Gardening is rewarding, but if you do not plan well you could spend more money than you would save from growing your own food. When we first decided to start growing our own food, I had a vision of fruits and vegetables everywhere in our yard. Then reality hit and I knew we could not afford the garden I desired immediately. We decided to expand a little each year to reach our end goal. We draft an expansion plan each year, but we were always flexible based on the available sales.
This year we want to grow more tomatoes. To achieve this goal, we have to purchase a few more raised beds to relocate a few vegetables to make room for more tomatoes. We love raised beds. Click here for more on why we love them. Before we make a purchase, we price check online and in local stores. Home Depot had the right price this time. They had some small 1.5' by 1.5' raised beds for $13.00 which were orignally $19.00. We wanted to buy two bigger beds, but it actually came out cheaper to buy four of these instead of two big ones we were orginally planning to buy; we still have the right amount of space. We circled some of the key reasons we like these particular raised bed and purchasing it cheaply was a bonus!
We want to eat safe and healthy food without going broke so we plan ahead.
For more on how to save money when gardening click here to read, "Can Vegetable Gardening Save You Money?"