I was listening to Larry Sagers this morning on the greenhouse show and he talked about a great point that I want add here for everyone’s benefit. He talked about the economics of home vegetable gardening when you have very little space. 

When you go to the grocery store and consider the prices of certain vegetables and then weigh that with how much you could produce in your home garden vs. the space it takes then you may reconsider what you plant in that precious space. 

For example, potatoes are about $5 for a sack and they can be purchased all year round. A potato plant will take a lot of space in the garden and only produce a certain amount of a vegetable that is relatively cheap. Conversely, tomatoes can be about $1 per pound or more in the store and not as good tasting. Whereas one tomato plant can produce 50lbs of tomatoes or more throughout the season and they are very delicious right out of the garden. 

Similarly, fruits and vegetables such as strawberries, colored bell peppers, artichokes, and leaf lettuce are good examples of cultivars that produce economically in the garden compared to what they sell for in the store. 

Now I don’t want you to choose your vegetables based solely on economics, but this principle is worth considering particularly when gardening in containers.

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