A good book on seed saving.

http://www.amazon.com/Seed-Growing-T...tt_at_ep_dpt_1

I do purchase seeds every year also. I do not purchase any vegetable
plants! One packet of tomato seeds cost around two dollars. I can at least
get thirty plants for that two dollars. One tomato plant can cost two
dollars at a nursery. I do start some seeds indoors. Ninety nine percent of
my seeds go directly into the ground. I spend nothing for compost or
manure. I have chickens and a cow for manure. Compost is free from the
local recycling center. I also have my own compost piles. Most of my
vegetable garden uses raised beds, so no tilling is necessary. Rain and
rain barrels cost little. I do have a well for backup water but rarely use
it for gardening. I do purchase some fertilizers for the plants. However if
one uses compost, one does not need as much fertilizer.

In the grocery market one small pint of cherry tomatoes cost $2. Leaf
lettuce runs around two dollars a pound. Much much cheaper to grow your
own. Two vegetables that are cheaper in stores are carrots and potatoes. I
am hard pressed to think of other vegetables that can be purchased cheaper
than I can grow. A dozen ears of corn cost about $2., that is just six corn
plants, I can get a thousand corn seeds for ten dollars. I do buy avocados
because I cannot grow them in my area.

One small 12 oz can of diced tomatoes cost a dollar in the markets. Canning
your own food is allot cheaper. I have a freezer full of corn and green
beans. What I do not preserve makes great compost.

The number one cost in home gardening is your personal labor cost which I
did not include. That personal labor cost is the factor that determines if
gardening is profitable. Eight hours of fishing might bring $20 worth of
fish, for some personal cost is important, some it is not.

--
Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)