Who wants to save money?

Wondering if a garden is worth it? This might convince you. 

My garden is not gigantic, nor do I spend all my time in it, carefully tending the plants. It's a mid-sized, semi-neglected garden (due to having children and working part-time!). Last September I snagged the prices of some of the more common produce that you can buy organic (which is what we normally buy), and I kept a pretty careful count of how much I harvested. It drove my family crazy ("WAIT! Don't eat that before I weigh it!") but it was worth it for a one-time accounting of the produce coming out of that nice black dirt. 

Ready for it? dum da da dum...

Zucchini: $75.60 (40 lbs x $1.89/lb)
Beans: $17.96 (4.5 lbs x $3.99/lb)
Tomatoes: $211.47 (53 lbs x 3.99/lb)
Winter squash: $64.22 (38 lbs x $1.69/lb)
Carrots: $24.90 (10 lbs x $2.49/lb)
Cucumber: $14.76 (4 lbs x 3.69/lb 
Strawberries: $42.85 (10.74 lbs x $3.99/lb)

So that's $451.76 before taking into account the apples (2 young trees), honeyberries (6 bushes), and raspberries. Oh that's right, and we also had lettuce, chard and kale (which are VERY expensive to buy organic), broccoli (8+ lbs), snap peas (3+ lbs), garlic (18 large heads), and cabbage (4 heads). 

So if you have someone in your life that thinks gardening is a waste of money/time, show them this! It doesn't take a ton of time to reap big dividends from a basic garden. 

Happy planting!