Inflation Won’t Hit Your Home Vegetable Garden

We are in precarious times, not only here in the United States but in many places, or should I say most places, around the world. Debts and deficits, turmoil, bad weather, and political bickering is abound everywhere and nobody is immune. Unless, of course, you sit 24 hours a day in a closet, shielding yourself from the great outdoors, family, friends … you get the idea.

Same as many of you, we (my wife and two kids) go to the grocery store to stock the fridge and shelves. What we are noticing, as many of you have noticed as well is that “hidden” inflation.

Inflation right in front of your eyes is the easiest to spot. We have all seen that as well. You go to buy a gallon of milk that was $3.00 last week and this week it is $3.20. You get the idea. However, hidden inflation, may not be that obvious … at first.

I read a fascinating article called the “Oreo Cookie Inflation”. In this article, the author writes about how he previously purchased a package of Oreo cookies and it contained three rows of fifteen cookies each for a total of forty-five cookies. Fast forward to a few weeks after that and the same package of Oreo cookies that cost the same three dollars or so, now had three rows of thirteen cookies each for a total of thirty-nine cookies. Six less than what the author previously received.

That is hidden inflation. It’s paying the same price for a product that you perceive to be equal to what you received previously, when in fact, as is the case with this author’s story, six cookies less.

The veggies section of your local grocery store is no different. Even though many veggies do not come in packages (although some do), you can be hit with inflation. Whether it be the hidden variety or the price per pound increasing ever so slightly.

If you grow your own, though, you really are immune to the price increase. Your tomato, cucumber, pepper, and other plants will produce (varying natural factors a side i.e. insects, weather etc), regardless of the rising cost of fuel or political bantering.

A study conducted by the USDA claimed that one tomato plant can produce as much as $50 in tomatoes. Do you believe that number? I certainly do! Last year my neighbor picked more than fifty pounds of Roma tomatoes from two plants. That’s a lot of tomatoes. Other varieties such as grape or cherry produce in high volume as well.

While inflation may make that cost of your seed packet to rise a few pennies, or becomes victim to “hidden” inflation via receiving less seeds for the price you paid before, the cost per seed is still, literally hundredths of a cent per seed. If you can start your entire vegetable garden from seed, select varieties that are high volume producers, learn some canning techniques, you can literally shield yourself from the rising costs of veggies.

About the Author
Mike Podlesny is the author of Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the rest of us, the moderator for the largest vegetable gardening page on Facebook and creator of the monthly Seeds Club.

Watch the video below to learn more about Mike`s Seeds of the Month Club: