Fresh wholesome food straight from your garden makes summertime eating a joy. Fruits, vegetables and herbs grown from seed or plants raised in your own containers are free from harmful chemicals and they're often more economical than buying the same ingredients in the store.
Compare the price and effort of homegrown favorites with what you can purchase in your grocery store's organic produce section before you decide how to plan your time, energy and food budget during the next growing season.
RADISHES
At only $1.32 per pound, you could easily stock up on radishes for a few weeks. But $2.85 total will get you a packet of seeds, which _ planted in short rows at weekly intervals in ordinary garden soil _ will keep you supplied with the zesty salad ingredient through cool spring and autumn growing seasons. For classic red radishes with crunchy white centers, choose Cherry Belle. But for a rainbow of pink, red and purple radishes, get the Easter Egg variety.
KALE
Superfood kale averages $1.59 per bunch in the store, but it's much more cost effective to grow your own hardy, weather-resistant kale plant. Seeds come in under $2 per packet, and live plants are only about $5. Kale is a superstar in the garden, in patio pots and as a decorative addition to flower beds. It thrives in garden soil amended with compost or potting mix to yield robust leaves you can cut, cook and come back to again and again for more.
CILANTRO
Buying a fresh bunch of cilantro for your salsa only costs about $1.99, but when you grow your own from the same priced packet of seeds, you'll have more than enough for south-of-the-border style cooking all summer long. As a bonus, seeds of older cilantro plants allowed to flower and dry are the spice coriander, which can be used year round for seasoning curry, roasts and Latin American dishes.
TOMATOES
Perfect for container gardening in a sunny spot, meaty Roma tomatoes and tiny, snack-able grape tomatoes are favorites that do best when you start with sturdy plants that cost around $5 per pot. At $1.79 per pound for Romas and $2.50 per pint of grape tomatoes in the store, the price of growing is about the same or a little more than buying, especially when you add in the planter, tomato cage and potting soil costs. But sun-ripened succulence makes it a worthy investment.
MINT
Muddled in a mojito, tossed in tabouli or steeped for tea, fresh mint leaves are easily accessible when you raise a $5 mint plant. Why pay for fresh mint leaves _ which can be sold for more than $10 per ounce by specialty retailers _ when the plant's aggressive growth habit makes it an abundant harvest when kept in a pot on your patio?
