How to save money by growing your own food
WESTBURY, New York (WABC) -- It's a big debate among home gardeners, sometimes even a running joke. Can money really be saved by growing your own food, especially as produce prices keep rising?
The answer is yes, if you have the time and patience.
"All my companion plants are edible," Mindy Ciron said, walking through her backyard garden.
For Ciron, home gardening is a "waste not, want not" mentality that many people wish they could adopt. But for her, it's a way of life.
"Do you see anything good in here?" she asked, surveying her garden beds.
Ciron says the richness of healthy soil can translate into hundreds of dollars saved in the produce aisle, if you know the tricks.
"And especially with prices going up the way they are now, absolutely," Ciron said. "I grew 200 pounds of tomatoes in this little garden last year."
Photos from her garden tell the story of those savings, especially when compared with grocery store prices. At Whole Foods, organic heirloom tomatoes currently cost more than $5 a pound.
"I think where people get messed up is the initial investment," Ciron said. "They go a little bit too big or they don't know what they're doing."
Ciron uses mostly small buckets and containers that have lasted for the past five years. She researches edible companion plants to ward off pests like hornworms, freezes and cans food for the off season, and teaches her kids how to save seeds.
"Seed saving is probably my number one tip," she said. "We all love those big books of seed packets every year, and you can spend $200 to $400 on seeds."
Still, she admits gardening takes time and patience, something not everyone has.
"I'll be honest," Eyewitness News reporter Stacey Sager said. "I love gardening from my head, tomatoes. But let's face it, I'm not saving any money like Mindy is doing all of this, and some of us fear we never will."
So, for those with little time or experience, Eyewitness News turned to Felix Cutrone at Hicks Nurseries in Westbury.
"I think every homeowner should be growing something," Cutrone said.
Even one tomato plant, he notes, can yield up to 20 tomatoes.
"Get a five-gallon bucket, drill a hole in it, get good soil, put a plant in it, and there you go," Cutrone said.
What's indisputable is that success at home often tastes sweeter than costly store-bought produce.
Asked whether he cringes while walking through grocery stores, Cutrone laughed. "Oh yeah. My palms sweat."
And beyond the savings, there are lessons that go far deeper.
"This is a calendula seed," Ciron's son said, holding it carefully.
Those lessons, gardeners say, are priceless.
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