I often heard my father say as a child that gardening "isn't profitable." Yet he tended a 2000m² vegetable garden and an orchard with around fifty fruit trees. Truth is, a truly profitable vegetable garden is almost a given with the right approach.
Today's compact housing estate gardens don't allow for such expansive plots, which would far exceed a family's needs anyway. Let's look at the numbers: with just 100m², you can meet the fresh produce requirements of four people. If you're just starting out and want to experiment, even 50m² will keep things enjoyable and rewarding.
Seed costs—the raw materials—are incredibly low. The French Gardeners' Association offers a packet of 10 vegetable varieties for only 5€. Don't think these packets are skimpy; a simple calculation shows that harvesting two-thirds of the sown seeds (72% exactly) turns that 5€ investment into a potential 5000€ return in produce value.
Try it yourself and run the numbers—you might be surprised how gardening slashes your grocery bill. Plus, it's excellent for your health, as you likely already know.
