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.



It is a self deprecating joke about the terrible output of their personal garden because they are not good at it, not gardens in general.