So if you are all about growing a garden to save money, then we need to be best friends. One of the things I have tried my hardest to do in my adult life is save money. And it just so turns out that my very favorite way to do that is by growing a garden.
Over the years, I have discovered what fruits and veggies sell for outrageous prices, and which ones are almost the same price to grow as they are in the store. But it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I actually sat down and figured out exactly how much each and every plant in my garden saves me each year. Wow, figuring that out was sure surprising!
Tomatoes actually claims the number one spot in my garden. Then way way down at the very bottom you will find romaine lettuce. When I discovered romaine saved me almost no money, it was actually a relief because I dislike growing romaine. Correction …. I don’t dislike GROWING romaine, it’s WASHING it after I pick it that I hate, since it always has dirt and bugs stuck clear down in the folds. If you would like to see the entire list of 26 veggies I grow in my garden ranked in order of what saves me the most money, just head over to the subscribe box real quick, give me your email, and I will have it to you by tomorrow morning.
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So now that I know exactly how much money each plant is saving me, it will completely change the way I plan my garden! Now I know what every square foot of my garden is worth. I will probably double the amount of tomatoes I grow next year because now I see a hundred dollar bill growing out of the top of each one of my plants. I will also be filling all the little leftover spaces with herbs because of how high they rank on the list.
If I draw out what I am going to plant in my boxes, then I can calculate exactly what each box is going to save me. So today I thought I might draw out a grow box for you guys, that is small enough that almost everyone can find space for. This grow box that I have drawn up, will save you over $244 in 9 square feet. And I am not even putting any tomatoes in it!
I bet your wondering why I didn’t put any tomatoes in it …. well tomatoes are one of the things in my garden that I don’t plant with other fruits or veggies. This is because the watering requirements for tomatoes are so different than most other plants, that I end up over watering my tomatoes or under watering whatever I plant with them. For this reason, I give my tomatoes a grow box or two, all to themselves. This is my tomato patch. They are there I promise, just tiny little babies freshly planted and all set up in their cages.
If you are willing to plant your entire 9 square feet to tomatoes, then you would save over $240 also. But I wanted to give you a garden plan that you could pack full with all different kinds of veggies, in case this was your only space for growing.
Are you ready to see it??
This box is 3 feet x 3 feet. The pictures ARE NOT cut to scale. I cut them bigger so you could see what each thing is. And the bottom of the grow box should be facing the sun. Where I live, that would be south. If you face it the wrong direction, your short plants will be shaded by the tall cucumber trellis.
Just because I feel like it, let’s start in the middle! The back, center of your box with be filled with a huge, beautiful, productive zucchini plant. In my garden, zucchini saves me at least $37.50 per plant. They give me one or two zucchinis every week, all summer long!
If you put up a skinny A-frame trellis over the back end of the zucchini and carefully train the plants to go up it instead of attacking your zucchini plant, then you can put one cucumber plant on either side in the back corners. Again, the pictures ARE NOT to scale. You will need to put your trellis in the very back corners. Our favorite variety is the lemon cucumber because it doesn’t go bitter like slicing varieties sometimes do, and the kids think they look cool. Lemon cucumbers save me $30 per plant X 2 plants = $60
Moving forward, I put 2 mini bell pepper plants on either side. The plants themselves are not mini, just the peppers. I love these because they are snack size and sweet. I almost never see them in my garden because Little man eats them all the instant they are ripe, but when I do they are a tasty treat! They save me $9 X 2 plants = $18
The front three spots are reserved for herbs. I was blown away by how much herbs save me. The thing with herbs is you really don’t have to grow that much to have all you need. Maybe I need to use more herbs in my cooking! In a 1 foot x 1 foot area each, basil saves me $40.50, thyme saves me $54.00, and cilantro saves me $40.50. If you cut them correctly, you can harvest them for several months.
I got these numbers by reading my garden journal to remember how much each plant produces. Then I multiplied it by what the fruit stand down the road charges for its produce. I took the lowest numbers possible, to be sure that you can save AT LEAST what I am telling you. It is likely that you will save even more though because you have a serious green thumb, and your going to follow all the other advice on my blog right??
So even if all you can spare is a tiny, 9 square feet area, you can still save a bunch of money growing your own food! This garden plan is one of the most profitable options of plant combinations. I hope this helps you start saving tons of money with your garden too.
Again, if you would like the entire list of veggies in order of what they save me, simply subscribe to my blog and it will be in your inbox in the morning!
~Farmer’s Wife
