Our cat Huddle enjoying the inside garden
We've seen a huge rise in inflation over the past year. This has hit food especially hard. It's currently at a 10 year high and likely to grow more.
Consequently, many of us are looking at ways to spend less on food as we stretch our budgets to impossible levels.
I am not an
amazing gardener. I killed almost everything I tried to grow until I
was almost 30. While I grew up on a farm amongst a family of green thumbs, I was blessed with brown. Today my garden is a haphazard mess. It is seldom weeded
and often dug up by chickens, cats and other critters. Nevertheless, we do manage to eat fresh from our garden and indoor plants all year
round. What I've learned over time is that you don't need a lot of space, time, money or skill to grow some things. That whether you live in an apartment, flat with others, rent or own your own home, growing food is possible. And all things fresh and free are good. Especially now. So here are a few of my
favourite, simple things to grow for the non-gardeners wanting to save a few dollars at the check-out.
1. Spring Onions
Did you know you can just cut the ends off these, put them in dirt and they will grow? Since learning this these have become a garden staple. When I need spring onions I just snip off some of the leaves and let the plant keep on growing. When they do get a little old and huge over time, I just buy some more when I'm next planning a meal that uses them and put the ends into the garden. They're extremely low maintenance, basically grow themselves and most pests aren't interested in them. You can grow them in a pot or in the garden. I buy these only once or twice a year but eat them fresh year round. Spring onions are high in fibre which aids digestion. They also have antibacterial and antiviral properties to help keep you healthy!
This isn't a huge saving, but if you buy spring onions even once a month, this will save you about $15.50 over a year
One of my 'failed' garlic crops. So exciting
to learn I could just use the greens!
I have tried and failed many a time to grow garlic for the bulbs. I eagerly await their harvest and instead find just a few teeny bulbs which are hard to peel. This is likely due to my total lack of spending time in the garden. But rather than giving up, I've just changed tact. Now I use their leaves. Garlic leaves do not taste as strong as the bulbs, but are a really lovely addition to stir fries, soups and pasta dishes. Like spring onions you can just snip them and leave the bulbs growing in the garden, and you can grow in the garden or in a pot. If you have never planted garlic before, all you do is plant one of the cloves pointy side up and wait for it to sprout - it's that simple. While you are supposed to plant garlic in Winter if planting for the greens, just plant them whenever you like. Garlic leaves contain all the same nutritional values as the bulbs - it boosts your immune system, aids your heart health and works as an anti-inflammatory. And they're lower in fructose than the bulbs, so easier to digest - perfect for someone on FODMAPS or a low inflammation diet.
Might not save you anything BUT adds nutrition and flavour to your meals at no cost.
3. Ginger
Fresh ginger is the root of the ginger plant. But, like garlic, you can also eat the leaves. Whilst still gingery and peppery, the leaves are milder in taste than the root and are good in stir fries and salads. Like garlic, I grow ginger for the leaves as can just leave it in the garden and let it grow. I find this actually grows better in pots (although that's partly because my chickens like to dig it up). You can just take a section of ginger root with a knobbly part and plant it with the knobbly bit toward the top. It usually sprouts within a week. Ginger is great for your immunity and managing digestive health.
Again, this may not save you anything, but it costs you nothing (if you already buy root ginger) and adds flavour to your meals for nothing.
My parsley has been growing since before
my eldest was born! This is her as a baby
picking it fresh from the garden.
Parsley is probably my most used herb because it's so versatile. I use it in a range of meals - in soups, in pasta, in salads, for garlic bread. I even use it as a substitute for coriander (cos my partner doesn't like fresh coriander) in curries to add that freshness coriander lends. It adds a nice lift to meals. You can grow it in pots or in the ground - this is the same for most herbs. Just growing one of your favourite herbs means you don't have to buy it and it adds some freshness to your meals - even if you can't afford to buy much fresh veg. Parsley is high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Vitamin K (which helps with blood clotting). If parsley is not for you, mint and rosemary are also very versatile and easy to grow.
If you use a lot of your favourite herb - just growing it yourself will save you between $12 to $36 per year AND will make your meals taste so much yummier! Add more herbs to your garden and increase savings while adding flavour! I'm a huge fan of fresh basil, oregano and thyme. Basil can be fussy outside so I grow it year round in pots indoors. I have a selection of herbs growing on my kitchen windowsill so it's easy to add them to meals as I'm making them.
5. Silverbeet
If you use a lot of salad greens, this is where the money's at. Growing your own greens can save you $4.50 - $13.50 per week. That's at least $234 per year!
6. Courgettes
These are probably the hardest thing to grow on my list - but they're still easy to grow. These do grow best in the garden although I'm sure you could grow them in a large pot with good drainage if you wanted to. You can grow them almost all year round (besides Winter) and you can freeze them so you can use them year round. Courgettes are high in fibre, potassium and vitamin C, as well as vitamin A. Courgettes do not have a particularly strong flavour so are a versatile 'filler' fruit (yep, they are a fruit - same family as cucumber and melons) in meals. I use it in everything from salads to curries to bolognaise. If left growing a little too long, they develop into marrows which are delicious stuffed!
If you usually use a couple of courgettes a week, growing them yourself can save you $80 plus per year.
7. Limes or other small citrus trees
Having fruit trees is not limited to home owners or people in long term rentals. Believe it or not you can actually grow some citrus trees in pots. Citrus fruits are high in fibre, vitamin C and anti-inflammatory flavonoids. Plus they add a zesty lift to any meal. They can be used for sweet or savoury dishes and are a fabulous addition to most drinks. You can freeze the juice, or even freeze lemons or limes whole if you're using them for the zest.
We use a lot of lemons at home - especially in Winter - so I know they can be expensive! When they're not in season, lemons are about $10 a kg - that's almost $2 per lemon. And that's nothing on limes. Just two years ago, limes were seen reaching prices of up to $75.99 per kilo. If you can afford to get a small tree, when it starts fruiting, you'll get your money back many times over.
At the moment it's almost peak lemon season and they cost almost a dollar each. It costs about $30 for a small citrus tree. If you go through 2 lemons a week, you'll save about $100 in a year so it's well worth the investment.
8. Something that you love
This is just if you have time and energy to spare giving something a go. I love chillies. Consequently, I grow them. My first chillies came from plants given to me by my brother, and others grown from seeds harvested from supermarket chillies. Because I grown them indoors I do regularly 'feed' them with seaweed or seaweed based fertiliser. I am very lucky to have a big bay window, so grow them inside where they're only just beginning to slow down with fruiting now (just a few weeks away from Winter). From this seasons harvest I have enough chillies to last me at least a year* along with having gifted many to friends. Chillies are a food that I love. Growing them not only saves me money, but adds excitement and flavour to many of the dishes cooked often in our home, from curries, to pasta to soups. They add a freshness and boost to almost everything.
But chillies are my thing. For some folk I know it's tomatoes. They invest time and energy over Summer growing hundreds of Sweet 100s or Beefsteaks or Moonglows. They eat them with gusto and turn the excess into sauce or pickles to store for use over Winter. Maybe you like lettuce. A $2 pack of seeds, some potting mix and a few small pots could see you eating it for almost free year-round if you have a little space on a sunny windowsill somewhere. Choose something simple you love and grow it yourself. Not only will you save money and add flavour to meals, but you get to literally bring something you love into this world. And then you can eat it.
* I've frozen some and dried some. There are lots of different ways of storing food.
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