Does growing your own food really save money?

A vegetable garden can save money, or it can become an expensive hobby. The difference comes down to what you grow, how much you spend getting started, and whether you actually eat what you pick.

What tips the balance

• Growing crops that are expensive to buy and productive to grow: herbs, salad greens, tomatoes
• Starting small and building up
• Using free and cheap containers, compost and seeds
• Eating, preserving or sharing everything you grow

What eats the savings

• Expensive raised bed kits and gadgets
• Bags of soil for large beds every year
• Crops that are cheap in the store, like potatoes and onions, in a small space
• Plants lost to heat, pests or forgetting to water

Track it

Weigh what you harvest and compare it with store prices. Our garden savings calculator and the free planner help.

General educational information. Growing conditions vary; check with your local Cooperative Extension office. Nickel Harvest isn't paid by any seed company, garden brand or store.