It’s certainly not free (not that that is the point) but if you’re spending $5 on a pepper you either are a bad gardener or don’t know how to amortize the cost of reusable supplies over many peppers. Or both.
price of soil = compost + dirt = free….
or a few bucks for pre made soil….
price of water?
what tools?
use an old milk jug with holes poked in the top for a watering….
a hand trowel is like 50 cent at a thrift shop… and could be substituted with a good stick….
a pot to hold the plant is free… or you could make a gardening box with a couple planks of wood….
…
i’ve grabbed live but sick tomatoes plants from the trash at a gardening store, came with soil and a pot… i just added water and had the best tomatoes of my life….
2/ 8 plants died quickly and i planted herbs in those pots…. made pizza….
cost about $1.00 in tap water total… (tap water should sit in an open container a while before using to neutralize the chlorine).
spent a few minutes watering it every once in a while….
During covid lockdown, I discovered I really only have to go to the grocery store once every 1-2 months for all products except fresh produce, which require weekly trips. Once I started my own garden I got a lot of time savings back by cutting out >75% of my grocery trips, and I found myself using fresh herbs much more often as they are always available just outside my kitchen for last-minute additions to recipes (vs having to plan ahead and buy those expensive little packets at the store). I also started eating a lot more leafy greens; I’d stopped buying them because I was tired of constantly throwing them away after they went bad in the fridge after a few days, whereas they stay fresh on the plant for weeks or months.
So actually, I grow a garden because of the time savings. Well that and because it’s fun to play in the dirt, not to mention it’s a great non-sedentary hobby that gets me outside more often. Plus practicing food self-sufficiency is a useful skill to have. And since I garden in my front yard it’s an excellent ice breaker for getting to know neighbors and other folks in the neighborhood. Basically there are a bunch of reasons to garden beyond the food you harvest!
That’s only if you dislike gardening. If you like it, you gain happiness from it (the opposite of a job). Once you have everything set up it’s not that much time and money. It’s like anything else, you get used to it and can eventually spend maybe 10 minutes per day watering (less if it rains).
Also, the food you get will taste much better because it’s picked when it’s ripe. Most vegetables in a grocery store are picked too early.
Yes, garden, then you can spend $5 on a pepper once you’ve factored in cost of all the supplies
It’s certainly not free (not that that is the point) but if you’re spending $5 on a pepper you either are a bad gardener or don’t know how to amortize the cost of reusable supplies over many peppers. Or both.
price of soil = compost + dirt = free….
or a few bucks for pre made soil….
price of water?
what tools?
use an old milk jug with holes poked in the top for a watering….
a hand trowel is like 50 cent at a thrift shop… and could be substituted with a good stick….
a pot to hold the plant is free… or you could make a gardening box with a couple planks of wood….
…
i’ve grabbed live but sick tomatoes plants from the trash at a gardening store, came with soil and a pot… i just added water and had the best tomatoes of my life….
2/ 8 plants died quickly and i planted herbs in those pots…. made pizza….
cost about $1.00 in tap water total… (tap water should sit in an open container a while before using to neutralize the chlorine).
spent a few minutes watering it every once in a while….
check your math, bruh
Don’t forget to price out your time and labor.
During covid lockdown, I discovered I really only have to go to the grocery store once every 1-2 months for all products except fresh produce, which require weekly trips. Once I started my own garden I got a lot of time savings back by cutting out >75% of my grocery trips, and I found myself using fresh herbs much more often as they are always available just outside my kitchen for last-minute additions to recipes (vs having to plan ahead and buy those expensive little packets at the store). I also started eating a lot more leafy greens; I’d stopped buying them because I was tired of constantly throwing them away after they went bad in the fridge after a few days, whereas they stay fresh on the plant for weeks or months.
So actually, I grow a garden because of the time savings. Well that and because it’s fun to play in the dirt, not to mention it’s a great non-sedentary hobby that gets me outside more often. Plus practicing food self-sufficiency is a useful skill to have. And since I garden in my front yard it’s an excellent ice breaker for getting to know neighbors and other folks in the neighborhood. Basically there are a bunch of reasons to garden beyond the food you harvest!
That’s only if you dislike gardening. If you like it, you gain happiness from it (the opposite of a job). Once you have everything set up it’s not that much time and money. It’s like anything else, you get used to it and can eventually spend maybe 10 minutes per day watering (less if it rains).
Also, the food you get will taste much better because it’s picked when it’s ripe. Most vegetables in a grocery store are picked too early.