ROI
The financial case for growing your own food - crop by crop, dollar by dollar.
How to Find Local Produce Prices for Accurate Garden ROI
National averages understate ROI in high-cost cities and overstate it in rural areas. Here is how to find the actual prices in your market.
Read guide →How to Measure Garden Yield: Kitchen Scale vs. Estimating
Accurate yield measurement is what separates real ROI from guesswork. Here is how to log harvests correctly with a kitchen scale or estimates.
Read guide →Water Cost by Crop: Irrigation Math
Water cost reality: most home gardens under 200 sq ft cost $10-30/season to irrigate. Here's the full breakdown by crop, plus why consistency beats volume.
Read guide →First 3 Years of Garden ROI: Year-by-Year
Year 1 of a raised bed garden is probably net negative. Here's the honest math on what Year 1, 2, and 3+ actually return - and why it gets better fast.
Read guide → FeaturedGarlic ROI: The Per-Clove Math
Seed garlic costs $0.25–$0.40 per clove. Each clove returns 6–8x its weight at harvest. Here's the complete Year 1 and steady-state math for home growers.
Read guide →Seeds vs. Transplants: The Break-Even Math
Seed-starting saves $2-5 per plant, but costs 6-8 weeks of your time. Here's the break-even math that tells you which option actually wins for each crop.
Read guide → FeaturedHow to Break Even on a Raised Bed Garden
A raised bed costs $100–$300 to build. Here's exactly how to plant it to recover that cost by fall - with specific crop recommendations and spacing.
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