QUINCY (WGEM) – To save money, planting a little green can save people some green. Gardening may require a little more work on the front end, but a person could reap the benefits in their wallet.
Swapping shopping carts for shovels and dirt, Angie Barnes, long-time John Wood Community College gardener and teacher, has grown her own food for more than 35 years.
“We grow everything from tomatoes and peppers,” Barnes said. “Onions and freeze them, I make pesto, pesto’s expensive if you buy it in a jar.”
Grocery prices are still on the rise as the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports vegetables experienced the highest price increase of 3.1% from March to April of this year.
Amidst the high prices, gardening can reduce some of the grocery bill.
“Think of the things that really make you mad at the grocery store that you really love and don’t want to pay that huge amount of money,” Barnes said.
Gardening gives shoppers the option to save money on produce, and Barnes said to look for the most expensive items to grow at home.
“The one thing I can think of is those little packs of fresh herbs. One sprig of herbs is like $3-$5. Plant those kinds of things that you really love that are expensive in the grocery store,” she explained.
Reaping food from the garden and saving money is a bonus, but to some like Barnes, it provides something more.
“Gardening is very therapeutic. I enjoy putting my love into my garden, growing it, and I love sharing it with others,” she said. “I always tell everyone if I ever win the lottery, I’m still going to make homemade things for people and give them away as gifts.”
Planting a garden successfully does not have to be complicated, as Barnes explained; gardening only has to take a few minutes. Barnes also explained that there is no right way to garden.
“You could ask somebody, ‘Well, how do you grow your tomatoes, how do you plant?’ And you’re gonna get many different suggestions on how to plant things; you have to figure out what works best for you,” she explained.
Barnes said people can learn a lot about gardening from social media. She recommends finding some pages to follow on Facebook to get ideas on how to get started.
Depending on how big the garden is and what someone wants to plant, a study from Michigan State University said a person could save $100 to $2000 a year on the grocery bill.
That does not include the initial start-up money one would spend to build a garden.
Copyright 2026 WGEM. All rights reserved.
Comments are closed.