What Vegetables to Plant to Save the Most Money

[momto8kiddos]

Well, we're going to give gardening another try next year. Finances are really tight so hopefully garden produce will help. We have garden beds already so just need to pay them some attention. Now we have to decide what to plant. Since the last time we gardened, I've started couponing. So I'm wondering which things are worth it to grow. Tomatoes, for example, are a good one for us to grow since we like to eat them fresh but we don't need nearly as many plants now as we used to since we can get spaghetti sauce and canned tomatoes for so cheap. We are looking to get the most calories for the least amount of garden space. Any ideas?

[bugweena]

I like to plant different kinds of lettuce. You can buy the mesculum mix or just buy different varieties of lettuce seeds and mix them. The organic spring mix is usually $4.99 or so in the grocery store. I can plant $5 of seeds and eat all spring and fall. I plant seeds every 3 weeks so I can always have fresh lettuce. I sometimes also buy the red leaf lettuce plants in the 9-pack for $2.50 or so. Cucumbers are also easy to grow as well as various squashes. And the price of those were fairly high in the grocery stores this summer. Bell peppers are another favorite of mine.

[KrispyKrittersUSA]

With orange and yellow bell peppers being 3.99 EACH this past yeat at Publix, I'd say that would be great to grow your own. If you can do it without the bugs getting to them.

[Moma]

For us...we plant what we like to eat most, simple! We like to grow tomatoes (they produce tons, this coming year we are going to grow Mexican Midgets, tiny pea size tomatoes) We grow greens, we harvest the leaves without pulling the plant so they keep producing. Okra, OMG!! Grows all season. Peppers..big producers. If you like squash, they grow like weeds. Also, we grow almost all of our own herbs!! Our garden is only 7" by 40", and we are able to take a huge hunk of money from our food budget by growing our own. To supplement our garden we dig holes in unused areas and bury our vegetables scraps. We do this year round to amend the soil. Best of luck. One more benefit of your garden, you keep trucks off the road.

[XUfan]

With orange and yellow bell peppers being 3.99 EACH this past yeat at Publix, I'd say that would be great to grow your own. If you can do it without the bugs getting to them.

I totally agree! If you cook with bell peppers as much as I do, this saves a ton of money! I just pick them, clean them, chop them and make sure they're dry before I put them in a zipper bag and into the freezer for winter use!

[CW&M Mom]

If you do green beans....plant a row each week...that way they will not all be ready all in one week.

We are doing cucumbers, pumpkins, watermelon, peas and maybe carrots.

[Lmnde]

Plant what you will actually eat, it's way easier to stick to gardening maintenance + work etc, if you like what you are getting. On the top of the low maintenance veggies and fruits for us are salad bar items, stirfry items and a variety of melons and winter squashes. If you own your home, consider investing in fruit and berry bushes and trees as well.

[heyaheather]

I second the beans! We get soooo many of those every year, but I think it has a lot to do with our soil. You can plant wax beans, green beans, and even purple beans (turn green when you cook them). Snow peas or sugar snap peas are also a hit around here. I would suggest buying the climbing variety, especially if you are low on square footage.

We have also started planting fruit bushes and trees...still waiting for them to produce enough to make the initial cost worth it though. Also, nut trees...

You may want to do a soil test to see what type of soil you have. That way you'll know ahead of time what veggies will do best in the soil you have and what veggies will need some soil amending. You should be able to find one @ a hardware store/garden center. I say this b/c everyone is saying how wonderful their tomatoes do, but I never have great luck with them. It has a lot to do with your soil and how rich in nutrients it is.

A money saving tip for you: save the seeds from the produce you're buying now. I have saved some organic pepper seeds since it costs $6 for 2 peppers! I can't afford to buy them as often as I'd like at that price. I'm sure you could find a book @ the library that will help you with all of this gardening and have even more advice. Maybe you should ask Santa for a good gardening book for Christmas!

[aimeebee]

We plant green peppers, onions, several kinds of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and corn each year. We sometimes try new things...this year it was pumpkins. We paid 20 cents for the seeds at Walmart and got about a dozen good pumpkins in a variety of sizes...definitely worth it to us.

Next year, I think we might try cabbage. We have been eating it a lot in the low calorie vegetable soup I make for our diet.

[mom2lucas]

This is very interesting. I was coming here to ask the same question about gardening. We're reading "Let's Grow" by Linda Tilgner. It's about gardening organically while teaching your children where their food comes from, etc. I think we are going to try the purple beans.