Interest in saving money making Garden Tabloid popular

Published 12:00 am Monday, March 23, 2009

The Extension Service’s Garden Tabloid has been one of the most asked-for publications this month. Evidently, there are more folks than usual wanting to grow a garden this season. Some have advised us that it may be due to the economic downturn or the trend to go green. I have even seen several articles lately on how growing a garden can stretch one’s food budget. That’s where I have to call a “time-out.”

Off and on through the week, I’ve tried to see what data exists to substantiate the fact that a person or a family could actually save money on groceries by growing a home vegetable garden. After all, even our Extension vegetable production specialist Dr. David Nagel has advised Master Gardener students about the many good reasons people grow vegetables. Some of the reasons, Nagel points out, are freshness or better taste of the produce, physical exercise or just plain enjoyment of watching things grow. I’m convinced that some of our local gardeners find it rewarding to share what they grow with their friends, family and neighbors. However, I have heard Nagel say many times vegetables produced in the home vegetable garden may not be less expensive than those purchased in a grocery store. 

Perhaps this is where some confusion comes in. Who counts what when tabulating the costs of the backyard garden? Most of the data I have seen lately includes the costs for seed, water, soil testing, compost and supplies. I have seldom seen data that includes any cost for labor. I will admit, too, that often the reported costs for supplies are vague. Would you believe some gardeners have actually gone to the trouble to weigh every pound of produce harvested in their garden and then multiplied those pounds by the retail prices to try and answer the question, “What is the garden worth?”

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I read where one fellow’s 1,600-square-foot garden netted him a little over 800 pounds of produce over a 6-month growing season. He was only figuring he had invested a few hundred dollars in the patch, but estimated the total value generated was over $2,400. Naturally, he felt he had a good return on his investment and he was not whining about the time spent over those 6 months tilling, weeding, watering or harvesting. 

I suppose once a person has made up his or her mind to grow a home vegetable garden — economically viable or not — the best we can do is to try and help him or her succeed. The Garden Tabloid is a great resource for improving the odds for a successful garden. The tabloid covers about every topic most gardeners need to know from the very beginning of the production cycle through harvest.

Garden Tabloids will be distributed Monday evening at the March Mondays program taught by Master Gardener volunteer Jim Brannon from 5:30 until 7 p.m. in the Extension office. Brannon’s presentation, Gardening for All Seasons, will focus on growing vegetables throughout the year. You vegetable gardeners need to try to attend this one.

John C. Coccaro is county Extension director. Write to him at 1100-C Grove St., Vicksburg, MS 39180 or call 601-636-5442. E-mail him at jcoccaro@ext.msstate.edu