use of circuit breakers will render them useless. Breakers are not designed to be an on/off switch.
good
I'm with you Paul-- credit, unless cash back . . .
Certain costs are one-time costs: fencing, pots, stakes, even seeds-- if you save.
I don't rent a roto tiller-- I use muscle . . .
My compost is my garbage . . .
The only real cost is time, water, and some fertilizer.
But the real value is the quality and personal satisfaction . . .
I live in Chicago and work as a branch manager for a large national bank. A regional bank around here, TCF, charges somewhere in the neighborhood of $0.35 to $0.50 per transaction if you choose debit. I can only imagine that this is not only another way to increase bank fee income but also acts as a deterrent for customers to always use credit.
The bank I work for heavily focuses on getting customers to select credit for all their purposes. Personally, I have a rewards debit card that has an annual fee of $25 and gets me 4 points for every dollar I spend. Now some might say an annual fee on a debit card is insane but I get more than $100 back each year in gift cards.
I agree with this post. Gardening at this scale should not be regarded as a tool for saving money. The big deal about such a garden is being able to grow what you like, getting it as fresh as possible, being comfortable with the growing and harvesting process (truly organic or simply no pesticides and so on).
this is what i'm looking for...
Check it out! :)
http://ellengunty.typepad.com/consultantschronicles/2009/04/a-couple-of-...
I think people need to think more broadly about growing your own food. Here's a longer term plan for people that can grow orchard plants like blueberries, almonds and apples. I came up with 61K each for three families yard sharing over 20 years. It's a back of the napkin calculation, but still it frames things a little differently.
http://tinyurl.com/dmmtgb
I think if people think in terms of an entire food plan rather than JUST growing veg, the more you fit together the more you save in the long run. Initial investments are important to consider but so is a long term vision. You buy one shovel in 20 years if you care for your tools. You plant one apricot tree and it feeds your family apricots for life.
Some things make a long of sense to grow because they are expensive in the store - some don't because they are way cheap.
Seed saving and trading is the way to go. Compost done right doesn't cost you a lot. Companion planting and other natural pest plans mean you don't HAVE to spend a lot of money - You just need to inform your self on techniques that have been around for a long time.
Also for people that cannot afford food at the store banding together in a yard share group to share muscle, time and space makes sense.
Factor in the fact that we are past peak oil, the burbs are collapsing, and kids spend way too much time watching TV eating non-food that makes them huge farting machines...well getting out in the yard and gardening with your neighbors starts to make a lot more sense.
I always did debit but I just signed up for points with my debit card that i accumulate when i use it was a credit card. since i spend that money anyway i am now earning points towards cash back (forget the dang gift cards) rewards. i love it.
Okay, I thought the picture was kind of funny, personally. Maybe you just had to grow up w/ my siblings.
I spend money to have my grass cut monthly and to have my house cleaned every three weeks. It'd certainly be cheaper to do either myself (well, in fairness, I'd have to buy a lawn mower, but whatever), but I value the time I save AND the misery I get to skip (both activities are so sucky in my mind that it's worth the money to skip the misery) so much that the money is really nothing relative to what I gain.
The cooking, however, I still do myself. It's a joy for me so I'd lose out all around otherwise.
Sometimes I pay ATM fees based on a time/money analysis. But really, whenever I find myself at an ATM machine paying a fee, it's because I planned poorly. Sure, it might not be worth the extra time to find my bank's ATM at that moment, but had I planned better, I wouldn't have to think about it or pay for it.
Rob
Just checking the comments to see if anyone mentioned that photo...wow.
I use the debit option because I want the stores to have more money (and hopefully the local economy), rather than the banks taking a bigger cut.
Although, I've been known to use the credit option at Walmart...;-)