More ways to cut your grocery bill!

Ok.. the response to my post last week on super-producing garden crops that can cut your grocery bill has been immense.. I've gotten a lot of great e-mails and there were also some fantastic comments left on that post - great suggestions everyone, thanks!! So, I thought that perhaps, I should touch on a few easy-to-grow veggies that are inexpensive to cultivate, but pricey to buy at the supermarket! A similar topic and one that doesn't just talk about super-producers, but focuses on the expensive or gourmet crops.

The previous post covered salad greens (my top pick for saving $$$), carrots and pole beans. I won't repeat these, but do want to mention that salad greens really are the best way to save money in a backyard veggie garden - assuming that you like to eat a lot of salads! Gourmet greens like arugula and mache are super expensive at the grocery store, but a single seed pack will usually cover a good sized garden bed and provide months of salads. Just remember to keep succession planting for the longest and best quality harvest.

Here are a few other gourmet veggies that come to mind. Please feel free to comment with your own ideas!!

The amazing alliums (onions, scallions, shallots and leeks) - These crops are very accommodating in the garden. They don't take up much space and are very easy to grow. We're still eating our onions and shallots from the our harvest last September and the garden still has a few leeks hanging on in the frames and tunnels. We pulled the last of the scallions in late February - a mid-winter treat! Gourmet veggies like shallots and leeks are extremely expensive in the supermarket, but a no-brainer to grow.

Filet beans - As my kids would say, OMG! I saw a tiny packet of green filet beans (aka 'French filet beans') in the grocery store for $10! Yikes! Plus, it was last August.. prime picking season for these tender beans. Why on earth would anyone pay that kind of money for a handful of gourmet beans.. As I mentioned in my related post, pole beans are super-producers, but filet beans - pole or bush - are easily grown and offer a large harvest for minimal cost. The key to a bumper crop is to keep picking - every day for these super slender beans. As with snap beans, I like pole varieties to save space and increase my yield, so choose filet varieties like 'French Gold', 'Emerite' or 'Fortex'. $10!! I just can't get over that price! (In the photo, you can see an ultra-slender 'Maxibel' filet bush bean next to a slightly-overgrown 'Fortex' pole filet bean next to a regular yellow bean)

Celery and celeriac - Celery is public enemy #1 if grown 'conventionally' - a crop that is sky high in pesticide residues. Scary! (On a related note - why do we call these 'conventionally' grown crops.. wouldn't organic growing be more traditional and conventional??) Anyhoo, if we need to buy celery in the grocery store, we only buy organic celery and pay $3.99 for a small celery heart. I like to use the flavour of celery in soups, stews, sauces and a million other dishes, so, my goal is year round celery.. that's where celeriac comes in. We have garden celery from late June (baby stalks) until mid-December (mulched in the garden).. then, we begin to harvest our well-mulched celeriac roots for winter use.. they're very interchangeable in most cooked dishes and you don't need to pay big money for organic celery. Just remember that celery and celeriac LOVE moisture during the growing season.. plus heaping amounts of organic matter..

Heirloom Tomatoes - In my region, heirloom tomatoes have been very difficult to find at the supermarket - even the farmer's market! If you did luck upon some, they would be sky-high in terms of cost!! Yet, they are so easy to grow. We grow a wide variety in every colour and then we freeze them for winter in the deep freeze. They're great on a mid-winter pizza or baked into a rich sauce (with some frozen basil).. so good!

Asparagus - Spring is just 4 days away and I've got asparagus on the brain. To grow asparagus, you need to be a patient gardener.. easier said than done! I would recommend planting 1 year old crowns (locally grown if you can find them!!) and then waiting 2 more years before you harvest anything. After that, you can enjoy a gourmet crop of tender asparagus for up to 6 weeks each spring.. so good!

Well, that's all for now.. I'd love to hear your thoughts..

Happy Gardening!