A Maine gardener, has calculated that in his 1,600 square foot garden, his tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, salad greens or strawberries, saved him $1,200 if he had purchased those items in a grocery store all growing season.
Roger Doiron, the founder of Kitchen Gardeners International and the grower of the veggie garden which supplied the $1,200 worth of those five veggies, keep meticulous records of the weight of all vegetables worth over $25 he grew in his garden, comparing them to the costs of purchasing the same veggies (raw data) at a local grocery store, a local farmers’ market and a Whole Foods.
The savings of growing your own vegetables would be surprising to most other vegetable gardeners. Many gardeners don’t think in terms of how much money they are saving by growing their own veggies. They just want fresh, wholesome local food.
It would be hard for me to make exact calculations on my gardens like Doiron did since I eat so much produce just grazing. For instance, our blueberries are coming on, and every morning I pick some for my oatmeal but in the process of picking I eat anywhere between a pint and a quart of blueberries each morning. I guess I could weigh myself before I go out to pick and after.
Doiron’s calculations will give everyone who eats fresh vegetables pause the next time they pick up and purchase any of those top five veggies in a grocery store.
Photo credit: Kitchen Gardeners International
Hydroponics Dictionary
