GrlIntrpted wrote:

My husband and I are in the midst of a heated debate. He disagrees with me
that growing your own produce is cheaper than purchasing it.

Besides the health benefits, and obviously the better tasting produce I
would be very interested in hearing everyone's thoughts on the subject.

Is it cheaper or more expensive to grow your own crops?

-M

You've had a whole lot of different answers.

Last fall, I calculated that if I were to buy all the vegetables, fruits, and
herbs that I grow, I'd have to pay more than $1,000 ... and that was in
regular pesticide-treated grocery store stuff, not organic produce which costs
up to twice as much. I'm not even counting the tons of tomatoes I give away
each year in this estimate.

I'm a cheapo organic gardener with a suburban backyard, so I'm not planting
fields. But I get really good yields with a very basic approach. I do as many
of my own seed starts as possible, use my own seeds, our own compost in the
garden beds, and spray with a dilute pure castille soap solution (that we use
ourselves) for soft bodied pests like caterpillars and aphids. A big bottle of
Dr. Bronner's concentrate costs about $10 ... and I've had mine for personal
and garden use for over a year. I bought some diatomaceous earth for $7 that
will be enough to keep bugs out of the house and hopefully keep the ants from
climbing the fruit trees to tend their aphids all season. Diamtomaceous earth
is good for hard shelled bugs, and is completely safe for people and pets ...
just don't inhale it.

We freeze our excess plum tomatoes, peppers, black currants etc and they see
us through until the next harvest. We store the garlic and shallots in a cool
dark part of the basement. If you have a chest freezer, that's where the
savings come in because you can grow enough to enjoy all year round.

Over the years, I've bought a lot of 8 ft. bamboo poles, which I've had for
about 7 years and store for the winter. I also bought tomato cages 10 years
ago, most of which are still OK. When starting a new bed, I sometimes buy
topsoil - 6 huge bags for $10 at the superstore.

I invested in a couple of rain barrels a few years ago. They cost $70 each and
save on water costs. If I add up all I've spent on supplies directly related
to food crops in the last 10 years, it doesn't come close to what I save in
produce in one season.

Besides, it's not about cost, it's about knowing what went, or didn't go, into
the food, and the taste.

Some people have talked about the time involved, and how much your time is
worth. I say it depends on your attitude to gardening. I find it therapeutic,
so it's way cheaper than what I'd have to pay a shrink.

EV