Grow Your Own Food and Save Money

Have you seen the cost of vegetables? They can be rather pricey at times. In fact, many cite these prices for not eating as many vegetables. It is cheaper to eat unhealthy foods. There is a solution to this.

Grow your own vegetables. That is the best option to save money with your veggies. You'll be surprised how much cheaper that can be.

Vegetables are the easiest food to grow where you live. They require only a small amount of space and little attention. They are healthy for your body and tasty.

Tomatoes

Bell peppers

Cucumbers

Peppers

Herbs

These are some of the most common vegetables eaten. They are easy to grow and can be grown nearly anywhere. Save money with growing your own favorite veggies.

I've known apartment residents who were able to grow tomatoes, peppers, beans, and even a few cucumbers. Root vegetables are harder to grow in small spaces, but don't let that hinder you. Research gardening in small spaces. The idea here is to save you money.

Not everyone has a large enough yard for a traditional vegetable garden. Many people live in apartments or in homes with very small yards if any yard at all. That can be a big obstacle when growing your own vegetables, but it is not an obstacle that can't be overcome.

Who said that veggies have to grow in the ground? Dirt, yes. Ground, not necessarily. What about large pots full of nutrient filled dirt? That will work.

A tomato plant grows up. Put it in a large pot and tend to it. One tomato plant can produce well over a hundred tomatoes in a season if taken care of properly. Purchase one plant, one pot, and some dirt and get tons of tomatoes for no extra cost.

Put your "garden" on your patio, next to the garage, or in the kitchen window. A yard is not needed.

If this idea is sounding good to you, where to start might be overwhelming. Do you start with seeds or plants? Good question.

Some vegetables are only sold as seeds and some as both seeds and plants. Tomatoes can be bought as seeds or as plants. Cucumbers can be found in both forms but mostly as seeds. Root vegetables are seeded. Beans are normally sold in seed form.

Now, which is better?

It varies. You can have fun growing any vegetable from seed and watching it grow and develop. Packages of seeds come with up to a hundred seeds. You might not want that many or to be wasteful even if the seeds only cost you $1.80.

A plant is already partially grown and you can choose the number you want. The only drawback then is that they cost more as you are paying for the attention given to it to grow it until it was six inches tall.

Seeds are cheeper but take longer to see results. Plants come more mature but cost more.

The price of vegetables fluctuates throughout the year. It can depend on weather, demand, and where you are located. The further you are from the main areas the vegetables are grown, the more expensive they are. You are paying for someone else growing the vegetables, harvesting, shipping, and selling to you. That's a lot of money between you and the start of that vegetables.

A pound of tomatoes can cost up to $3 in most places. That is four standard tomatoes. You can purchase a tomato plant for that and get dozens of tomatoes for the cost of only four at the store. That's quite a bit of money you can save, not counting the time and gas money spent getting those four tomatoes.

Yes, you have to purchase supplies, but that is a one time expense. Pots can be used year after year. Even with supplies, you save a ton of money.

If you really want to do this, let's go over some basic steps. This will help you prepare yourself for this fun and cost saving adventure.

Evaluate location - Where will you put your garden? If it is a patio, how much space do you have on it? A balcony? How many pots can you put in that area? Or if you have yard space to put the veggies in the ground, how much space? Just starting out, don't go overboard. Start with only one tomato plant this year. Next year, you'll have a better idea of which veggies you want to have on hand in your own garden and how much space you actually have.

Supplies - Get a large pot. You can spend a lot on a fancy looking pot, or you can go to a second hand store and get a much cheaper one. Ask family and friends if they have any stashed away in the garage they aren't using. Depending on which vegetable you are growing, you need the right size pot. Read the instructions for that particular vegetable so you don't stunt its production.

Tend it - Water your vegetables as instructed. Tend to them. You will soon have tasty veggies to eat.

Plan for next year - Learn from this year. Learn which veggies you want, where to put them, and any other issues you had in tending to the ones you chose for this year. Have fun and enjoy the fruits of your labor.