{"id":11639,"date":"2020-04-20T04:56:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-19T18:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gardens.theownerbuildernetwork.co\/?p=11639"},"modified":"2025-10-30T21:14:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T11:14:00","slug":"5-cost-effective-crops-you-can-grow-in-your-backyard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/2020\/04\/20\/5-cost-effective-crops-you-can-grow-in-your-backyard\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Cost-Effective Crops You Can Grow in Your Backyard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Like many people these days, spending extra time at home may\nhave you thinking about tending to a garden. That is something past generations\nalways did in times of turmoil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In World War II, governments around the world encouraged\npeople to grow their own food to relieve shortages. They promoted gardening as\na family-friendly activity that provided exercise and stretched food budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Like
Like many people these days, spending extra time at home may have you thinking about tending to a garden. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cost-Effective Gardening<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Gardens provide extra vegetables, fruits, and herbs when\nstore shelves are empty or when you simply want to avoid supermarket crowds.\nWhen carefully planned, it could also help you reduce your spending\nsignificantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are growing vegetables to save money, or you simply want\nan additional source of food, here are some crops which could deliver real cost\nsavings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leafy Herbs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Fresh herbs like basil, parsley, and cilantro do not have an\nextended shelf-life. They also do not do well during transport. That\u2019s why\nthese leafy herbs are expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many herbs that you can grow to enhance your cooking and save on money. You can grow them in your kitchen garden, your patio, or in containers indoors<\/a>. In picking a place to grow your herbs, keep in mind that they need a good four to six hours of sun daily. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"There
There are many herbs that you can grow to enhance your cooking and save on money. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lettuce <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You may have noticed that the cost of lettuce has been\nrising over the past years. The reasons vary from outbreaks of disease to\nunfavorable weather. Both put a heavy strain on growing seasons even as they disturb\ndelicate ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given current trends, if you grow your own lettuce<\/a> from a package of seed, you\u2019ll recoup the cost within a few weeks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Given
Given current trends, if you grow your own lettuce from a package of seed, you\u2019ll recoup the cost within a few weeks. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Garlic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In many places around the world today, people are seeing a considerable increase in the price of garlic. That\u2019s because the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted supply chains in China. By some estimates, the country produces around 80 percent of the world\u2019s garlic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garlic is often grown over winter, allowing you to make good use of garden space. Be sure to keep weeds away from your beds. Garlic<\/a> does not like competition. Proper, well-timed harvesting and curing are key to producing bulbs with good keeping qualities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The pandemic has disrupted supply chains of garlic in China \u2013 which produces around 80 percent of the world\u2019s garlic. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tomatoes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The price of tomatoes varies wildly in different places around the world. That\u2019s because tomatoes are extremely sensitive to fluctuations in the weather. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too much sun can ruin the fruit while too much rain can drown the plants. They also require careful handling and packaging, which adds to the cost of production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indoors or outdoors, you need to devote a prime, sunny spot to growing tomatoes<\/a>. The plants need at least 6 to 8 hours of sun to bring out their best flavors. You will also need to stake, trellis, or cage most tomato plants to keep them off the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tomatoes
Tomatoes are extremely sensitive to fluctuations in the weather. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bell Peppers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The bell pepper market is in a bit of flux right now following\nseasonal weather events in a number of regions. Some of the red, orange, and\nyellow bell peppers you see in supermarkets are likely grown in greenhouses in Holland.\nThey can get quite pricey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bell peppers need warm soil and warm temperatures. The general rule<\/a> is to start plants indoors about 8 to 10 weeks before transplanting, which should be done 2-3 weeks after the expected last frost. The plants thrive in full sun and loamy, rich, well-draining soil with a pH near neutral. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The bell pepper market is in a bit of flux right now following seasonal weather events in a number of regions.
(Photo: Kham Tran\/Wikimedia Commons) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A Measure of Self-Sufficiency is Never a Bad Thing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are other crops that are cost-effective for backyard growers. Some of the examples we\u2019ve included on this short list may be difficult to grow in some regions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The examples listed here show what\u2019s worked best for us. They serve to emphasize that growing your own vegetables and herbs can reduce your expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But growing vegetables is more than about saving money, as Gregg Seaman of Earth Easy<\/em> points out. And we heartily agree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The panic buying that emptied grocery shelves recently is an\nobvious reminder that a bit of self-sufficiency is never a bad thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps even more important, growing your own food is\nhealthier for the family as the produce is fresh and grown without chemicals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are growing vegetables to save money, or you simply want an additional source of food, here are some crops which could deliver real cost savings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14961,"featured_media":11642,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Slash your grocery bills with these 5 easy backyard crops. Discover which vegetables deliver the biggest savings and grow practically anywhere.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sma_last_campaign_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,24],"tags":[81],"class_list":["post-11639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-herb-gardens","category-vegetables","tag-vegetable-gardening"],"modified_by":"Freddie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14961"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theownerbuildernetwork.co\/gardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}