NPR reports that growing your own veggies is a popular choice this year.
"The cost of groceries is going up this year, and so are the numbers of people who have started growing their own produce. Now seed companies are reporting a surge of orders. The last time there was a surge in home gardening was 2001, the last time we were in an economic recession."
I know that this is the first year since 1999 that I have planted a garden, albeit a small square foot garden. I have at least 2 personal friends who are growing their own produce for the first time this year.
Last night we ate the first veggies of the garden- 5 humble yellow squash-and they were delicious. There is just something about growing your own stuff! I also have tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, and watermelon growing in there. On my front porch I have an herb garden with parsley, thyme, chives, rosemary and basil. And I should be picking fresh, juicy peaches in the next few weeks. My new peach tree is burdened with tons of smallish peaches. Wild blackberries are growing along our property line and I hope they will be ready for picking by mid-July.
I'm hoping to save about $500 off our grocery bill by growing our own stuff this summer and am already planning what I can grow for the Fall and Winter.
How about you? Have you entered the world of growing your own stuff?
6 frugal-minded friends say:
I used to have a great veggie garden years 10 years ago, and I started one up again this year. I'm tired of dumping toxic chemicals trying to get grass to grow where it doesn't want to. I'm ripping up most of my back yard and planting veggies, herbs, and perennials. We'll be healthier & wealthier.....and we'll learn a lot in the process.
Happy growing! I have another blogging friend who actually made a couple hundred $$ selling some of her surplus in her front yard!
I am a nube this year too! I am stilll researching things, and currently have plenty tomatoes..next is an herb garden. I would love to have more, we'll see.
I'm trying peppers and tomatoes in containers on my patio. I didn't have the time to start working up the ground or anything for a real garden. I'm nervous and excited about this new project!!
Like Bargain, I have a few pots on my patio this year. I'm growing tomatoes, bell peppers, squash, and lettuce. My basil seed flopped. :/ If this goes well, I'll go back to the Mel's Square Foot Gardening method we used a few years ago. Now, I just need a pressure canner so I can store the abundant (I hope!) harvest!
This is my first time gardening, too! Just yesterday, we harvested radishes. So good.
Also have tomatoes, spinach, carrots, green peppers, broccoli, corn, watermelon, cantaloupe, oregano, and thyme. We hope for a good harvest, but really it just does something good for my soul to tend a garden.
We have planted peppers and tomatoes for a couple of years now, but this year we added lettuce, basil, parsley, pumpkins, carrots and celery to the mix. I posted pictures on my blog this week. Our seed experiment didn't go so well, so we ended up buying plants. We have the bulk of this planted in pots and planters on our patio.
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