First a bit of a rant…
Remember the book, The $64 Tomato which fueled the fire that vegetable gardening is obscenely expensive? Now there is an article over on Slate saying the same thing AND that gardening is such hard work and costs so much money that you can’t call the produce “free”.
While I agree that you have to put in some “work” to produce a vegetable garden which technically makes it not “free”, (oh the toils of bending over to drop that heavy seed into the soil!) the writer of the article makes gardening sound extremely unappealing.
“…gardening is incredibly messy, ruins your hands, wears holes in the knees of your jeans, ends up costing 40 times more than you think it will, sucks up whole weekends in a single gulp, takes over your dreams, and frequently breaks your heart.”
Umm…yeah.
Well, perhaps the writer needs some help in her garden. She obviously has a few “issues”.
In all fairness, she does go on to say that “gardening is one of the joys of life. Peaceful and meditative…”
And that my friends, is the real reason people garden. Unlike the Slate writer, I would not call spending time doing THAT “wasted” time. Gardening time is only “wasted” if you are not a gardener and get no enjoyment out of the experience. If that is the case, then you should be doing something else! Go do whatever it is that YOU love to do. Life is too short to be doing a hobby that you find to be a waste of time.
As for the “ruined hands” comment in the article, I disagree. Despite being an avid gardener my hands are not “ruined” at all. My hands look great because I wear this handy invention called “GLOVES”. And yes, I know that some people don’t like to wear gloves. But if you want to save your hands, you find a way to work through the lack of dexterity.
But the statement that I have the biggest issue with in the Slate article is the one about COST. Experienced gardeners know how to save money. They don’t buy unnecessary equipment or gimmicks. They don’t spend 40 times more than they should as she suggests. They don’t have to put in a $3,000 irrigation system to water during vacation time. They either buy a cheap hose timer or find more responsible friends to help with watering when they go out of town.
Unfortunately, this Slate article will probably turn people off to gardening by “tilling” up old misconceptions. I’m not the only one to feel this way. The topic was brought up during a discussion over at GardenRant. AND in that discussion, Michele Owens of GardenRant says that she saves about $3,000 a year on groceries by growing her own produce. She serious does!
So all of this brings me to the “$25 Veggie Garden”
How much (or how little) money can you get away with when starting a vegetable garden?
Well, if you REALLY want to know how to save money on a vegetable garden, look no further than Joe Lamp’l. He just started a $25 Vegetable Garden Project to feed his family of four. Yes, you read that correctly. He is only spending $25 and wants to see just how far he can take his dollar. You can follow his adventure on his blog and through his TV appearances. And people…So far he has only spent $7 of that $25. He rocks!
Before I heard about Joe’s project, I had already spent $45 on the seeds and plants for my veggie garden. So I can’t officially take part in the $25 project. But I am staying more on top of my expenses this year to get a feel for how much it really costs me. So far, I am growing: corn, carrots (orange, yellow, purple, white), spinach, lettuce, 2 different zucchini, 3 different tomatoes, 3 different beans, potatoes, onions, leeks, 5 different colored bell peppers, 4 kinds of summer squash, scallions, 2 different pumpkins and 3 kinds of cucumbers. Not bad for $45. And I haven’t even planted all my seeds yet!
Also, I rarely use all the seeds in a seed packet. (Who really needs more than a few zucchini plants anyway?) So, I shipped my leftover seeds to Joe to help him in his quest for an inexpensive garden. I also share my seeds and produce among gardening friends locally.
Through seed sharing, garage sales, friends and neighbors, anyone can reduce the costs of creating a veggie garden. And that is how experienced gardeners save money each year growing their own produce. With their experience, they have less problems and less expenses. They know where to get seeds cheaply and how to grow them properly. They reuse old equipment or re-purpose something to make due.
If any of you have ideas on how to garden on less money, leave a comment below. We can all use the new ideas and I am sure we can garden very creatively on a budget if we put our minds to it.
About the Author
Theresa Loe blogs here about taking the garden full circle while striving for a more local, fresh-from-the-garden lifestyle. She is a TV producer, video host, freelance garden writer and a wrangler of chickens and children. (Not necessarily in that order.) For more information on these topics, you can subscribe to her free monthly newsletter.
Theresa Loe is the award- winning Co-Executive Producer & Canning Expert on Growing A Greener World TV. She blogs here about Living Homegrown®, local and fresh-from-the-garden. 
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Besides kind folks (like you) that let you have their unused seeds for free, a good source of cheap seeds is artisticgardens.com, that sell 32 cent packets of european specialty seeds of 3 – 20 seeds per.
Next idea – trying to find corner pieces for raised beds (mucho $) I came across 90 degree deck joists (mini $) Trying them out this weekend. Thanks for the ideas!
Way to go Theresa. As the proud recipient of some of your leftover seeds, I have been able to keep my expenses way down. As it turns out, I’ll have enough extra seeds to share with others. Now I’m checking out freecycle.org, garage sales and friends to find specific items I need, like shop lights (for more grow lights once my seeds germinate), short fencing material to keep the rabbits out and old wood for the raised beds. I’ve sourced a huge stand of bamboo for the poles of my future pole bean plants and I’ve confirmed my free soil is awesome and full of earthworks.
I’m pretty stoked so far and have started recording video. As soon as I get through some technical glitches, I’ll start uploading them for all to see.
Thanks for the great post!
JL
Joe’s tryin awful hard ain’t he? I’m doubting he’ll have any money left before harvest, but I could be wrong. It seems he’s having a real easy time getting lots of free stuff. I wonder if a complete unknown, aka “Average Joe Gardener,” like me would fair as well. I kind of doubt it.
Hi Stormy- Thanks for stopping by. And thanks for the link info on artisticgardens.com. I had not heard of them before.
There is also one seed catalog I know of that sells some smaller seed packets (fewer seeds) for a little less than the big seed companies: Pinetree Garden Seeds. Their link is: http://www.superseeds.com
Most of their seed packets are around $1.10 with some being $0.85. Every little bit helps.
Hi Joe. Glad the seeds are working out for you.
As for that fencing material…This may sound weird, but you should drive around your neighborhood on trash day. You would not believe the stuff I see in the trash when I am driving my kids to school on trash day! I see old wire fencing all the time. Nothing like a dumpster diving to horrify the kids! They worry one of their friends will see their mom digging through the trash!
Can’t wait for the videos. I will send everyone your way when you get your posts up!
Well TC – First of all, you are NOT the “Average Joe Gardener”. You are pretty well known yourself among the blogging/writing world and I am sure if you twittered/facebooked and posted on blogs that you needed seeds, etc. you would get plenty!
I will admit that Joe’s dazzling smile may have won him a few extra seed packets from people, but basically I think he is succeeding because of his great PR campaign. He is everywhere asking for free stuff. He is on all the social media and he is posting comments on tons of blogs. Just like the Slate writer I mentioned in the post above…I guess you could say that all the free stuff he is getting is not “free” at all. This guy is working for it!
So…TC…Need any seeds? I still have a few leftovers here…
Yes, I am working very hard at this because it is a tough but doable challenge, not just for me but anybody. Yes, I do have opportunities for free stuff but I’ve already declined several such offers for the sake of doing this on the up and up. And when I’m out looking, I never say who I am or why I’m doing this. My goal is certainly not for the attention this may draw on me. However, I DO hope it draws a tremendous amount of attention for the fact that I demonstrating to the “average joe gardener” what he or she can do to start and grow a bountiful food garden for very little money. Although I’m limited to $25, I’m still investing other capital, mostly in getting out there and finding what I need in unconventional ways. Sure it takes some time, but for some people, they have more of that right now than anything else, and I’m sure they’d be happy to spend some of that in exchange for a wonderful activity that involves the family, gets children outside and puts fresh nutritious food on the table. While my $25 victory garden is growing, I’m prepared to eat a lot of humble pie as I search trash piles or where ever else I need to go to make this happen, as an average joe, with only $18 bucks left in my pocket.
JL
Thanks, but no thanks on that seed offer Ms. Theresa. We save most of ours anyway. Me? pretty well known? That’s awful nice of you to say, but I don’t think so.
Anywho, I think y’all know I want Joe’s $25 Victory Garden to be a success, but it’s a lesser known fact that it’s really a recession garden.
(And Joe, I don’t think for one minute that you’re only doing it for attention. I know your motives are humble and you’re doing it to educate and encourage. And because you like fresh produce!)
Okay TC. It sounds like you are good in the seed department.
I said you are well known because I see you all over the internet universe. We obviously hang around the same places. (Which is how we “met” in the first place.) All those garden blogger/writers know you. But you are right, neither of us have the public exposure that Joe does. Although, I believe I have more twitter followers than he does. Tee hee.
I know you want the victory/recession garden to be a success. I’m having fun watching Joe work on it and I know you are too.
It will be interesting to see where all this veggie gardening takes us. We’ve been doing it for so long. But I wonder how many of the newbies will stick with it for many years to come. I gotta hope than at least some of them will fall in love with veggie gardening for the long haul.
Seeds are my Manolo Blahniks. I easily spend beaucoup bucks and have accumulated over 100 seed packets. Currently I garden on two 4’ by 8’ raised beds and a couple of nooks and crannies here and there.
I can’t remember the last time I bought produce. I don’t want to give new gardeners the false impression. It IS hard work but it’s the choice I make and the best use of my time.
Ha! Adriana, I actually laughed out loud at the Manolo Blahniks comparison! What a great way to describe the compulsion to buy seeds.
Sometimes my gardener friends and I trade seed packets the way kids trade baseball cards or Pokemon cards! It cracks me up the way we get so into a little packet of seeds.
I grow a lot in hanging baskets and window boxes too to save on space. Every spot is filled — just like you. That is half the fun…trying to find more spots to fill.