I think gardening is *great* for those who enjoy it. It is good for self-sufficiency, a hobby and lots of other reasons. For *some* people, it also saves money.

But, my problems with gardening? All these books that seem to think it saves more money than it does. Here are some costs of gardening that frugality authors seem to be unaware of:
1. Greater mortgage costs for buying a house with land. This can be a huge difference. We have NO land at our place, and as a result, our mortgage is lower. Having a place to do more than container gardening would mean a bigger house payment, and higher maintenance costs for us.
2. Greater gas costs - for living in a more rural area - at least for some who do not work from home and may have a longer commute.
3. Costs of gardening supplies: Rototiller, wood for forms for raised beds, fancy dirt, fertilizers, additives. pesticides or organic things for pest control that *some* buy. Seeds.
4. Costs of preserving supplies. Canning jars. Canner. Deep freeze purchase & electric bill. Meal-preserving bags and sealer, etc.
5. Increased medical costs. My Mom tried to put in a garden every summer when I was a kid. And, she spent every summer with a bad back, unable to get off the floor after putting in the garden. I have a sun allergy - If I gardened in the daylight hours, I'd be in the hospital.
6. Time. Granted, a lot of us have no other source of income, but if you can work at home for money, there may be some endeavors that would pay more per hour than gardening saves.
7. Cost of loss - drought, pestilence, etc - you can loose the entire investment.

I'm not saying I'm anti-gardening at all. My sister really enjoys her garden. AND, she has a gleaners organization that has come to her orchard to harvest what she couldn't reach & donate it to the needy - I think that's GREAT!

I know someone else who has a large family and supplements their food stamps with a small garden on their rental property - I think that's *brilliant*! (Did you know that at least some people can buy seeds with food stamps?)

But, I'm just saying that I wish those frugality books & money-saving cookbooks would give an *honest* analysis of the costs of gardening, instead of pretending that everything you pick out of your garden is *free*

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/

Nothing is free, if you want to eat you have to WORK. My dad has a very green thumb and he used to eat from his garden and was able to give a lot away. It was a community garden that he paid $20 a year for, that included compost, water, tiller and tools all he had to put in was manual labor and seeds.

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"...with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

I think my current premise though, is to LEARN how to garden, for the sake of learning how to garden.
Many of the old ways are being lost, and I think gardening falls into that category.
In my humble attempt, I would like to help preserve some of the old ways, in, and through, my children.
There may come a time in the future too, that we no longer have easy access to the foods we take for granted today and perhaps we will need to grow some of them ourselves.
Yet, even if that were not the case, gardening is a skill I would still want to practice, and have my children be proficient in, or at least familiar with.

It is definitely, hard work....and it usually takes lots of practice to get good at.
It certainly would be easier to give up, but I'm determined not to do that.
Not to mention that is good exercise and keeps me moving and breathing and in the sunshine, each day.

I think you're right though.....gardening is hard, it's labor/time intensive, and can get quite expensive if you're not careful.

Many of the items you buy though, will be bought only once, and last for many, many, years to come. If you're conscientious, you can find a lot of stuff for free, you can save your own seeds, make your own compost, save rain water, and the list goes on.

You can share your bounty (if you're fortunate to have excess), with family, friends, neighbors, church; you can feed your farm animals the excess too; which in my experience, is always appreciated by people AND animals!

True, there's really quite a lot to it.....and it's a never ending, learning process. Very rewarding; but you're right, it's by no means, easy or without cost....financial, physical, etc.

I know it's alot of work, but it can be really cheap to have a garden or really expensive. It all depends on YOU and what you want/expect. I have gardened with hardly any money, just bought those cheap seeds from the Dollor store 10 packs for $1.00 and went home and hand dug the garden (with Dh's help ofcourse) and planted seeds. I had a great crop when I did it that way. Then DH started working for Bonnie and I got my plants from them after that. I feel spoiled when I do, because they are already started! But this last year, I bought seeds again and planted those. It feels so good to grow your own food. It's healthier because you can use natural bug killers and avoid chemicals.
I understand the land issue, but have you ever heard of Urban homesteaders? http://urbanhomestead.org/
Very interesting!!

Thanks for a really cool link, Shawny!

We have literally NO land here - not even a postage stamp's worth. So, for us container gardening is the ONLY option (and, we have neighbors who have a pretty impressive looking container garden on their balcony!)

I'm not arguing that gardening is great for a lot of people. My Grandparents were sharecroppers in their prime, and Grandma kept a huge garden until she was 90-something. She really made it work - and she spent a lot less than some do. Grandma was an expert in frugality. But, she did have canning jars and processing equipment (like a cone shaped colander for making homemade applesauce) - that she must have bought somewhere - at some time in her life. And, Grandma also gleaned - if a neighbor had a tree that they didn't want to harvest the fruit from as many do - she'd go pick it with their permission and put it up for winter (hence that applesauce!) And, that was when she was in her late 80's!

And, certainly no arguing that it is often healthier & tastier to garden.

I think the people I mentioned who do the gardening to supplement food stamps only use the crop as it grows (rather than storing it for winter). And, they also have a greenhouse-connection. And, their rental property happens to be very inexpensive AND have a plot of land - not always a possibility. So, I think their costs are ultra minimal - like yours.

But, there are invisible costs to gardening for many - like the increased gas use for living further out from town, or the increased mortgage or rent for having a plot of land - that many of these books pretend just don't exist! They literally write "free" on the accounting line for the cost of the food item from the garden.

And, when people buy chickens, they costruct a coop, when they put in raised beds, they have to get lumber & dirt from *somewhere* - there's never any discussion of that.

Of course - the great setup that Briva's Dad had is wonderful - if you can get it - but that also must be subsidized by donations or something - and you take your risks with that. I was driving by a community garden recently and watched a Mommy-and-Baby Deer clean it out - it had no fence : (

I just wish the books were more honest about what they're *really* spending - and what the reader (who may not have all the options the writer has in their community) - might really spend.

Side note: It's kinda like when DD was born. I saw SO many books that said "save money on formula!" and then their big tip was that you should nurse your baby! DUH. Do you think that people who are buying formula don't know that? Obviously, after a baby's about a month old, that's no longer an option (except in very rare circumstances). And, what if you adopted? Have a medical reason not to/can't? The frugality books all acted like this tip should solve *everyone's* problems.

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/

I have one of those cone shaped things for applesauce sitting on top of my fridge. Have used it a couple of times but I now also have two devices that make the process a bit easier and we use them. Not sure what they are called though. A friend has a really neat strainer device called a Sauce Maker or a Victorio strainer that I want to get for future use.

Anna, your post reminds me of when my dh wanted to get chickens so we could have "free" eggs... by the time we bought the material, built the pen, fenced it in, bought the special feed they needed for laying, etc...
it got pretty expensive.
The lady that we got the free chickens from joked that her dh had perfected the $200 egg!
(I knew exactly what she meant, lol)

Yup, you nailed it Tory : )

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/