It can be cheaper than buying at the store if you plant things that match your local climate and if you are able to eat them fresh they are far better since they have the negatives of shipping.
Not the first few years though as the cost of tools/fencing/etc are an up front cost. But if you do it for a decade it goes down to the cost of seeds, water, and fertilizer which can be pretty cheap in moderate climates.
do you want to eat 20lbs of cucumbers and tomatoes in a week or two?
i love my garden when stuff comes in, but after the 3rd week of harvest I basically throw it all in the garbage because i’m so sick of eating tomatoes. I only consume maybe 10% of what I produce in a year because it all comes in at once, and I can’t eat 50lbs of tomatoes a few weeks as a single person.
And no, I’m not interested in setting up a pickling/canning operation, thanks. Which is always the ‘solution’ people come back at with me, and then they tell me I’m lazy and wasteful.
I had one friend who did setup a huge terraced garden, but then basically gave up because it was consuming his life and his neighbors got so pissed off that it was attracting wildlife. He killed like 8 groundhogs in one year, and he hated doing it but if he didn’t’ the fuckers would destroy his entire crop. So he just gave up because the entire thing was just too much work and too much misery. Now he’s back to growing a few tomatoes and other plants in plastic tubs because it’s simpler and it doesn’t attract wildlife.
Yeah, if you live in a rural are with a few acres, go wild and create your personal Stardew valley, but otherwise, just do it for fun and chill out about ‘cost efficiencies’. Your backyard plot of a dozen plants is never going turn you into a self-sufficient farmer. It’s a novelty for some tasty veg for the summer.
Yes, going overboard with volume is going to make the whole thing counterproductive.
Your friend’s couple of tomato and other plants in plastic tubs still counts as a garden! It is still low cost compared to the store and saves money while they are producing even if it isn’t as much as large scale farming does at high volume with all the labor involved.
I think it saved my grandparents quite a bit of money. They didn’t need to can too much; mostly just canned pizza sauce and green beans. I don’t think they wasted much either. A lot of what they grew had a good shelf life (e.g. squash). The would also fry lawn weeds, like plantain and dandelions. It supplemented what they got from the food pantry.
It’s not cheaper or more efficient compared to large scale farming
This professor emeritus disagrees.
To begin with, it takes three acres of land for the industrial food system to feed the average American for a year, compared to maybe 5% of that area—or even much less—to feed a person for a year on a balanced diet of garden vegetables. So how is that three acres more efficient?
That professor emeritus seems very light on sources. And including all sort of hidden costs industrial farming while handwaving the cost of actually running your own garden that could feed you throughout the year etc.
More advocacy for people have gardens than a serious study. And gardening is fun so no disagreement there
I mean it’s a hobby. It’s not cheaper or more efficient compared to large scale farming
It can be cheaper than buying at the store if you plant things that match your local climate and if you are able to eat them fresh they are far better since they have the negatives of shipping.
Not the first few years though as the cost of tools/fencing/etc are an up front cost. But if you do it for a decade it goes down to the cost of seeds, water, and fertilizer which can be pretty cheap in moderate climates.
do you want to eat 20lbs of cucumbers and tomatoes in a week or two?
i love my garden when stuff comes in, but after the 3rd week of harvest I basically throw it all in the garbage because i’m so sick of eating tomatoes. I only consume maybe 10% of what I produce in a year because it all comes in at once, and I can’t eat 50lbs of tomatoes a few weeks as a single person.
And no, I’m not interested in setting up a pickling/canning operation, thanks. Which is always the ‘solution’ people come back at with me, and then they tell me I’m lazy and wasteful.
I had one friend who did setup a huge terraced garden, but then basically gave up because it was consuming his life and his neighbors got so pissed off that it was attracting wildlife. He killed like 8 groundhogs in one year, and he hated doing it but if he didn’t’ the fuckers would destroy his entire crop. So he just gave up because the entire thing was just too much work and too much misery. Now he’s back to growing a few tomatoes and other plants in plastic tubs because it’s simpler and it doesn’t attract wildlife.
Yeah, if you live in a rural are with a few acres, go wild and create your personal Stardew valley, but otherwise, just do it for fun and chill out about ‘cost efficiencies’. Your backyard plot of a dozen plants is never going turn you into a self-sufficient farmer. It’s a novelty for some tasty veg for the summer.
Yes, going overboard with volume is going to make the whole thing counterproductive.
Your friend’s couple of tomato and other plants in plastic tubs still counts as a garden! It is still low cost compared to the store and saves money while they are producing even if it isn’t as much as large scale farming does at high volume with all the labor involved.
I think it saved my grandparents quite a bit of money. They didn’t need to can too much; mostly just canned pizza sauce and green beans. I don’t think they wasted much either. A lot of what they grew had a good shelf life (e.g. squash). The would also fry lawn weeds, like plantain and dandelions. It supplemented what they got from the food pantry.
It ‘can’ be cheaper for the quality, but it’s still a lot of work.
You need to preserve what you can’t eat outright.
You need to recapture/dry/replant the seeds
You need to compost.
You need to tend / maintain the soil.
You need to deal with pests.
You’re still not cheaper than farmer fred who’s sitting on literally 10 tons of squash.
You can literally work odd jobs and have more food security then trying to garden.
This professor emeritus disagrees.
https://www.unsustainablemagazine.com/home-gardens-vs-farms-efficiency/
That professor emeritus seems very light on sources. And including all sort of hidden costs industrial farming while handwaving the cost of actually running your own garden that could feed you throughout the year etc.
More advocacy for people have gardens than a serious study. And gardening is fun so no disagreement there