Garden With Ernest

What are the best vegetables to grow cheaply? Food prices are rising, and according to The Guardian, there is a “food price crisis”. But there are lots of affordable ways to grow your own vegetables.

Plants that keep on giving

Begin by being thrifty and eat all the plant. For many common garden vegetables are entirely edible.

Here are some examples of the best “eat all veg” that are cheap to grow.

Radish

 

Runner bean

The runner bean is a tender perennial plant. Therefore, it is possible to over winter it in mild climates. A thick layer of mulch protects them from the cold.

All parts of the runner bean plant are edible, including the roots. Dried runner beans can be used in cooking. Do not eat dried beans raw.

Furthermore you can grow the bean seeds in spring and have more free plants.

Carrots

 All parts of the carrot plant can be eaten, raw or cooked. Carrots are biennial plants, they flower in their second year. Carrot seeds can be eaten raw, fried or as microgreens. 

Onions

Additionally, the perennial onion plant stays in the ground all year, much like a chive. It is hardy and easy to propagate. Free food once you have the plant.

Beetroot

Use beetroot leaves and stalks in the same way that you would use spinach or chard, they are relatives. And again, let one plant go to seed, you will then have hundreds of seeds to grow as microgreens, so you can have cheap vegetables all year.

Turnip

You can eat a turnip’s crispy root as well as its leafy greens. Similar to beets, turnip greens are far higher in vitamins and minerals than the root.

Edible from the roots up

And a few more low cost veg that are entirely edible, and easy to grow. However, I would not recommend eating the roots of these. 

• Pumpkin and squash, flower, seeds, fruits and leaves are all edible.
• Kale, you can eat the young flower shoots like purple sprouting broccoli.
• Leaf lettuce, the flowering stem can be pealed and eaten, it tastes like chicory.
• Cucumber, the flowers and baby fruits are delicious.
• Peas, use the leaves, pods, flowers, seeds fresh, dried or sprouted.
• Celery, use the leaves like parsley the seeds make great seasoning, and micro greens.

So, some of the the best vegetables to grow cheaply are plants that we already know and grow. By using all of the edible parts of a plant you save money. We often waste the leaves that are full of nutrients.

The secret is in the seed

Ernest’s tip: “Saved seeds may not breed true. This means they might not be exact copies of the parent plant.”

Growing perennial veg can also save you money. Most perennials come up year after year, so edible perennials are good investments. But they do require time and space to grow.

Perennial plants are a good choice for a polyculture garden in a “No Dig” system.

So what are the best perennial veg to cultivate?

• Artichoke
• Jerusalem artichoke
• Rhubarb
• Perennial onions
• Herbs
• Asparagus
• Sorrel
• Strawberries
• Perennial kale (tree collards)

Growing food from your grocery basket.

Some shop brought veg can grow and produce a crop of economical edibles. This a thrifty way to grow some bargain veg at home.

A good example of fruit and veg to grow from grocery basket would be:

Strawberries, chilli peppers, sweet peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins and squashes. Collected the seeds and dry them on tissue paper. Keep them in a cool dry place until you are ready to plant them.

Garlic is easy to grow, cloves can be planted directly into soil, in a sunny spot.

Onions will grow if you plant them. An onion is a biennial plant, this means it will normally flower in it’s second year. Let it flower and collect the seeds, for later use.

Tubers and Rhizomes, such as old potatoes, sweet potatoes, pieces of ginger and turmeric. All these can grow and make new plants.

And I have been saving the best to for last.

What are the best vegetables to grow cheaply?

Free garden weeds that you can eat include:

Dandelion, chickweed, plantain, purslane, sorrel, stinging nettles, lamb’s quarters, clover, hairy bittercress, garlic mustard, wild garlic, mallow, yarrow, burdock, cleavers, ground elder, the dreaded Japanese knotweed, and my favourite, oxalis, are all edible.

Self-seeders, and escapees from the veg patch.

Lots of vegetables will flower and go to seed if you let them, giving you countless free plants. So here are a few of the best vegetables that want to run free in your garden.

Chicory, leaf lettuce, mustard greens, purple lamb’s quarters, kale, parsley, nasturtiums, celery, radish, cilantro, dill, arugula and parsnip.

So What are the best vegetables to grow cheaply?

Basically all plants can be grown cheaply , so just use your imagination and be resourceful.

• Grow plants from seed, for this is the most economical way of growing edible plants.
• And use all the edible parts of a plant.
• Then let your plants go to seed and save the seeds for replanting.
• Or let them germinate freely in your garden.
• Use saved seeds to grow micro greens.
• Grow perennial veg plants and divide them or take cutting to make new plants.
• Add some wild plants to your menu.

Finally, you can save money by making your own compost and fertiliser. Also, always recycle and reuse containers.

I hope this blog, What are the best vegetables to grow cheaply, has been helpful. Please leave us a comment.