My wife and I have spent the last year lowering our living expenses by growing organically.
By organic gardening we lowered our expenses by the following amounts:
Food Bill $148
Non prescription drugs $87
Prescription drugs $120
less garbage $27
There are other ways we save money every month now. We do not feel the need to go to movies every week, the garden in more entertaining
Lower fuel bills, because our friends are always coming over to our house for a "Garden Party" meal. Eating right out of the garden. No Cleanup!
We are looking for more ways to save on our expenses, as we also help others do the same.
What tips would you like to share, and can you give an amount of expenses saved by growing an organic garden?javascript:emoticon(':D')
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Chris@hisfarm
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Green Mantis
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- Location: Alberta, Canada zone 1a
Used to save lots when our children were young, but haven't done much gardening etc. for a lot of years.
Are going to start this coming spring though. Can't wait.
We just bought this place oct 5th, so only managed to get a few things planted, as fast as I could.....
Then it snowed
But I did get some honeyberry bushes, currants etc. in the garden before it snowed. Also some roses.
I'm really only going to grow things that we can eat though.
Where I can't get the edibles in, flowers will go. Lots of herbs too.
A garden should make you smile when you see the gorgeous colours of flowers too.
Always had bigger livestock, but since we only have a large city lot now,
will be gardening "much" more.
Hoping to "sneak" 4 hens in here. Miss my chickens.
Plus going to raise some meat rabbits, theyr'e not noisy,
At least our lot is really quite secluded. Can't wait till spring.
Then we too will get a much better idea how much we can save gardening.
Good Luck in your efforts, it's fun.
Are going to start this coming spring though. Can't wait.
We just bought this place oct 5th, so only managed to get a few things planted, as fast as I could.....
Then it snowed
But I did get some honeyberry bushes, currants etc. in the garden before it snowed. Also some roses.
I'm really only going to grow things that we can eat though.
Where I can't get the edibles in, flowers will go. Lots of herbs too.
A garden should make you smile when you see the gorgeous colours of flowers too.
Always had bigger livestock, but since we only have a large city lot now,
will be gardening "much" more.
Hoping to "sneak" 4 hens in here. Miss my chickens.
Plus going to raise some meat rabbits, theyr'e not noisy,
At least our lot is really quite secluded. Can't wait till spring.
Then we too will get a much better idea how much we can save gardening.
Good Luck in your efforts, it's fun.
Subsistance farming is great way to live cheaply
if you already own your land
or have another way to earn your living besides farming.
Most farmers do not just farm.
The key to reducing expenses is to recognize which foods can be grown more cheaply manually,
and which ones are better mechanized.
I am glad to see you including reduction of drugs as a benefit of farming / gardening.
For me, the key is to grow and eat the foods which are the most nutritious and efficient.
Small animals with a high FCR are key.
Also foods which are high in anti-oxidants: greens, fruit, squash, roots, green beans, etc.
Avoiding foods which are high in anti-nutrients is another key.
Grains, seeds, and legumes are usually more efficient done by a large mechanized farm.
Perennials are usually just as efficient done manually since you can be more efficient
in a smaller space.
if you already own your land
or have another way to earn your living besides farming.
Most farmers do not just farm.
The key to reducing expenses is to recognize which foods can be grown more cheaply manually,
and which ones are better mechanized.
I am glad to see you including reduction of drugs as a benefit of farming / gardening.
For me, the key is to grow and eat the foods which are the most nutritious and efficient.
Small animals with a high FCR are key.
Also foods which are high in anti-oxidants: greens, fruit, squash, roots, green beans, etc.
Avoiding foods which are high in anti-nutrients is another key.
Grains, seeds, and legumes are usually more efficient done by a large mechanized farm.
Perennials are usually just as efficient done manually since you can be more efficient
in a smaller space.
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rainbowgardener
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- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
I would have no way to estimate how much money I might (or might not) be saving with my small organic veggie/herb garden.
Probably the biggest money saving for me is that I hardly buy any Christmas presents any more. Most people get Christmas gift baskets from me, with stuff from my garden - homemade herbal tea blends, homemade jams/ jellies/ salsas, homemade soaps and lotions scented with my homemade essential oils, baked goods, etc. The baskets cost me $3-4 each at the thrift store and I do buy some ingredients for things like soap and lotion, but they are very cheap in bulk. So I save a few hundred $$ a year that way.
But I don't do any of this for the money, just the health benefits and the joy it brings.
Probably the biggest money saving for me is that I hardly buy any Christmas presents any more. Most people get Christmas gift baskets from me, with stuff from my garden - homemade herbal tea blends, homemade jams/ jellies/ salsas, homemade soaps and lotions scented with my homemade essential oils, baked goods, etc. The baskets cost me $3-4 each at the thrift store and I do buy some ingredients for things like soap and lotion, but they are very cheap in bulk. So I save a few hundred $$ a year that way.
But I don't do any of this for the money, just the health benefits and the joy it brings.
I grow and preserve my own food mainly for health. I know what has been used in and on the ground and put on my plants. I preserve my own food becaus I KNOW that there are no bug parts, hair, or anything that cannerery employees feel is 'funny' to throw in the vats. 
As I get older I know that having a veggy garden and flowers keep me moving and makes me feel better both emotionally and physically. It is a win/win situation. Healthy exercise and better nutrition.
As I get older I know that having a veggy garden and flowers keep me moving and makes me feel better both emotionally and physically. It is a win/win situation. Healthy exercise and better nutrition. the cost / benefit ratio of a smallish home garden - organic or not - is a pretty slippery slope.
at the most basic level, it's "I paid $X for seeds / plant starts and got Y pounds of vegetables which would have cost $Z at the grocery store."
being in good health, no clue as to what I would / could grow as a "replacement" for prescription or non-prescription medication.
same with the "less garbage" question. in our current location, trash collection is included in our local taxes. other places we paid $Q dollars/month or /quarter - at that cost did not vary by what or how much we put out at the curb. I'm a bit lost on that one.
I garden because I enjoy the pursuit.
I garden organically because it's not what is on/in my veggies, the benefit is what is _not_ on my veggies.
there a recent rampant 'studies' about whether organic is more or less nutritious - hog feathers - that's not the point.
2 or 3 tomato plants can keep us in fresh tomatoes far cheaper than supplying the 'required quantity' from a supermarket and quite likely cheaper than farm stands.
other stuff like (green) peppers, green peas, carrots, beets, potatoes I grow, eat straight from the garden and/or freeze the excess. not because it's cheaper, but because even frozen our garden produce tastes better than store bought. don't care what kind of potatoes are available in the market, none of them approach the taste & texture of a potato dug ten minutes ago.
accurately accounting for "costs" is the biggest problem. Mrs. President has a demo veggie garden at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. if one accounts for the $160,00-$300,000 per year salary of the 4-5 White House gardeners who actually do the work, that comes to $300-500 per tomato. it's not gardening, it's not farming, it's a "statement" - and an expensive one at that. my tomatoes don't cost quite so much; then again, I got weeds amongst the tomatoes.
but I did buy a rotor-tiller. if I amortize the cost of the tiller over ten years, not a problem. how to assign the capital cost of a tiller per tomato or per leaf of lettuce.... yeah, that's a problem.
at the most basic level, it's "I paid $X for seeds / plant starts and got Y pounds of vegetables which would have cost $Z at the grocery store."
being in good health, no clue as to what I would / could grow as a "replacement" for prescription or non-prescription medication.
same with the "less garbage" question. in our current location, trash collection is included in our local taxes. other places we paid $Q dollars/month or /quarter - at that cost did not vary by what or how much we put out at the curb. I'm a bit lost on that one.
I garden because I enjoy the pursuit.
I garden organically because it's not what is on/in my veggies, the benefit is what is _not_ on my veggies.
there a recent rampant 'studies' about whether organic is more or less nutritious - hog feathers - that's not the point.
2 or 3 tomato plants can keep us in fresh tomatoes far cheaper than supplying the 'required quantity' from a supermarket and quite likely cheaper than farm stands.
other stuff like (green) peppers, green peas, carrots, beets, potatoes I grow, eat straight from the garden and/or freeze the excess. not because it's cheaper, but because even frozen our garden produce tastes better than store bought. don't care what kind of potatoes are available in the market, none of them approach the taste & texture of a potato dug ten minutes ago.
accurately accounting for "costs" is the biggest problem. Mrs. President has a demo veggie garden at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. if one accounts for the $160,00-$300,000 per year salary of the 4-5 White House gardeners who actually do the work, that comes to $300-500 per tomato. it's not gardening, it's not farming, it's a "statement" - and an expensive one at that. my tomatoes don't cost quite so much; then again, I got weeds amongst the tomatoes.
but I did buy a rotor-tiller. if I amortize the cost of the tiller over ten years, not a problem. how to assign the capital cost of a tiller per tomato or per leaf of lettuce.... yeah, that's a problem.
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DoubleDogFarm
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and no one here or even the two candidates, seem to calculate the environmental costs.
I'm here today, dressed in my hazmat suite, asking for your vote.
Eric
I'm here today, dressed in my hazmat suite, asking for your vote.
Eric
Last edited by DoubleDogFarm on Sat Nov 03, 2012 8:00 am, edited 2 times in total.
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rainbowgardener
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- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Yes, isn't it amazing how the most pressing issue of our time, which is currently at crisis proportions has never been mentioned by either of the two main party candidates in their campaigns, debates, speeches, etc!
I think any minor party candidate who qualifies to be on the ballot should be included in the debates. If the Green Party candidate (Jill Stein, very impressive) had been included in the debates at least clean energy/ conservation/ climate change kind of issues would have been mentioned.
I think any minor party candidate who qualifies to be on the ballot should be included in the debates. If the Green Party candidate (Jill Stein, very impressive) had been included in the debates at least clean energy/ conservation/ climate change kind of issues would have been mentioned.
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DoubleDogFarm
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So true.Dillbert wrote:... the world is facing a number of problems / issues
to which there is no 128 character Tweetable solution.
Benefits of organic gardening at our house: Dogs can be taught very strong, reliable behaviors with the promise of a fresh tomato as a treat.
Dogs can be taught that the raised beds are NOT a tromping ground by luring them out of the raised bed with a fresh tomato. Next-door neighbor's cat can loll about in raised beds keeping mice and squirrels at bay while being discreet about his "personal needs." I've eaten kale for the first time in my life. The *only* kale I've eaten is the kale (Red Russian) I've grown--LOTS of it. DH got tired of fresh, organic Red Russian kale year before last. 
I grew less of it last year. To h3ll with him; I'm growing TONS of it this year. And beets, broccoli, leeks, onions, chard, cabbage, sugar snap peas (a winter experiment), rapini. That much more for me, should Someone Else get tired of fresh, organic veggies several times a week. Plus all the kale, chard, carrots, etc. in our rent-a-box a mile and a half away.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
Interesting how quickly a discussion of how to reduce costs by gardening turns to
a wider discussion of long term sustainability, pollution, etc.
The topics are actually very closely connected.
There are some cultures where even the most elevated businessmen still return to their ancestral lands on the weekend to farm and tend the land.
The cycle of nations might be easier to manage when a culture encourages maintenance of agricultural involvement which helps develope an awareness of the effects of over exploiting nature.
The reason this topic is appropriate for this forum is that civilization has turned agriculture / gardening into more of a menial low level task not worthy of the educated and civilized.
This forum is not only about how to garden but also how important it is to maintain a connection to nature and the land.
Chris - you are trying to do the thing which more gardeners need to do; gardening is fun but to be long term sustainable it should pay off. Having so much of our food grown so far outside of the city by so few may not be viable much longer.
a wider discussion of long term sustainability, pollution, etc.
The topics are actually very closely connected.
There are some cultures where even the most elevated businessmen still return to their ancestral lands on the weekend to farm and tend the land.
The cycle of nations might be easier to manage when a culture encourages maintenance of agricultural involvement which helps develope an awareness of the effects of over exploiting nature.
The reason this topic is appropriate for this forum is that civilization has turned agriculture / gardening into more of a menial low level task not worthy of the educated and civilized.
This forum is not only about how to garden but also how important it is to maintain a connection to nature and the land.
Chris - you are trying to do the thing which more gardeners need to do; gardening is fun but to be long term sustainable it should pay off. Having so much of our food grown so far outside of the city by so few may not be viable much longer.