If you have been to the grocery store lately, you may have noticed the price of vegetables. I have done some research, and I now realize how much money can be saved just by planting a few of your own vegetables.

The initial investment is pennies compared to the savings. You also have the satisfaction of having fresh produce that you grew yourself.

I visited a garden center and priced five garden pots and the soil to fill them, which was roughly $110. Then I picked five, bush style, or determinate plants. This type of plant will only grow to a certain height and should not need any extra support. I grabbed four green beans, four cucumbers, two tomatoes, four peppers, and four broccoli, figuring that each plant would cost around $2.00; my total for the plants is approximately $36. My investment at this point would be about $145.00. I went to a grocery store to investigate the products’ prices that I would be growing, and the difference was clear.

A one-pound bag of green beans (about 40 beans) was $2.99. The green beans I planted (Blue Lake Bush Beans) can possibly yield 6 pounds per plant. I planted four plants in one of my containers, which should provide me with about 24 pounds of green beans.

Cucumbers were .79¢ each. My cucumbers (Bush Champion) are expected to yield 15 cucumbers per plant. I planted four plants, which should provide me with around 60 cucumbers.

Next are tomatoes. At the store, they were $3.49 a 4pk (.87¢ per tomato). I planted two Better Bush Tomatoes, which are expected to yield around 12 tomatoes per plant.

Peppers were priced at $5.00 for a 3pk ($1.66 each). I planted four green bell pepper plants. Each is expected to provide seven peppers totaling 28 peppers.

The last would-be broccoli, priced at $2.00 per pound, I chose to plant 4 Belstar Broccoli plants, which should give me around three pounds per plant, 12 pounds total.

I added up my total expected produce, which came to around $200 and was surprised that if I purchased the same number of vegetables that I planned to grow, I would expect to spend around $209.80.

To help with the pricing and expected yield, I visited Bonniesplants.com and harvesttotable.com. Some of the yield numbers might seem low or high, but when a plant has a great growing environment, the yield numbers can be true.

What makes the perfect environment would be the amount of sunlight, soil temperature, moisture in the soil, and fertilizer. As you may remember, I estimated the cost of the garden pots and soil to be $148.40. My estimated saving by growing my own vegetables would be $60.00, and this is with only four garden pots. Now that I have made my initial investment into the pots, next year’s savings could be greater.

Get your family, friends, and neighbors involved! Once you see what it actually takes to grow your own food, you will be amazed at the taste of fresh fruits and vegetables from your own garden.