When does gardening become too expensive?

[Elvia Padilla-Medel]

I follow the blog "Former Chef," written by a..former chef...who gardens and who posts great recipes. Recently, she posed this question to her readers. I have to say, this is an issue that has crossed my mind, and it did give me pause. After thinking it over, this was my reply. Hope it provides you some food for thought, and I hope your gardens are happy and healthy!

So far I have spent 25 on mulch, 25 on turkey compost, and about 20 on plants. My successful gardening neighbor gave me 4 tomato plants, 1 squash, 2 tomatillo, 1 pepper, and one melon! How’s that for generosity?So, with all that, I have 8 tomato plants, 1 melon, 1 squash, two tomatillo, 3 peppers, and five kinds of herbs. From seed, I began cucumbers and watermelon. I don’t really know what I’m doing, but I planted like six of each of those, and plan to thin them out(?). My garden is not raised, it’s in the ground. My other neighbor gave me some short wire fencing to put around it to deter rodents, and I plan to cover it somehow and also to put in six short rows of drip irrigation….So, I guess I’ve spent 70 bucks and still have more to go. I do love how my neighbor gave me those plants–I plan to pass on extras myself.

I live in Austin, Texas. We have great farmers’ markets here, and I also shop stores like Whole Foods. I’m sure, like me, everyone who reads this blog cares a lot about buying and eating high quality, fresh foods, and are willing to spend more for it. All I can say is I just spent about 150.00 at Whole Foods this weekend, and most of that was fruit and vegetables–I didn’t even buy meat and hardly bought anything processed. I know I will still have to supplement our meals this year by buying greens and fruit….and who knows how successful our garden will be despite the money and time we put into it?

Still, it is worth it when I see my children digging in the soil and planting seeds–they are truly learning where their sustenance is coming from, and it comes naturally to them. In this age of mass produced produce, that is an invaluable connection to be made. Self-sustenance is an all-too readily fading thing in our society, and it isn’t something I am readily willing to let go of. That’s why so many of us who love to cook also love, or are beginning to love, to garden.

These skills, these acts of self provision, teach us that we don’t always need more than we can yield, and that we can yield enough for us to feel more than satisfied; that the simple things are often the most satisfying. So, I guess I will continue to invest my time and money in gardening and in learning about gardening, so that these skills and these sentiments about life can live on in my own children. I think that’s how many of us feel, and that makes me feel glad and hopeful. And hope is priceless.

[Archer B. May]

The way our budget is going, any financial price is too expensive. In order to make my garden work this year, I've been scouring Craigslist's free pages for composting materials or anything else that will make the garden better.

Unfortunately, sometimes you get what you pay for as I have found old stuffed animals, beer cans, cigarette butts and food wrappers in some of the "free leaves" bags I've picked up. Still, most of the stuff has been pretty good and has added much need browns to my compost pile.

[Ty Mellon]

Thanks Elvia! Our growth is even surprising ME and I KNOW what we are capable of. Please keep up the great posting. We need leaders like yourself, even if you are just getting started! You may not realize it, but you are inspiring people :)

[Ty Mellon]

Summer,
I love Mother Earth news! I have a subscription :)

[Elvia Padilla-Medel]

Thanks, Ty. You know, I've always wanted to garden. So, I am grateful to FOOGS for giving me more of a reason, a little structure, and a place to write--something I've always loved to do but often neglect. This really is a great resource in many ways.

[Summer Chandler]

Great post! But for those that are trying to be budget conscious - Mother Earth News frequently has great ideas for "gardening on the cheap".

[Ty Mellon]

Elvia, I LOVE your post! As a matter of fact, I am going to crosspost to FOOGS FB page and my own personal FB page.

My $.02 is that yes, like almost any other endeavor, hobby or otherwise, there is an upfront investment in getting started, learning, equipping one's self, etc. However, gardening satisfies, at least partially many primal requirements UN-like ANY other endeavor. The need for food is one of the three basic human survival requirements (food, shelter, water). With these three bases covered, anyone can survive in the most basic manner. Now, some of the secondary and tertiary benefits are things like:

*spiritual connection,
*food source connection,
*tactile experience with nature (earth and outdoors)
*Good parenting
*Family and Community connection
*Sense of accomplishment
*Sense of independence
*Many others

There is absolutely a cost savings component when one's garden starts to "take off", especially when compared to the high price of retail organics, as you pointed out, and that is certainly a by-product of living in a manner that reduces one's need to consume goods produced and taken to market by others. However, I think anyone that looks strictly at gardening as a cost-reduction measure may be "missing the point" and potentially all the personal benefit to be gained beyond saving the bucks. I'm glad you alluded to the "soft benefits" in your post and it makes me VERY happy that we have helped inspire you to garden, and see some immediate benefit, enough so that you took the time to share with our entire community! Wonderful! PLEASE keep posting your experiences and feelings about this! :)

Thank You for being a FOOGS.org member!

Ty