I rarely need to buy vegetables from the store thanks to my mom’s backyard’s abundant yields, but the other day, while grabbing Oreo cupcakes for a sweet craving, I stumbled into the fresh vegetable section, and I was stunned by the prices!
That one grocery store visit, combined with rising inflation, inspired this article. Here are 9 vegetables that are cheaper to grow than buy:
11. Lettuce
9. Mint
Mint is one of the most prolific herbs to grow in water. Its fresh scent and flavor make it perfect for teas, desserts, and even savory dishes. Cut a few sprigs of mint and place them in water. Mint grows rapidly in water and can easily be transferred to soil later if you wish to cultivate a larger plant. It also releases a lovely aroma, making it a refreshing addition to your kitchen or windowsill.
8. Spinach
Store-bought spinach bags can cost twice or even thrice as much as homegrown spinach. The leafy green produces abundant baby leaves in addition to mature leaves, meaning you’ll never quite run out of supply.
Another great thing about spinach is that, if you only trim the outer leaves of a spinach plant, the center keeps growing, allowing you to harvest fresh spinach multiple times within a span of several weeks.
7. Green Onions
Since green onions can be grown easily from leftover scraps or bulbs, you can quite literally have an endless supply of green onions from your garden. Once you realize this, those frequent grocery store runs to grab green onions to garnish your cooked dishes will seem pointless.
6. Herbs
Stores charge ridiculous prices for herbs like basil, parsley, oregano, and cilantro, whether dried or fresh. Growing them at home is a much more economical option and you can enjoy 100% fresh herbs that are snipped off the plant minutes before being added to any dish.
The best part is that even if you live in an apartament, like me, or have limited space, you can grow these in pots near a window!
5. Tomatoes
Aside from herbs, I see tomato prices jacked up ridiculously high in grocery stores. Due to this, homegrown tomatoes are much cheaper, especially varieties like Cherry and Heirloom. You’ll get larger yields, fresher produce, and it’s easily accessible.
4. Zucchini
Believe it or not, zucchini is an absolutely prolific producer that offers large yields for a fraction of store costs. For some reason, grocery stores have made zucchini a big deal and made it so expensive when it practically costs nothing to grow in the garden, given the conditions are right.
3. Cucumbers
One cucumber plant can produce dozens of cucumbers, making it drastically cheaper than purchasing individually. If you’ve ever bought cucumbers from a store, you’ll know the mind-boggling rates of individual pieces.
As long as you care for your cucumber plants right and provide them with a nutrient-dense base, one plant can give you more cucumbers than you can ever imagine purchasing at the store without reevaluating your financial health.
2. Radishes
They’re inexpensive to plant in the garden and grow relatively quick compared to some of the other vegetables on this list. Because of their fast growth, radishes yield a quick, continuous harvest at a fraction of the cost of store-bought ones.
1. Peppers
Both bell and chili peppers can be very expensive at stores, especially if fresh. Generally, you’ll find that anything fresh in the store sells for a lot more than what it would cost to grow at home. Peppers are no exception to this rule.
Growing your own peppers in the garden offers a plentiful and more affordable supply, especially considering yields will be larger since a single pepper plant can yield multiple fruits over a season.
In my view, growing peppers yourself is a lot more cost-effective if you go about it the right way and have access to a large enough garden area.
Conclusion
Even though I haven’t bought a lot of vegetables from the store in a few years, seeing such high prices made me greatly appreciate my mom and her home-growing fruits and vegetables.
The money we save, we invest towards acquiring more seeds and higher quality fertilizers to support better plant growth and have larger yields.
With inflation rising, I think everyone should indulge in a little gardening action at home. It doesn’t hurt to save a few bucks here and there, does it?
