These days, rising grocery store prices are impacting everyone’s wallets — and they’re showing no signs of coming down any time soon. That means if you’re like many people, you are searching for ways to stretch your grocery budget further.
Clipping coupons and buying generic instead of name brand products are certainly some options that can help you combat increased costs, but we recommend there’s another one you could try: planting your own vegetable garden.
Here’s why.
There are a lot of costs that go into producing the fruits and vegetables that line your grocery store shelves. Beyond the expenses of simply caring for the plants, food packaging, transportation and distribution all add to the bottom line. These additional costs are ones that you, as the consumer, ultimately pay for, one way or another. And of course, if you typically buy organic produce, these expenses will only compound.
Growing vegetables in your own garden, on the other hand, gives you access to the freshest — and tastiest — options available.
When you begin your garden design, you may be surprised at just how much your garden can produce, even in a small garden space with limited square feet available. To maximize your investment, start with choosing vegetables that you know you’ll get the most use of, such as cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, bell peppers and leafy greens.
You also can supplement growing in raised beds with container gardening for fresh herbs like oregano and cilantro.
Not going to the grocery store provides an opportunity for more intentional meal planning and preparation. By planning meals in advance based on what you have available from your garden bed or pantry, you can make efficient use of ingredients and avoid last-minute trips to the store, saving both time and money.
You may also find yourself more willing to experiment with new dishes and recipes if the ingredients come straight from the backyard — no one likes the feeling of wasting money and food if the meals don’t go as you had planned.
Staying out of the grocery store in the first place is one of the very best ways to save money on your food budget. With homegrown vegetables right outside your door, you’ll reduce the number of trips you’ll need to take to the supermarket, allowing you to easily make meals with what you have on hand and eliminate the potential for impulse purchases or buying higher-priced convenience foods.
Overbuying at the grocery store is something we’ve all encountered from time to time — and it’s especially an issue for perishable items like produce that will quickly spoil if they go unused. Relying on your own home inventory of food can help you ensure that nothing goes to waste.
In addition, homegrown vegetables can be harvested as needed, ensuring that only what is required is picked, thus minimizing the risk of produce going unused and ultimately wasted. This efficient harvesting practice translates into savings at the grocery store, as you no longer need to purchase large quantities of vegetables only to discard unused portions due to spoilage or expiration.
If you have a surplus from your harvest that you won’t be able to use up before they spoil (which happens to many home gardeners), you can preserve them by canning, freezing and dehydrating. That will allow you to continue saving money well into the fall and winter, extending the harvest beyond the growing season.
By preserving excess garden produce, you can avoid paying premium prices for out-of-season fruits and vegetables. In addition, because the fresh vegetables were harvested at their peak ripeness, they’ll have better flavor and health benefits, too.
Beginning a garden for the first time does require an initial investment for things like raised bed garden materials, soil, mulch, trellises, and seed packets or vegetable plants. However, new gardeners can make the plants for next year’s plants completely free by saving their seeds at the end of the growing season to use in next year’s garden.
A gardening tip: Many local libraries offer seed libraries to members of their community, where you can get seeds for your garden completely free. Hold on to some seeds from your plants to donate back to the library during the next season.
Come harvest time, many home gardeners find themselves with an overabundance of fruits and vegetables, even if they are gardening in a small space. If that’s you, you can try bartering your produce for other items your family may need, or you may even choose to sell your extras. And this option has benefits that extend well beyond saving money — it will help you foster connections with others in your community as well.
Contact us to learn more about how we can help you design, build and maintain a home raised bed vegetable garden.