Which Is Cheaper: Buying Organic Vegetables Vs. Growing Your Own?

If you often reach for organic veggies at the store, you might be wondering if it's cheaper to buy them or just start your own garden. The typical American family spends about $475 each month on groceries and organic vegetables usually cost about 47% more than the non-organic ones. For instance, you could pay $2.50 to $4.50 for a pound of organic tomatoes, $2 to $3 for an organic cucumber per pound, and $2 to $5 for a head of organic lettuce. If your family eats around five pounds of organic veggies each week, you'd be shelling out approximately $1,690 to $3,250 per year just on veggies. So is it time to dust off those gardening gloves?

You'll need to invest in gardening tools, enrich the soil, prep your garden beds, and buy seeds or seedlings. The basics — like a rake, gloves, a watering can, spade, shovel, and trowel — might set you back anywhere from $29 for the CHRYZTAL Gardening Tool Set, to $135 for GIGBIRD's 3 Piece Tools Set (shovel, rake, and potting tools), sometimes even more. The cost of seeds varies by the type and quantity; a variety of seeds, including tomatoes, peas, and lettuce range from $2.95 to $6.95 per packet. All of this can add up, though the initial upfront investment generally pays off if you have the time to spare.

Growing your own veggies takes a lot of work and time. You have to plan where the plants go, put seeds in the ground, give them water, pull out weeds, and keep bugs away. Some plants need lots of water, and some don't need much. It all depends on what you grow and how big your garden is. Then, when it's time for harvest, you pick them and keep them fresh.

Buying vegetables from the store can be far more convenient, especially if you live close to one. It is beneficial to people with busy schedules. So, it's worth weighing the trade-off between the time and effort you'd invest in a garden to save money and eat fresh veggies, against the convenience of picking them up at the store. But buying from a store is not without its peril — you're subject to cost fluctuations and will generally be eating veggies that were grown hundreds or thousands of miles away, which adds significantly to the carbon footprint of your diet.

Another potential hiccup with growing veggies at home is that you can't grow everything all year. The weather changes, and sometimes that means your plants might not grow as expected or at all. All this will occur while you fight bugs or diseases that can ruin your crops. So, even after all your hard work in the garden, you might still find yourself heading to the store to buy veggies.

Besides growing what you eat, your garden gives back to the planet. When you plant your own food, you cut down on the need for trucks to transport veggies from "farm to table". This means less pollution. Also, you use less plastic packaging that you usually find on store-bought veggies, which can reduce waste. You can choose to make your own natural fertilizers and pest controls instead of relying on the "assurance" stapled on organic groceries. This way, you keep your garden and the planet cleaner. Your garden, your choice.

At the same time, relying only on your garden might mean you miss out on some veggies. Grocery stores have different kinds that might be hard to grow in your backyard because of the weather. They get these veggies from places with just the right weather for growing them. This way, you can have all sorts of veggies to eat all year long, even if it's really hot or really cold where you live.

In the end, your choice banks on money, time, and helping the environment. A garden costs some money and time at first, but it can save you money later and be a form of therapy as well as a great hobby. Buying veggies from the store is easier but can cost more over time. Whether you buy or grow depends on what you like and what's important to you.