This is it, I'm finished, I've had it!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is it! I've had it! Can you believe I just paid $2.00 for one potatoe! One potatoe! Prices have been going up and up, but this is rediculus. OK I do buy organic, yes I've been forking out $2.99 a bunch for lacinato kale and various other greens, but I draw the line at $2.00 for one lousy potatoe. Shoot I might as well feed my family caviar and truffles. I'm going to cover my backyar with raised beds and grow everything I can. I will not be sucked into the great machine. I will not barter my children's educational future and security for some CEO's bottom line so he can build one more Mac Mansion. Nope, homeowners association be, this spot of earth is going to feed my family.

$2.00 for one potatoe. How on earth do families on a normal income with several children make it. And those idiots say poor people feed their kids a bad diet. Well how can they feed them anything but McDonalds? I can see my mother rolling over in her grave.

Yehudith

I hope that potato was tasty.:)

I don't know, I'm afraid to cook it.

I can't imagine how young couples manage to feed their kids these days with the price of food.

Put in big pretty flower beds with lots of vegetables mixed in. Most people wouldn't even know the veggies were there.

Buying fresh vegetables is a very big portion of my family's food budget in the winter. And we just cannot afford the organic, grass-fed, fresh local meat at all, so we eat very little of what we do buy. It is cheaper to buy the shrink-wrapped processed foods laden with mega doses of sugar, salt, and other preservatives! So THAT is what poor folks eat, along with the mass majority of the US! It is also faster to cook those types of prepackaged meals, especially if you're a 2-income family, or single parent, and coming straight home from work to fix dinner for the family, asap!

msrobin is right, incorporate the veggies within the landscaping. Most are really pretty anyway!

This message was edited Feb 26, 2010 4:19 PM

Did you notice a few weeks ago when the government came out with it's market basket report and announced that grocery prices have gone down? You must be mistaken, surely they wouldn't lie to us.

I'm planting everything I can think of.

LOLOL

Oh Twiggy, I forgot to mention, this was not at the organic store, it was at the regular supermarket. My Grandmother had a saying " you're either going to give it to the grocer or the doctor." I've lived by that. Now that I have childeren even more so. We are far from poor, believe me, but with two private school tuitions (both our children are deaf) well, ok I do my own hair and manicures. I clean my own house. I made all my son's clothes and still make his sister's. But this has become rediculous! Good L-rd, you can't even give them a sardine sandwich for lunch without breaking the bank.

I remember when my mother finally left my wife beating father. We were desperately poor. Mummy didn't have American citizenship, but she figured if she survived the holocost she could survive this. She plowed up the yard and planted a garden. She fenced off part and we had pigs, chickens and sheep, and ducks. Oh lets not forget Nanny our goat. She kept us well fed.

If the home owners association comes after me I'll just tell them they're ornamentals. After all, eggplants, tomatoes and some of the beans were grown as ornamentals. I'll make sure they go in the front yard.

There was a report on the news last night. Check the amount of food you're getting in packages. The portions have decreased, while the prices remain the same, or, in some cases, have gone up.

So, we're actually paying more, for less...

And, I just cringe at the amount of perfectly good food going into dumpsters, because of an expiration date...so, so wasteful, and so, so sad...people could have food on their tables.

goodness that is too much
i paid 99 cents for a ten pound bag last month

Here's an article from a few years ago to put our food prices in perspective.
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/july192006/food_prices_71906.php
Imagine living in a poor country where feeding your family takes 40 or 50% of your income! The saddest part is that the people who actually grow the food receive very little of the money that you pay for it.

We seek out local sources for our meat and produce because we know the money is going directly to the farmers and the animals are well cared for and the veggies not sprayed with a lot of chemicals. Here's a place to search for local farms http://www.localharvest.org/

Yehudith, I think your grandmother was absolutely right! In the past 50 years the percent of household income going to food purchases has dropped by half while the percent going to medical expenses has tripled. Granted, law suits have driven the cost of medicine far beyond reason, but I think there is definitely a link between cheap food and being unhealthy.

Tuck a few leaf lettuce and spinach plants around your flower beds, I bet no one will even notice them.

On weekends I buy from the local farmer's market. Those folks put out a good product at a reasonable price. Perhaps hard in Maryland .. not too much harvesting going on this time of year. No standing in the snow to run a farm produce stand.

Have you all noticed that something is wrong with the veggies at the markets? Maybe the weather (??) I bought an acorn squash (2 actually) .... you know those things are hard... have to practically hack through them.... After two days on my counter... I put my thumb through both. I think they froze.

My buddie is a dietician .....she uses a lot of canned pumpkin. She can't find it anywhere!!! A friend found some and bought it for her 3 bucks a can!!

I'm going to try potatoes for the first time this year. I grew them once before and got a huge crop of Colorado potato beetles for the first time, and I still have a few of them hanging around. But I figured I'd try growing the potatoes on the deck by my studio, far from the garden, in half an oaken wine keg. We grow a lot of our vegetables and try to eat based on the season rather than what's available by truck or freight train from Florida. I don't know how much money I'm saving but I know my stuff is organic and besides, it's a healthy hobby!

Yehudith, you can probably hide a lot of veggies in back of Bright Lights Swiss chard and other greens. I mix flowers with my vegetables anyway.

Yehudith, when my kids were growing up we had banty chickens and a banty rooster, so we had really great fresh eggs. It was against the city zoning, but I told my neighbors they were exotic birds (wink, wink), which were allowed, and they never complained. I also gardened a little bit -- one memorable experience was when I traded 6 ears of my fresh-picked corn for a chocolate cake! (I couldn't bake worth a darn.) The back yard had been beautifully landscaped by the previous owner, but I planted corn anyway and it was super. I also planted 3 dwarf apple trees and 2 dwarf orange trees-- this was in California where anything would grow well. I didn't feed my family completely but what I did grow was a wonderful treat.

If I were you I would take your $2 potato, cut it into quarters, stick them in the ground, and by mid-summer you will have lots of super potatoes!

I now live 1.5 hours away from WalMart & Safeway, and have paid $1 for one orange that was rotten by the time I got it home, so I know how you feel. I keep remembering the huge orange, tangelo, grapefruit, and lemon trees I had in Scottsdale -- so much fruit I couldn't give it away fast enough. Last time I went by my old house, the new owners had not watered the trees EVER and they were dying and fruit was lying on the ground. Talk about wasting food. 8^(

If we think prices are high now, wait until the hyperinflation hits! Growing up, my grandfather, a chef had a victory garden until he was too stiff to work it. My dad, too, always grew a veggy garden, even though we didn't financial need it. Boy, would I gripe and complain when it was my turn to weed! Oh,the sorry folly of youth. My DH and I are putting one in out of necessity and yet I can't wait for the taste of a tomato and cucumbers fresh off the vine. Yummy.

Grammie what city were you in when the neighbors believed your rooster / and hens were exotic birds?? That is a hoot.

I noticed a sign for fresh eggs as I was heading to church the other day, chickens aren't supposed to be allowed around here. The sign was gone the next day. I'm hoping it is because they sold all the eggs, not from someone complaining. Maybe if I dye the feathers a lovely shade of pink I could have a few exotic pets, too?

I have a brother in law that struts around alot... I wonder if I can get a big old turkey for the property and tell everyone it is him.

now THAT is funny!

You wouldn't say that if he was YOUR brother in law! HA!

I have 7 B-I-Ls, I assure you that several could be mistaken for turkeys, and at least one large donkey.

and at least one large donkey. (snicker)

You guys are too much! Now I'll be trying to figure out what kind of animals my inlaws are. LOL

The city where I had the exotic birds was Los Altos, CA. One neighbor said he woke up with a start the first morning my rooster crowed, but after that he slept through it. The other neighbors all agreed that it gave them a nice feeling that they were in the country. They knew, but didn't tell. Nice folks.

You guys are cracking me up with the exotic birds. We can't have poultry here either. You made me recall a post on DG from a couple years ago when someone posted about tie dying her chickens. They looked really pretty and ready for Easter! Check it out...

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/643326/

Enjoy!

Jen

Yehudith, this is my first year growing veggies for real in my back yard, we have a beautiful organics market here in Mobile, I love just to go in to see the prices and laugh in the inside, I keep telling myself, $4 a buch of arugula, boy I am glad I am growing some, or how about mesclum lettuce, yes I grew some as well, or how about just plain lettuce. Since I have just started, I have been able to grow tons of different and interesting greens, and I know for a fact that at least I have been able to save $ on salads. I did buy some nice organic potatoes but did not eat them, I am actually planting them in my back yard to produce more potatoes, I am hoping to have a decent yield and save $ on potatoes as well when the time comes.

I love the idea of calling Bantams exotic birds, I will definetely do that when I get mine. By the way if you share your produce with your neighbors or even your exotic eggs, do you think that they are going to complain? Don't think so.

Has anyone ever figured out what gives you the most bang for the effort with regards to cost effectiveness? For those with a small space -- or -- when considering the cost of the veggie start and the fertilizer, etc etc. What vegetables definitely give a return for the space used/cost of growing? I am wondering about the potato -- although as Yehudith pointed out - it seems that price has gone nuts this year -- normally potatos have not been too costly. Do the potatos take up a lot of space for what you get from the harvest? I'd like to fence in a small space for a vegetable garden ---but it would need to be a really tall fence here because of the deer and I'd have to have a footing with some wire because of the rabbits and voles...so an investment for sure. I would like to grow not only things we love and want to eat but if I had to make a choice between veggies -- I would want to optimize the return. Save the less expensive for actual purchases. I was wondering of those of you who are experienced veggie garderners have figured this out yet? Advice?

missingroise, I am definetely not experienced at all but I have found 2 things already on my list that are very expensive in the stores and that you can definetely grow even in something as small as pots, one is mesclum mixes or different lettuces, and the other is herbs, I hate having to go to the store just to purchase a little tiny package of herbs like mint or oregano, or sage etc... for almost $4, very expensive if you ask me. I will be starting a herb garden soon, it does not take too much space and the rewards are better I think.

I also remember years ago growing some sweet peas in a container and having huge success, they also tend to be very expensive in the stores as well.

Thanks
I will research this before I make the decisions on what to grow. If I had experience with veggies it would be a whole lot easier. I think if the vegetable could be planted, grow, trimmed for the eating, and then continue growing (much like the herbs that you mention) the decisions would be easier. But I was thinking that if I plant lets say 3 of something... and I harvest three .... would I have more enough growing time to grow more? Would it be smarter to purchase the three.... and plant something that would just keep on giving. It is those vegetables that I am after. So do sweet peas keep producing or is it just one harvest? I assume that it is a vertical plant since in pots and to me that is one aspect that would make me lean towards the choice. (less space so I can plant many even if it is just the one harvest) I do agree about the herbs --outstanding what is charged. Every year I grow parsley and basil. The mint went nuts and I found I didn't use all that much. The oregano was pretty but again, I didn't use that much. Dill I love but so do the butterflies and the deer.

Remember that many plants can be put on a trellis to expand space. Cucumbers do great that way.

I know for example most of the greens I grew like lettuces, arugula etc... are called cut and come again which means that you get multiple harvest from the plants, mine after 4-5 months finally bolted so I had to pull them out, but for that period of time I did not have to buy lettuces for my salads and we tend to eat salads everyday, at lest twice a day.

The peas keep producing, the more you pick the more they produce but like a lot of veggies they are not an annual plant so after a few months they just stop producing, expecially when the weather gets warmer. I actually was able to find a pea that grows on containers and they are not the climbing type, I am trying them this year so I'll have to see whether they are worth it or not.

I am also growing strawberries, I bought the roots that walmart sales for about $3 a bag, it came with some roots and a few leaves, I planted those in a wine barrell, my DD love strawberries and they are just so expensive that I thought I should give it a try and see, so far they seem to be surviving but it will be a year or se before we can pick some.

Tomatoes give all season and they do well in containers. Cucumbers can be grown in hanging baskets. They also bear well and long. Okra is another long bearing veggie.

The Square Foot Gardening method is an excellent resource for small area gardening, even without the nice frames. There are so many vegetables that keep producing that can be grown on a trellis of some sort. There's also a lot of medium size vegetable plants that continuously produce. Smaller root crops can be grown in the areas under taller plants. Even lettuce and salad greens can be cut and will come back 2 or 3 times. Things like squashes and melons that take up a lot of room look really nice tucked into corners of the yard or under trees. I just read an article last night about potatoes being grown in straw or hay in plastic tubs or laundry baskets that can be set along a fence or building out of the way. A few larger pots with herbs or eggplant could line a sidewalk or patio.

The cost effectiveness depends on how much amending your soil needs, how handy you are and if you start with seeds instead of plants. You can find seed packs for 20-25 cents. IMHO, the more vegetables we have, the less meat and processed food we eat, so our grocery bill goes down considerably.

Plus if I can add something to the comments above me "IT IS ADDICTING". :)

If I don't get that fenced area built -- I may try planting in hanging baskets.. I can do off of the sunny side of the deck which is high enough off the ground to keep from the deer and the rabbits/voles. Just have to worry about the squirrels. Tonight on HGTV I saw these looong --I don't know pocket planting cloth things. Each one looked like a super long carpenters apron ---but about 10 feet long. Made from recycled plastic bottles (no rotting) --but it appeared to be flexible like a canvas cloth would be. This long ' pocket planter' was screwed onto cross pieces on a wooden structure (shaped like a ladder) but the two sides 10 feet apart. Basically two upright poles with several 'rungs' /cross pieces. These aprons were screwed into each cross piece. The structure ended up having 5 'aprons' about 10 feet long and about 20 inches high and so it was fairly tall. A verticle 'trellis' of horizontal planting pockets. Water drains from the pockets so no drowning, the roots stay cool, and as the water flows thru the bottom of each length of pockets and irrigates the apron underneath. A great system. It really looked very functional. I wonder what those pockets cost. The wooden structure was just standard treated lumber probably would need to be set into the ground like a deck support might be.

Thanks for all your help everyone. I will check out a book on square foot gardening. Also learned something - I always thought that you plant lettuces... it makes the head/plant. You cut it off and that is it. I didn't realize you could just give it a hair cut and it keeps going. Some great ideas here. I just have to figure how to protect it all without it costing too much. The deer are hungry little vegetarians.

If you have access to you tube you can see great gardening videos, gardengirl is one of the many nice ones where I have learned a lot, plus of course, here in Daves.

I was able to find the square foot gardening book at my local library you might want to check yours as well and see.

I will - thanks

Woolly Pockets are flexible, breathable, and modular gardening containers. They were created by two brothers – Rodney, a scientist, and Miguel, an artist. Perhaps that’s why they appeal to both creative types and smarty pants.

The art part:

Woolly Pockets will have you thinking about plants in a whole new way. Not quite a pot, more interesting than a window box, these planting “pockets” allow you to place one plant in just the right spot, create a planting “shelf”, or go wild and turn your interior or exterior walls into a living, breathing installation straight out of Where the Wild Things Are.

The science part:

Woolly Pockets are earth-friendly because they are made entirely from recycled plastic bottles.

The fabric pockets breathe. That keeps plants happy because it allows air to get to the soil through the walls of the container. When the roots sense air, they do something called “air pruning.” This is the natural process of stopping their own growth when they sense they’ve reached the limits of their space. Unlike plants in clay, metal, or plastic containers, which will keep growing roots in long circles, plants in woolly pockets never get root-bound.

More pluses: Woolly pockets are lightweight and fold flat, which makes them very easy to use, move, and store just about anywhere. They feature a moisture barrier that keeps water inside the pocket where it can nourish your plants – and away from your walls and furniture.

Let the wild rumpus start.

I garden in the square foot method - currently 108 sq ft. I maximize my space by growing up and planting intensively. Cut and come again things give you the most bang for your buck - herbs (very pricey in the stores), leaf lettuce, chard, beet greens, spinach... Also someone mentioned tomatoes - plant indeterminates and they will produce up until frost - nothing like a home grown 'mater! Also broccoli, especially one that is a good side shoot producer. I have been harvesting side shoots from 8 plants for over a month now. Lots to eat and lots to freeze.