Garden Costs and Benefits

OK, so having a big vegetable garden is a nice hobby, but does it pay? This is something I am always wondering about: By the time it is all said and done, does it save any money to grow a bunch of vegetables? My gut feeling is that it really doesn't . . . at least not much. But, as I promised last week, I am posting my sister and brother-in-law's back of the envelope calculations. This is what they figure:

"Greens: we eat lots of lettuce type greens. Off season, we can easily dedicate an average of $60/month from the grocery budget to greens. While the garden is producing (and we get greens for 5 months) we eat even more, and a much wider variety, and it’s all organic. We invested $14 of seeds. 5 months @ $60/month = $300.

Beans: Isabella (now 14) spent most of last summer (she believes) sitting in the garden picking beans (we sometimes call her “Harvester Belle”). Last year we yielded about 50# of beans. Beans are easy to freeze and lasted through much of the off season. Seeds cost $5. 50#’s @ $2.29/lb (organic) = $114.50

Tomatoes: Last year we froze about 20 quarts of sauce which (the organic equivalent) might cost $5.99/qt to buy = $119.80. We also had two months of eating lots of fresh tomatoes – (can I say “priceless”?) we invested $40 in plants.

Squash: We estimate a yield last year of 50#’s. @ $2.99/lb for organic squash = $119.50 (seeds were $10).

Peppers: Last year we spent about $30 on plants and yielded about 30#’s. You can easily average $5/lb for organic peppers = $150. This year, [with the global climate cooling trend stopping our peppers in their tracks] who knows?"

So, there you have it. They are figuring that the garden produces a net financial savings of approximately $700/yr. for a family of five. Of course, this does not account for the value of the land, the cost of water, the up-front costs of building the deer fence, etc. It also does not account for the cost of labor . . . but, hey, it's a hobby, right? For me, the thought that comes to mind is that big American agriculture is incredibly efficient. I know, I know, agribusinesses are second only to the people that provide us with cheap energy in the list of those we should hate, right? I mean, we can sit here fat and comfortable surrounded by food cheap enough to throw away and smirk self-righteously at "big agribusiness" because the media tells us relentlessly that they are bad. But, I've got to say that it is tough to complete with that kind of efficiency.