Cheaper Store brought or grown?

Sheripoms · #1 05/22/08, 06:57 PM

I just got to wondering. Is it cheaper to grow and can our own food. Or really for saving up 2 years worth of food shouldn't we just buy the food already canned for us at the store. Like say , I can buy Hunts tomatoe sauce on sale for 89 cents. Why shouldn't we just buy food stuff and store them instead of buying plants, growing and watering them, harvesting and canning them? I know , I enjoy gardening to but when it comes right down to the bottom line I think I could stock up on store brought much cheaper.
What do you think?

JGex · #2 05/22/08, 07:23 PM

I won't buy Hunts in particular because it's owned by ConAgra, but that's just me.

I can because I know exactly what goes on my plants while they are growing and what goes in the can when I'm canning.

Growing a good and productive garden takes a certain level of experience and skill. If you NEVER grow a garden in lieu of buying prepackaged food, and if you end up n a SHTF situation and you eat through your food storage, are you ready to learn how to garden when failure would be the worst outcome?

SquashNut · #3 05/22/08, 07:24 PM

I agree totally, but everyone needs to practice growing your own. Part of that is learning how to do it cheaper. Just in case the store becomes more expensive later.
In my small garden i would never be able to grow enough tomatoes to make sause. But I have learned that I can make salsa. Which is more expensive.
I accually have a fair stash of speggetti sause too.

Ohio Rusty · #4 05/22/08, 07:46 PM

Spaghetti is definitely cheaper bought than home grown. I've been planting spaghetti noodles in rows an inch wide and 2 and 1/2 acres long, and I've never gotten the stuff to take root. It might be a soil issue ......
Ohio Rusty ><>

stanb999 · #5 05/22/08, 07:48 PM

If you grow a large garden from seed. You till by hand. You fertilize with what you have (compost, manure, ect.) You store what you eat and eat what you store it can be quite cheap. For instance we spent about 50 bucks on seeds. For this I will get about 4 bushels of tomatoes, 6 bushels of summer squash, 100 pounds of cabbage, 5 gallons of pickling cucumbers, 1/2 bushel of onions, 1/2 bushel of kohlrabi, 1/2 bushel beets, a few bottle gourds and melons and finally 3-4 bushels of pumpkin.

The garden is about 40 X 80. I figure I get several hundred dollars in return.

**ladycat** · #6 05/22/08, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JGex

I won't buy Hunts in particular because it's owned by ConAgra, but that's just me.

LOL glad to see I'm not the only one.

moonwild · #7 05/22/08, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ohio Rusty

Spaghetti is definitely cheaper bought than home grown. I've been planting spaghetti noodles in rows an inch wide and 2 and 1/2 acres long, and I've never gotten the stuff to take root. It might be a soil issue ......
Ohio Rusty ><>

Your soil might be lacking in garlic !! Very common in Ohio I hear!

Spinner · #8 05/22/08, 08:54 PM

I just read a report that said in 2004 at least 7 out of 10 items in the grocery store was GMO food. They've had 4 years to increase those numbers. I'd guess that at least 90% of what's in stores is GMO junk. I don't want to eat it and I don't want to feed it to my family.

I was in town a couple days ago and for the first time in a long time I bought a burger & a small milk shake. After eating I felt sick the rest of the day. I'm sure it was because I'm not used to eating the stuff they put in processed foods today. I won't do that again!

If you figure in the damage commercially processed foods with their additives does to your health, it's much cheaper to grow your own.

Callieslamb · #9 05/22/08, 09:22 PM

If you only count the cost of the seeds, yes, it is cheaper to grow your own food. But....if you count the tiller, water, fencing, pressure canner, jars, lids, time, energy, etc, I have to wonder if it really is cheaper. I don't grow my own food to save money right now. It would be a losing proposition so far. Eventually, I will have all the fences built and the equipment bought, etc and maybe I will learn to save my own seeds But right now, I am in the RED. There is always something that the garden needs - like a new hose. That isn't cheap.

Now ask me about knowing what is in my food and ask me about freshness...... Then ask me about having a skill that will help my family survive if the worst happens....That is when we will start discussing the value of my garden. My chickens also don't pay for themselves but again, that is not why we have them so I haven't really tried to make them economical .....yet.

**ladycat** · #10 05/22/08, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spinner

I just read a report that said in 2004 at least 7 out of 10 items in the grocery store was GMO food. They've had 4 years to increase those numbers. I'd guess that at least 90% of what's in stores is GMO junk.

It's 80-something % now.

Farmerwilly2 · #11 05/22/08, 09:29 PM

I figure the bought food is under someone elses control. If it isn't there for you to buy what are you going to eat? Gardening is not easy at first. Soil needs to be worked, you need to be worked. I'd surely not wait till it was time to do for yourself to try and start learning. I reckon if you don't have a garden by all means stock up from the store so you have food in hand and at the same time get to turning some ground and get your garden going. Is it cheaper? I'd have to say no, or at least not for a while as there is a lot of overhead. Is it worth it? Most definately it's worth it.

JGex · #12 05/22/08, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladycat

LOL glad to see I'm not the only one.

lol, DH keeps telling me there are people out there who shop like me....

On a side note, the local store often puts the Hunts spaghetti sauces in the big can on sale at 10 for $10. I have actually put 10 in my buggy, walked through the store and before I could get to the check out, changed my mind and gone back to the aisle and put them back on the shelf.

The stocker on that aisle looked at me like I was crazy.

fretti · #13 05/22/08, 09:44 PM

It also uses fewer fossil fuels if you eat what you grow rather than purchase something that has been transported thousands of miles.

Sonshine · #14 05/22/08, 09:48 PM

If you use heirloom seeds, so you can keep seeds each year, and you water the garden from your well or using rain water, I think you come out cheaper growing your own and canning it. Of course, my Mom gave me my canner and the jars, so we didn't have to go into the expense of that. Although we did buy a few jars this year.

MoonShine · #15 05/23/08, 12:57 AM

The cost is going to vary greatly from person to person. I raise my own plants, except for the few here and there that I buy locally for 25 cents each. I use well and rain water to water, unless it's been severely dry, then I will run water from my aunt's city water line, but that doesn't cost anything extra since she doesn't use the monthly minimun of water(in other words, they owe her money back at the end of the year). I've never bought a jar, I have thousands that belonged to my Great Grandmother, Grandparents, Parents,etc. I wait to buy lids when I can get a great deal on them, like here on HT or on Ebay. It does take time and work, but I'm efficient at it because I was taught to do it from any early age. I can do it myself cheaper, but I know that everyone else can't. It's just going to depend on many things. One example for me, is peas. I can't can peas for cheaper than I can buy them because it takes so many to make a good canning. So, I buy them at Aldi's and that's cheaper. Another thought, though, is that the price isn't always the bottom line. I do like Aldi's peas, but I doubt I would like their corn or carrots, for example. Quality and taste also factor in.

You just have to find the best route for yourself.

Common Tator · #16 05/23/08, 02:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ohio Rusty

Spaghetti is definitely cheaper bought than home grown. I've been planting spaghetti noodles in rows an inch wide and 2 and 1/2 acres long, and I've never gotten the stuff to take root. It might be a soil issue ......
Ohio Rusty ><>

Try spaghetti squash next time!

stranger · #17 05/23/08, 05:33 AM

cheaper to stock up when on sale, we grow things to pickle like beets, cukes, other things to eat fresh and give to neighbors thru the summer like beans ,carrots,peas,tomatoes,scallions, beans,carrots,peas,tomatoes. parsnips that we leave in the ground and mulch. things may change fast though with the prices going up this yr.
we prefer the froozen veggies anyway and can fill the freezer pretty cheap in Aug.
we buy and can meat, potatoes when on sale.

Shinsan · #18 05/23/08, 06:08 AM

True, many things are cheaper to buy than to grow - now. But what will you do when the trucks stop rolling, or gas is too expensive to go to town? If you've got no experience in vegetable gardening, you aren't suddenly going to sprout green thumbs and be able to provide for yourself in a hurry.

Most of my prepping is concentrated on those items that I find difficult or impossible to grow, plus a certain amount of those that I can grow, to cover situations like drought, flood, pestilence, etc.

Txsteader · #19 05/23/08, 07:19 AM

It cheaper to buy if you don't count the cost of your own labor to grow your own, because most of us wouldn't pay ourselves what immigrant farm labor is paid.

But as others have said & to which I agree, knowing what, where & how your food is grown is priceless....especially these days.

NEOhioSmiths · #20 05/23/08, 08:05 AM

I think you need to make sure you're comparing apples to apples. Most folks on this site growing their own are doing it organically. If you compare cost of buying organic, non-GMO in the store and don't include the cost of your own time, then it's definetly cheaper to grow yourself. That's purely numbers. Sounds like the credit card commercial, but to me the worth of knowing you did it yourself and you are teaching your kids (if you have kids) something in the process is priceless. It's so relaxing to work out in the garden and it's so satifying to see food put up that you grew yourself as well as eat and enjoy foods in a more seasonal fashion than most Americans do - would not trade for anything.