Auckland Homestead - Why To Grow Some of Your Own Vegetables

I've been a home gardener for about 10 years now. I can't say that I love it, but I appreciate what it does for me, enough to recommend other people try it. As a homesteader, growing some of my own food addresses both the cost of living and prepping for a civil defence disaster.    

Saying that, growing-your-own can be intimidating to start with and time-consuming to keep up - so this post is about 'why' rather than 'how'. To keep things direct and practical, this article is about my ongoing success with lettuce and spinach, and the lessons I've gotten from that. 

The topics I'll cover are

• Why I Grow Some of My Own Food
• What I'm Growing
• Savings Made
• Other Benefits
• Lessons Learned

Why I Grow My Own Food At All

Food is an unavoidable cost, which only seems to increase faster than the pay-cheque. I find that growing some of my own food increases my sense of security by

1. Saving me money now
2. Protecting me against food inflation
3. Reduces the impact of any future unemployment
4. Guaranteeing me a personal supply
5. Giving my a sense of control over at least something.

What I'm Growing

Currently, I grow approximately 24 plants, consisting of

• Popeye spinach (baby spinach)
• Green and red fancy lettuce
• Green and red cos lettuces 

I don't harvest the whole plant, just pick just enough leaves as needed.

The Savings Made

In eight months, I have saved about $121 or about a 300% return on investment. (Calculation below.)

The crop was originally planted mid-December ’22, and these figures are as at 18 August ’23. Period covered is 8 months x 4 weeks = 32 weeks.

Other Benefits

Besides the practical benefits, there are also intangible ones of  

• Quality - knowing what is in your food and where it comes from
• A sense of security that comes from having a stockpile and having it in my control
• Taste - it always taste better when you've made it yourself
• The satisfaction of providing for myself and others.

Lessons Learnt

This section could also be called 'Why lettuce and spinach?', but really each of the reasons below is also a lesson to consider for future crops.

1. Grow foods that you actually want to eat.
2. Grow nutrients, not just empty calories.
3. Starting with shop-bought seedlings is good enough.
4. Set things up for a relatively quick crop - weeks, not months. Planting a lot of seedlings means you can start harvesting quicker.
5. Ongoing rewards maintain motivation - by harvesting repeatedly, I'm always encouraged to keep looking after the crop.

Savings Calculation

For those who are interested, here is how I calculated the savings. 

a) If I Had Kept Buying

Previously, I was purchasing about one iceberg or two cos @ $ $5.00/ week (estimated average price). If I had kept buying, then that would have cost me 32 weeks x $5 per week  =  $160.00.

b) Cost of Growing My Own

The cost of growing my own was/is

Four punnets of seedlings @ $6 each   $36

A share of various fertilisers                $ 3

Other - water etc                                   0

Total                                                 $39

Other costs

• Soil and planter - existing
• Water – rained fairly constantly since January, so free
• Compost tea – home made from clippings and rainwater - free
• My own time to weed and ongoing feeding = 10 minutes /week

 c) Nett Savings: My savings are $160.00 - $39 = $121

Closing

Thanks for your time, and I hope you've found this useful.