The Economics of Growing Vegetables from Seed

I live in MA, and don't put much outside until Memorial Day. And with all the costs of growing inside and outside, does it make sense to grow vegetables from seed? I wish I could post my answer here, but it is too long - but do see my article at http://www.morssglobalfinance.com/the-economics-of-growing-vegetables-from-seed/.

My conclusion? Even with all my additional costs (the seed cost is SO insignificant), it is economical to grow from seed.

Your thoughts?

The Best you you all - Spring is coming - time switches back to EST in 2 weeks!

Elliott

Intresting analysis. The one factor that you don't consider is the opportunity cost of the gardener's time. We (gardeners) tend to do this because the work is recreational--but that's only true because we generally don't have to subsist on our produce. Market gardeners (and commercial farmers) have to consider the time as well as materials.

Many family farms no longer exist because the kids left for town. "They could make more working in the factory, at the store, or in some service to support the town. If my garden had to pay for the time not working (about $60-75/hour in my profession) each tomato really might be a sixty-four dollar tomato! Commercial farmers balance the costs with requirements to produce an amazing level of nutrition with a variety of fresh and preserved vegetables that would have been inconceivable 100 years ago.

I love the taste of home grown, but I'm happy that I don't have to depend on my garden to live.

I'm with Dreaves, From the Home Grower view: It's much MUCH cheaper for me to buy plants than grow from seeds. Also, that being said, It's much cheaper to buy veggies from the grocery store than to grow them from plants. Growing veggies for me isn't a way to make ends meet. It is a hobby that I think has passed many folks behind as the information age took over. So I don't do this to save money, I do this because it is fun for me and a challenge. Nothing more and nothing less.

A friend in St. Louis grows about 95% of what they eat in the summer. He also gives away prodigeous amounts to the foodbank every week and gives to the neighbours as well. He says he invests maybe $100.00 per year in his garden including seed. He grows organically. I look at my grocerybill just for veggies everyweek which averages about $100.00 or a little more, I buy organic. I'm growing this year.

I started growing my own veggies for a few reasons: 1 - I know where my food comes from, 2 - I have more variety, 3 - it is fun for me and 4 - homegrown taste is out of this world!! My initial start up costs were high as I built raised beds and made my own soil mix, but now all I do to maintain my beds is add my homemade compost when I replant. I am organic and fertilize with fish emulsion. My plants are healthy, my soil is healthy.

I prefer to grow from seed. I do not purchase plants from the big box stores - the variety is not there and there is the possibility of bringing in bugs or diseases. I love being able to buy or trade seeds and the vast selection I have to choose from. Wintersowing is a very economical to grow from seed, especially if you grow annuals or perennials. The cost of buying and replacing annunals every season is astronomical. For a few bucks I can have a lot of plants that would have cost me hundreds to purchase. And if something dies or doesn't make it, my loss is small.

I would love to be able to grow all my family's food - there are 5 of us - but am not there yet. So, I will sharpen my skills and carry on and hopefully one day meet that goal! Either way, it's fun for me and I love that my kids are learning where food really comes from...

Kelly

I was at my local nursery yesterday, and I looked at the cost of the replacement packages for the earthboxes. I purchased three boxes two years ago. The replacement was about seventeen or eighteen dollars! For that price, I would need to grow a lot of produce is each box to make it worth my while financially. I decided that I would just use my own inexpensive replacement, and see what happens.

I agree that you don't garden to really save alot of money unless you are only buying organic, since that is pricey. I have only grown a couple of tomato plants in the past (I spend most of time growing flowers), but this year, I am branching and adding lettuce, cucumbers, and melon. I may even add a few peppers.

Hrmmm.. Intriguing points of view all.

I come from a family that did live on the produce we grew. We grew our food so that in the winter we would have some food. Dad would spend about $200 per year on seeds and probably another $400 per year on all the stuff that goes with growing: gas for the tiller, oil, the occasional part, whatever. On the other hand, we always had a ton of food in the freezers and canned, and we had a few friends that we would give veggies to in trade for whatever: meat, milk, eggs, etc. To say that we were poor was an understatement of amazing proportions (financially).

We never took our labor into account because... we never took our labor into account. We were doing it because when you live exceedingly poor and unemployed, you do what you are going to do to survive.

Fast forward about... 27 years? Yeah, close enough.

I now work a 40+ hour week and have expensive hobbies/other business. I also really want to enjoy that taste from when I was younger and I definitely want to save cred because I want to buy more beads and fabrics (just run with that one). Then too, there is something magical about being able to be thrifty and stuff. And it's worth it. I did some math and with the prices of things going up and up and up and... did I mention up?... freezing and canning are getting to be better and better of an idea.

Interestingly enough, the article does not take into account some of the things that gardeners can do to make things work better: making compost and putting your veggie scraps in, of course. But what about stuff like using an old can to make your pots and making sure to always mulch with stuff that degrades into good soil (newspaper, leaves, grass, hay)? How about when you start saving seeds?

Even the time question can be answered to an extent. If we had known then what we know now, we would not have worked half as hard as we did when I was a kid and part of the hands on our poor little farm. We didn't have 1/2 of a clue about square foot gardening, or ways you can layer things to avoid weeding. Or layout gardens so that you can pretty much stand there and have it all. Information availability makes a MAJOR difference in how we learn and do things.

I think the biggest economic impact I make is when we purchase all of the materials needed (or just wanted) to keep our gardens going. I am always trying new seeds, books, and planting containers. It keeps our retailers and seedsmen in business.
I consider the cost as a hobby allowance. I wish I was really saving money but I don't think so. Isn't life grand when you can walk outside after a day at work and harvest dinner? There is no price equal to that feeling.

The exception to the rule is zucchini when you get a million pounds of produce for a dollars worth of seed. :-)

Aw man Aquannie. You're just... investing in your future food. Yeah, that's it. You can re-use all the books, planting containers, tools, etc. Right? *grin*

Pennefeather--there are less expensive alternatives then EB replant kits. Check your local nurseries/big box stores/hardware stores for dolomite and fertilizer. You can purchase large bags of what you need for considerably less cost. Last year, I had difficulty finding the appropriate fertilizer for my EB strips, so had to substitute some controlled-release fertilizer mixed into my potting mix and it was fine. Just try to follow some of the basic concepts and you will be OK. The most important thing is that once you have your boxes and potting mix, the cost should decrease dramatically. Have fun growing things for your family, even if you don't follow the EB rules exactly.

Thanks Mom2goldens. I almost have to laugh that I even bought these because we have plenty of property, but it does help to keep them out of the way. I am going to use the earthboxes again, but I will create my own kit for them. At that replacement price, you might as well buy your produce in the store.

This is an interesting question. I have to factor in the cost of buying all of my seed starting supplies (including grow lights and shelving units because of our zone), and the time it takes to grow things for anywhere from 4-10 weeks before planting outside.

To me, it's worth it because I enjoy it, I can produce better vegetables and herbs than I can buy locally and it keeps me occupied during the long dreary months leading up until spring. Cost wise--hard to say. Had a lot of initial expense; if you factor in time, I'm sure it's not cost-effective. Our farmers markets are also expensive though, and I appreciate why. At least here, I have the challenge, the variety, and the knowledge I've gained from doing this. I do look at ways to reduce my costs; now that most of my containers and seed-starting equipment have been purchased, my annual cost is only that of time, seed, potting mix and electricity. It's not realistic to save seed, because my area is too small; cross pollination is too high. I don't know how to price the "fun" factor, but that really negates a lot of the "cost" for me.

The fun factor can't be beat! I also love that when you grow from seed the varieties are endless.

I love telling my kids to go in the garden and pick tomatoes. We are planting cucumbers this year to make pickles, and encourage them to garden.

I kind of split it up--I generally don't start vegetables from seed if they can't be direct-sown. So, I buy tomato plants (I order tomatoes from the Territorial Seed Company, because I can get a single plant of a variety rather than several, and I can pick my ship date--even though I am in Minnesota, I want the plants here before the end of May), peppers, and sometimes winter squash plants and cucumbers. I have a local nursery, a smallish business that's actually the longest running business in our area, and I think I am able to avoid the risk that might come with buying from Wal-Mart or some other big-box type store. I direct-sow lettuces, carrots, summer squash, melons, peas and beans, herbs, edible flowers like nasturtium, etc. One of the reasons I like buying the plants is that I am obsessed with tomato varieties--this year I have 43 plants, and the only duplicates are 6 San Marzanos for salsa. I have a moderately large garden for a suburban area--about 20x50 on one part and 15x15 on the other (L-shaped), but the tomatoes are really the queen of the garden. I feel that I save money overall buying plants, because of the time factor and the fact that I want so many varieties.
My sister and I branched out this year, though to starting perennials from seed, and wow, are we saving the money on plants!
Pennefeather--I like your comment about your kids! We also love to get the kids into the garden. We're homeschoolers, and many a science lesson or lesson in patience and perseverance has started in the garden!

There are some great points here about the costs of growing your own food. I think for most gardeners growing your own food is a past-time, a hobby. There aren't many people that grow their own foods for the sake of survivability, although homesteading and sustainable living is becoming more popular and mainstream. At one time it was "stuff the hippies did".

There are initial startup costs involved, which is usually the case for just about anything. I think it's important to use more frugal methods when gardening, which in my opinion is very doable.

What I mean is this - instead of buying expensive (and sometimes harmful) fertilizers, create your own compost and brew compost tea from it. Use the compost tea on your vegetables.

Instead of buying an expensive trellis for your cucumbers, build one. You can even build them from limbs or left over lumber. Visit some yard sales, this is a great way to find containers and some tools very inexpensively.

I could list a million ways to save money on gardening, but hopefully you see my point here.

I agree that time is money, but you should also look at the long term affects of eating foods that have been grown with chemical pesticides and fungicides. How do these affect your body in the long term? What are the ensuing medical costs down the road?

I would much rather grow it myself if I can than buy it from a supermarket. When I do buy produce it is from a local farmer's market or local grower.

I am doing both a few purchased veggie plants and mostly seed started. I started a bunch of seeds in February in those little expanding pellets under clear plastic domes. I did not set up all the lights and shelving, but placed them in front of a south facing window. I did not have the heat mats either, but used heating pads from the bedroom for round 2. I wish I could say I had great success, but only half of what was started became usable plants. From what I have seen on DG , the seedlings that are grown with the lights on shelves grow taller, stronger. If I had a basement, I would so do that. I suppose I could use the garage, but it would be too cold. Not mid-west or north east cold, but cold enough. I have just finished the last of my direct seeding also.
I am using straw bales this year. I was enticed when I read about straw bale gardening here at their forum on DG. Of course that is yet another cost, even getting them for 1/2 price, as I did. We have a horrible gopher problem here and part of our cost of gardening anything, trees, veggies, flowers, etc, is fending them darn rodents off. For plants in the ground, we have to make wire mesh 'baskets' to put the root ball in. Some go as far, when planting trees, to put broken glass around the hole. I have gopher mounds dug around veggies in pots!!! Kind of like a shark circling a boat.

Anyway, I digress. I would love to be able to grow all our family's veggies and fruit. We have enough property here to be able to do that. I also would love my family to eat more veggies or to support the idea to grow them. DH says 'you know they sell those things at the store'. He says the same thing to fishermen. He does not understand my enthusiasm or lust for a fresh grown tomato. Now that I have read that the gas they use on tomatoes to make them redden up (after shipping them green) is the same gas they use to euthanize animals, I am afraid to eat tomatoes from the grocery store. I would like to support farmers markets and enjoy what I buy there, but it is pricey, so figure my costs are justified.

There's another factor that far outweighs, in my opinion, the economic end of growing your own veggies. A recent study has shown that there is a definet link between pesticides and neurological, mainly ADD and ADHD, in children. The research was very good, not just a group of mother's who switched to organic apple juice. These pesticides are affecting the fetus in the mother's womb. Something like 28% of all frozen raspberries and blue berries are testing positive for pesticides and l-rd knows what peaches and apples and broccoli are doing. G-d knows what else this stuff is doing to our kids. The whole point is no matter how much it costs you're stll better off growing your own.

Gardening is a lot of work but i love it. I buy seedlings of tomato plants, oriental eggplant. sweet and hot peppers, okra but I start beans and cukes from seeds. My garden is organic, we compost and after my plants are planted I mulch them and then put stakes.

home grown veggies taste much better and we love grilled veggies from the garden. We also can afford to buy and not have a garden but it is a hobby that I enjoy. I do not have a big garden because for the last 2 years the squirrels love my veggies excluding the hot peppers so it is animal proofed.

Happy gardening!!! Belle

I was raised on a farm when we raised everything we ate, both meat and vegetables. The produce that comes out of a store just doesn't have any taste to me. I seldom eat chicken or beef because it has no flavor compared to what we raised. I garden because I like fresh veggies and raise about everything we eat in that line. I also give away a ton of produce to the widows at my church. I prefer to buy my plants like tomatoes, peppers and the like if I can find them from a local grower. We are blessed to have a couple with in a few miles of my home. I don't buy plants from Bonnie Plant Farm or those types of growers. If I can't find the plants locally, I start my own seed. After the initial cost of building my raised beds, I have been out very little money. I doubt if I have over $200 in my garden. I've already harvested enough radishs, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, onions, swiss chard, squash, mustard greens, and turniips to more than get my money back. The main reason I garden has nothing to do with economics, I just like it.

I'm with you Jim. If you have spent many years growing your own foods and meats, everything else tastes flat. My son and my grandson sadly don't notice any difference except that home grown seems like much more work to them. It's too bad. They do notice the beauty of a table set with fresh herbs and garnishes though so we haven't failed entirely. I think the family time is worth as much as the food we produce.

Tonight was squash, okra, and green beans as my sides. It was delicious. I love our garden.

i have only started plants from seeds. I think its more magical and fun to watch the seedlings first appear, I get so excited!

The only thing I don't miss is fresh milk. I hated to get up and have to milk before going to school, especially on a cold frosty morning.

even buying 3 JumpStart 2 foot grow lights from Buy.com for $45 each (which included shipping), and bulk peat pots from Harris Seeds, (about 68 cents each), and using good Miracle Gro dirt, .....the cost of growing your own favorite and expensive veggies is much cheaper than trying to buy the same organic veggies. The cost of seeds is negligible, really! I feel bad only growing a few seeds from each packet. I am following advice I read from books and started with easy and relatively expensive veggies---Mezclun lettuce mixes, spinach, tomatoes, yellow squash, fancy red and fingerling potatoes. And my permanent herbs, chives, globe basil, oregano, and rosemary already save me so much money. I had wasted so much money in the past spending $4 each time I needed to use fresh herbs in cooking......I definitely find growing veggies from seed extremely easy if you spend a little bit of money getting dedicated T-5 grow lights. I got 3 because I went gung ho on this gardening thing and they are easier to move around than those big 4 foot long set-ups. I can't believe I never tried it before.

We grow almost all of our Spring/Summer/Fall fresh produce, we can or freeze extra for the winter. Our initial outlay was fairly expensive so the first year or so wasn't very economical. But the benefits out weigh the initial expense now that we're only having to spend money on "new" tomato varieties of seed. We grow chard, kale, peas, beans, tomatoes, squash, lettuce, strawberries, blueberries, apples. We buy local grown seedlings for some of our plants, often we trade tomatoes we've started from seed. My son sells the extra heirloom tomatoes to support his seed habit. Eventually we'll save our own seed. It keeps the kids off the couch, helps them care more about the environment and learn where food comes from. We share with our local food bank in the summer, it helps our community and my kids to give back where they can. It's a lot of work to manage a 50 x 75' garden, but it's a hobby. If we count hours of work we don't break even but the enjoyment and family time and learning is priceless.

I think that starting vegetable plants from seeds can be done for a very modest amount. I did buy a small heat pad on which I set the planted seeds in little plastic forms and am using shop light fixtures as a light source. By the way, Home Depot sells the regular flourscent bulbs (~4100K, but also bulbs that emit at other wavelengths and they are not that much more expensive than normal bulbs--and these are considerably cheaper than the "Grow Lights"). The final advantage of starting plants from seeds is the bright spot this activity makes to otherwise very gloomy and cold January and February.

Hey guys - now here is something I just read about growing Okra. The author advocates using seed because it is less expensive and because Okra does not transplant well. This guy writing in to the author, well, just read this!

Terry Stout September 16, 2007 at 2:05 am
Hi Kenny, I live on the gulf coast and have three okra plants growing. One of my plants has decided to take over the garden and is now 8 1/2′ tall and still growing. I measured the base of the stalk and it is 10 1/2″. I am truely amazed and get okra everyday. Have you heard of any bigger?

Kenny Point September 16, 2007 at 9:58 am
Terry, congrats on growing a giant okra plant, you should take a photo of that monster. What variety of okra seed did you plant? I have heard of a couple of okra varieties that are claimed to reach heights of seven to eight feet, but I have never actually seen an okra plant grow as tall as the one in your garden… very impressive! How many okra pods have you harvested? What size are the pods when harvested? And do the okra pods remain tender if allowed to grow to a large size, or do you harvest them all when they are still small?

Terry Stout October 24, 2007 at 2:35 am
Hi Kenny,I have some okra seeds for you if you want some. My okra plant now stands 11′ and still getting about 6-8 pods a day. I’m very pleased and surprised. I need to know how to keep it protected against and bad weather or from getting cold. Any suggestions? Thanks Kenny.

Kenny Point October 24, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Terry, I’m glad to hear that your okra plant is still growing strong. That’s unbelievable that it has gotten that tall and is still producing a large crop of pods. I would love to try some of your gigantic okra seeds. At the current size it may be difficuly for you to cover the plant or protect it from the cold weather. I would just continue harvesting and caring for the plant and see how long it survives into the fall or winter seasons in your southern climate.

The old original cow horn okra that I grow will get twelve feet tall or better but have never measured around the stalk to see how big it gets there. Pods will get eight to ten inchs long before they get hard.

I haven't started seeds in several years but in the past this low-tech, low cost system worked for me. I spread seeds between damp paper towels which were put in plastic sandwich bags and placed on top of the refrigerator for warmth. After the seeds germinated, I'd lift them off the towels with tweezers and pot in seed medium. My grow lights were a cool and a warm flourescent light in 4' shop light fixtures. I'd prop the fixture on bricks so I could raise it by adding more bricks. I made cold frames of bricks or blocks on my driveway, topped with old windows or plastic. Granted, it was all very crude but amazingly effective and I'd have plants growing on every flat surface in the house. Best of all, it cost very little and fit my skill set - which was zilch. :)

I have started to buy seeds from the internet from Burpee, whi ch were 3.95, a pkg. plus the postage. This seems high, when I used to buy from Walmart for .99. I guess I need to look around for Seed Companies that sell for less.

behillman - do you have a Target there? Ours sell Burpee seeds for around $2/packet for most seeds...

most folks round here save seed from crops and have a pound or so lable them red okra blue lake green bean , and such with the year and dont mind to share when asked .
it's just thewat folks are here ~;>)

That is a wonderful idea. When a person finds a good crop, they should save the seeds. Then share with whomever might need it. I'm thinking that tomatoe seeds are a pain to save.

Naw Not that bad Brother Just pick the Biggest and the best Maters from the Biggets and Best plants and those are the ones you eate and those are the seeds you Save for the maters Next year And guard with a gun LOL . seeds build up fast !

I started seeds this year on my desk in domed containers on top of regular heating pads you would use in bed. Seemed to work. I did not have the next step with overhead lights and just left on desk in front of window. 4 weeks ago I wanted to plant directly into my bales and thought I would try the 'between wet paper towels' method for 3 kinds of green bean and butternut squash. I labeled each papertowel and put about 6 of each seeds in, then inverted a ceramic plate over them and left them on the counter - for about 4 days. Needless to say, they were rooting and even some stems with leaves were starting to break through.

Here are 2 of the types of pole beans just after 3 weeks.

Looking good quiltygirl. What kind of tree is that in the back ground.

Looks like maybe a Queen Palm Jim would be my guess...

LOOKING TO SEND SOME ONE A SASE FOR A FEW SEED FOR THE FOLLOWING
JUST LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE ON MY LIST.
D-MAIL ME WITH YOUR ADDERSS.
I’LL OVER PAY THE SPAMPS AND YOU CAN LICK-EM AND STICK-EM LOL

Herbs ( I cook with them) THE KIND YOU HAVE

Hickory Cain corn

Peppers (any not el scorcher type I like to eat them)

Red Melon (ONLY NEED A FEW)

Yellow Crook Neck Squash

Squash (other) ?

Cat Nip (Got Kitty)

Radish

Okra (have red)

If you have any of these i dont need a bunch just a few i will plant and save seed .
Just let me know
Thank you
Sarge

Kelly was right, it is a Queen Palm. I have 7 of them planted in that row, that is what is shading the beans from the other side late in the day. They don't give much shade, so no problems for the beans. The beans made it to the tope of the support yesterday afternoon! I think Jack has a future vine to climb out there! The bushes are wild buckwheat, which sprout up everywhere, and I let selected one grow and keep them watered and trimmed. They look pretty and help fill in the yard. The one in the hills behind us get all dry in the summer and become fire fuel...

Hey, Ya'll,
Fascinating discussion. I need to start seeds today for my cole crop plantout in August. You think that seed-on-a-paper towel trick would work for cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower seeds? LMK. Thanks!