BLOG: Food Prices are on the Rise—Save Some Money, Grow Your Own!

The purpose of gardening intensively is to harvest the most produce possible from a given space—Erv Evans, Consumer Horticulturalist, North Carolina State University.

A good intensive garden requires early, thorough planning to make the best use of your time and space—Alex X. Niemiera, Extension Horticulturist, Virginia Tech.

There are many reasons to grow your own food—it tastes better (nothing is better than a juicy, ripe tomato fresh from the garden), is more nutritious (especially heirloom varieties), it’s a great stress reliever (how can you be stressed with your hands in warm soil?), etc. One really good reason is to save money.

If you have very limited space, with a little thought and planning, you can decide which vegetable would save you the most money per square foot. Of course the overriding factor should be to grow what you LIKE, but if you are trying to decide what to plant in your very last square, and have narrowed it down to arugula and corn, which should you choose?

SURPRISE! If you want the biggest bang for your buck, you should grow the arugula! Sure there’s nothing like picking a fresh ear of Silver Queen corn, plunging it into some boiling water for just a couple of minutes, but you can get it for a fairly reasonable price at a farmers market or grocery store. The U.S. Dollar value of the corn per square foot is $1.25 while the arugula yields $20.92 per square foot. Quite a difference, huh?

If you like them equally well and can’t decide between grape or cherry tomatoes or a Big Boy, the small-to-medium tomatoes come in at around $15.57 while large tomatoes are about $9.50 per square foot. This research from The Cheap Vegetable Gardener does say that when they determined price per square foot, they allowed the vegetables to sprawl as is their normal tendency so the value of many of the vegetables would increase simply by growing it vertically as is recommended by Mel Bartholomew in his book All New Square Foot Gardening.  The chart below is from 2009, so you're saving even MORE money.

Vegetable

USD Value/SF

Cilantro

$ 21.20

Arugula-Roquette

$ 20.92

Green Salad Mix

$ 17.55

Chives

$ 16.40

Dill

$ 16.40

Lettuce

$ 16.20

Tomato, Cherry, small & medium

$ 15.57

Turnip

$ 9.90

Tomato, large

$ 9.50

Squash, Winter

$ 8.40

Tomatillo

$ 8.00

Cucumber

$ 7.74

Basil

$ 6.63

Radish, Red

$ 6.22

Pumpkin

$ 6.20

Chard, Swiss

$ 6.14

Celery

$ 6.00

Squash, Summer

$ 5.96

Choi

$ 5.70

Peas, Snow

$ 4.50

Pepper, Jalapeño

$ 4.50

Squash, Summer, Zucchini

$ 4.17

Onion, Bunching

$ 4.14

Pepper, Bell

$ 3.60

Brussels Sprouts

$ 3.59

Carrots

$ 3.56

Rhubarb

$ 3.25

Squash, Winter, Butternut

$ 3.20

Kale

$ 3.07

Grass, Lemon

$ 3.00

Peas, English

$ 3.00

Onion, Bulb

$ 2.63

Radish, White

$ 2.60

Bean, Bush

$ 2.51

Peas, Edible Pod

$ 2.50

Artichoke, Globe

$ 2.40

Cabbage, Chinese Napa

$ 2.24

Squash, Winter, Delicata

$ 2.10

Spinach, Spring/Fall

$ 1.80

Leeks

$ 1.75

Potatoes

$ 1.50

Parsnips

$ 1.50

Garlic

$ 1.37

Squash, Summer, Yellow

$ 1.34

Parsley

$ 1.31

Corn

$ 1.25

Squash, Winter, Acorn

$ 1.20

Squash, Winter, Hubbard

$ 1.20

Eggplant

$ 1.10

Greens, Mustard

$ 1.10

Rutabaga

$ 1.00

Beet

$ 0.89

Cabbage, Savoy

$ 0.80

Broccoli

$ 0.80

Kohlrabi

$ 0.75

Cauliflower

$ 0.60

Broccoli, Chinese

$ 0.60

Cabbage

$ 0.50

Sources: mcgoodwin.net/pages/ppatch.html for plant yield information, shop.safeway.com for current produce prices.

Remember, the first consideration is ALWAYS to grow what you WANT to grow, not just based on the chart.

So, what are YOU growing this year?