🌱☀️ Garden Planning After a Pantry Challenge (Real-Life Cost Breakdown) ☀️🌱
Hey friends — I just watched Jessica from Three Rivers Homestead and this was a super practical reminder that self-sufficiency isn’t automatically cheaper… unless you actually run the numbers.
Here are the main takeaways I’m carrying into my own garden planning:
🥫➡️🌿 1) Start with your pantry, not your seed catalog
🍽️✅ What did you actually eat?
Before buying seeds, she reviews:
what they used a lot
what they wish they had more of
what they still have too much of
That’s smart gardening: grow what gets used.
🌶️ 2) Starting seeds indoors has “hidden costs”
💡🧺📦 Even if seeds feel cheap, the real costs add up:
seed-starting soil
seed packets (especially rare varieties)
electricity for grow lights
fertilizer / potting up later
risk of losing seedlings
📌 Her indoor pepper plants came out to ~$1.50 per plant minimum (and likely more after fertilizer).
🏪 3) Local greenhouse plants can be WAY cheaper than big box stores
🏬❌ Walmart / Tractor Supply often charge $3–$4 per plant
🌱✅ Her local greenhouse was around $0.18 per plant (and even cheaper late-season sales).
So sometimes buying starts is actually the frugal move.
❄️ 4) Winter sowing is the budget cheat code
🧊🌼 No grow lights. No electricity. Less soil.
She estimates ~$0.11 per start doing winter sowing.
✅ Best for cold-hardy stuff like:
greens
brassicas
herbs
flowers
⚠️ Not great (for her zone) for tomatoes/peppers.
🧠 5) The real message: frugality = choosing what makes sense
📊 Not “do everything yourself.”
It’s:
what saves money in your situation
what saves time
what reduces risk
what fits your space
And if you’re involving kids? That value isn’t just financial.
🌿 Final takeaway
✅ Do the math. Mix methods. Be intentional.
Indoor starts for rare varieties = worth it.
Greenhouse starts for common plants = often cheaper.
Winter sowing = the best low-cost option when it fits.
💬 Question for you: do you usually start seeds indoors, buy starts, or winter sow?