this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

Once upon a time, The Tall One got bored while I was at work and decided to remove some rocks outside of our apartment (with permission, of course) and start a garden.  He planted lots of tomato and squash plants, and we harvested enough for our immediate use - many of the plants died due to viscious garden pests, and the lack of pollinating insects meant not too many zucchini and yellow squash.

Soon after that we moved to Pennsylvania, where gardening is a whole different story.  The soil was incredibly fertile (much more than we were used to) and all we needed to do was plant. One tomato plant would yield enough for us and then some (so you can only imagine the harvest when we planted, um, more than that).  One bag of green bean seeds would feed us for the time being and with plenty left over to freeze.  You get the idea.  Gardening there truly was a money saving venture.


Now it's a different story.  We live in an area where the soil is more like dirt and it's very difficult to get anything to grow.  So we spend an awful lot of money on fertilizer and peat moss and whatnot.  We compost a bit too, but our garden area is so large that more is needed. Having the garden saves us no money and instead costs quite a bit. But does that mean it's a waste?  Of course not. The Tall One loves gardening and it's so much fun (and healthy!) to grow some of our own food. Gardening doesn't have to save money in order to be "profitable" because our family benefits in many ways even if our bank account doesn't.


In times where many are looking to save a buck, gardening can help out, but it's important to keep in mind any extra expenses that may occur. Don't be mislead by the fact that a packet of seeds is so inexpensive because there may be other costs involved.