For those of you that have been growing your own veggies and such for a while, how much do you think you save on your grocery bill with your garden?  I know this will be an estimate, but I'm just curious.

Last year, I didn't save much, if any!  Didn't have a good turnout due to a heat wave the killed everything.  I plan to be much more diligent this year and would like to actually see some savings and even reduce my grocery budget as we start relying on produce that's in the backyard.  I think I plan to reduce my grocery spending by $25 per week once the plants are producing . . . but that may be ambitious!!

Anyone have any guesses on their savings?  Or do you just do it for the fun and superior taste of what you grow?

 I have no idea but it would be a lot. Burpees Seed says tht $50 worth of seeds and supplies should grow at least $1200 of food. I would have to think about the amount that i saved

If you spent $6.00 on tomato plants and canned 24 quarts of tomatoes/whole or sauce. A quart of tomato sauce is at least $2 to $3 per quart.
Assuming that you had the jars or a freezer. You would have to count a small amount for utilities. That is a big saving on one veggie.Babs

 It depends on how much fresh produce you would otherwise buy, as well as how many cooked vegetables you would buy as well as how you garden. If you buy a lot of seeds and plants already started, buy some compost and some steer manure or chemical fertilizer and so on, you can get quite a bit of money in it. If you make your own compost, water carefully, save seed, start your own plants, you can garden for very little. 

For myself, one person, I estimate I save about $15 a week during the summer when I would otherwise buy vegetables and fruit and about five dollars a week during the winter when I eat canned or frozen produce more and buy some fresh.  At 25 weeks in the summer of fresh food, that's $375, plus $125 in the winter (vague estimate), that's $500 a year saved, eating a lot better quality food. 

we had a garden and I canned for 30+ years I think we saved alot never thought how much we but we sure enjoy it .

Those are pretty good numbers Pat!  I have seen the ads like what Babs has quoted.  I know I've never come close to that!

Mostly, I do it for the satisfaction of it-nothing like walking out to your garden and picking a tomato for your sandwich.  Or picking a melon ripe from the vine and eating it for breakfast.  Or picking tender baby squash for dinner.  There's an immense satisfaction to doing that!  And it tastes so good, especially when you grew it yourself!

We eat a lot of produce (vegetarians and fruit/veggie lovers here!).  I'd love to actually grow enough to can/preserve but so far, I haven't had a productive enough garden for that.  Hoping this is the year!  We've invested more this year-some garden soil/compost to build up our soil and some containters too.

I do a combo of seeds and plants.  Plants are definitely more expensive but I've had much better luck growing peppers and tomatoes (especially tomatoes) from plants than seed.  So I buy plants for those and seeds for most everything else (squash, melons, cucumbers, herbs, lettuce, etc).

This year, I want to make our investment produce more than just enjoyment . . . I really hope to see some savings in our grocery bills!  And I have tons of canning jars just waiting to be filled with homegrown salsa, pasta sauces, etc!  Fingers crossed . . .

jennylyn:

Mostly, I do it for the satisfaction of it-nothing like walking out to your garden and picking a tomato for your sandwich.  Or picking a melon ripe from the vine and eating it for breakfast.  Or picking tender baby squash for dinner.  There's an immense satisfaction to doing that!  And it tastes so good, especially when you grew it yourself!

There are definitely some "hidden" benefits to gardening. The produce is a lot fresher, it can be organic or not as you see fit, you're eating in season, which is suspected to have some health benefits, and you get some fresh air, sunshine and exercise. Not all of it can be measured by money. 

Here is how much you can save...we were just talking about heirloom tomatoes in another thread in the last couple of days...TODAY in our local grocery store there were heirloom brandywine tomatoes, the tomatoes not the plants. They were fresh off the vine, but not grown here. Here is how much you can save if you grow your own---> Brandywine tomatoes are $7.49 a POUND!!!!!! That equates to about $4.00 for a medium heirloom tomato. A tom plant can easily produce 40-50 tomatoes....

Newfs:

Brandywine tomatoes are $7.49 a POUND!!!!!!

Oh, my goodness!! I'm saving more money than I thought! LOL 

 Don't be surprised if you see most all produce and fruit sky-rocket this year in prices....the price of meat has made many people opt to get more fruit & veggies...more the demand, higher the prices in the stores......it's the ideal time to start a garden and SAVE a lot of money.....

Newfs:

Brandywine tomatoes are $7.49 a POUND!!!!!!