What crops give you the biggest bang for your time?

Chard, a salad green or great steamed, and beautiful to boot

Sunday, March 3, 2018

If you don’t have much time and want to plant what gets you the most payback, these are the crops for you:

Cilantro ($21 per square foot).  An herb that likes cool temperatures.

Arugula-Roquette ($21 per square foot).  A perennial salad green.  Perennial veggies in the Midwest garden

Green salad mix ($17 per square foot).  Growing summer salads

Chives ($16 per square foot).  A perennial herb.  Add chives to your garden

Dill ($16 per square foot).  A self-seeding herb.  Start a kitchen herb garden!

Lettuce ($16 per square foot).  Everything you need to know about growing lettuce

Cherry tomatoes ($15 per square foot).  Choosing which tomatoes to grow

Turnips ($10 per square foot).  All about turnips

Large tomatoes ($9 per square foot).  Tomatoes 101, everything you need to know to grow great tomatoes

Winter squash ($8 per square foot).  The wonderful world of squash

All can be grown in pots if you are pressed for space, even the slicer type tomatoes.  Decorative container gardening for edibles

Potted lettuce with petunias

A packet of seeds is anywhere from $1-$5.  You can grown many square feet from one packet of seeds.  A packet of seeds can last for years if you are planting for just 2-4 family members.  I keep my seed packets in a freezer bag in the crisper.  I have seeds from more than 5 years ago that are still viable.  Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver

A great way to save money is to preserve what you can't eat fresh.  Even if you don't have a huge freezer, you can preserve your garden bounty.  Harvest and preserve your herbs  Dehydrate or sun dry your extra veggies  If you do have some space in the freezer, freezing is an excellent choice.  Freezing the extras for winter 

Now make sure that you plant the things you love to eat.  How to know what to grow  It won’t be worth a thing if it sits in the garden and is never eaten!