Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The tough mathematics of idealistic urban gardening

Food costs are increasing, thanks to a variety of worldwide factors. These increasing prices are leading to resurgence in urban gardening. These city gardens are often touted as a way to save money. Some enterprising small business hopefuls try something new. Rather than backyard gardens, some try to create full-fledged backyard farms. Post resource – Doing the math on urban farming by MoneyBlogNewz.

The debate for urban gardens

For a variety of reasons, urban gardening is gaining in popularity. Some homeowners see these gardens as a way of putting their property to work. Others use these gardens as a way to grow their own food the way they want to — organic, no fertilizers or to rock music twice a day. Several think that they will be saving money with a metropolitan garden. It seems sensible when you do the mathematics. Spend $10 on seeds and equipment to get a huge return. At least $50 could be returned in produce to you.

The money the urban garden has

Using a garden to save money is a good idea. It seems sensible that it will work that way. The math of a metropolitan garden is a bit more than seeds and water, however. Setting up an urban garden takes significant amounts of time and at least some monetary investment for the first year or so. You should have garden space. Grass must be pulled out or killed, or raised beds need to be built, which costs $20 to $100. The soil may need testing for mercury or lead. Between $150 and $300 can be the cost. It can cost anywhere between $1 and $100 to get the seeds for the garden. It costs between $5 and $20 per cubicle of compost if you don’t have your own. Dependent upon what you do, getting an urban garden set up will cost between $25 and $500 plus lots of work and time. The garden isn’t almost as costly in the years after. Over time, a metropolitan garden can save you significant grocery money. To be able to break even, dependent upon all the variables, a metropo! litan garden needs to produce 50 to 200 pounds of vegetables with an average cost of 55 to 60 cents per pound. There are other reasons to grow your own food without even considering a garden.

Creating a farm out of an urban garden

Some enterprising entrepreneurs are turning urban gardening into urban farming. Instead of attempting to purchase large portions of land outside a city and driving the food in, some businesspeople are using backyards of friends and neighbors as their farms. A small fee is paid occasionally. There are other times where the produce is used in exchange. This is a form of payment. This isn’t always a recipe for quick profit — one Canadian business, FoodCycles, points out:

Farming is like any other business – you need a marketing plan, a financial strategy, a risk strategy.

Information from

The Star

thestar.com/article/970270–porter-backyard-farming-in-the-gta

AZ Star Net

azstarnet.com/news/local/east/article_df486eea-75d6-56f1-9add-a99f2abe5b8c.html

USDA

ers.usda.gov/Amberwaves/September04/Findings/fruitveg.htm



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