At a time when inflation is straining their daily budget, the French are on the lookout for good plans to save money. However, you do not have to go very far to find solutions. With a plot of land and a few short hours of gardening a week, you can eat better and for less!

This is the successful bet made by Maud Roulot, author of the YouTube channel Le jardin d'Alekil and the book Mon potager pouvoir d'achat, published in March by Tana Éditions.

The garden breaks records

According to an Ifop study published in 2022 for the National Union of Landscape Companies, 66% of French people have access to a garden adjoining their home. And if this outdoor space is above all synonymous with leisure, it is also used to eat differently for 31% of respondents who answered "yes, a lot" and 37% "yes, a little".

The trend is also booming, as Maud Roulot noted on her scale: "I have seen the evolution through the increase in requests for advice from beginners on my channel. The craze for vegetable gardens returned during the first lockdown, before falling back a little after the pandemic. Then inflation came and people are interested in it now to save money."

According to the Promojardin-Prom'animal association, the garden market experienced two exceptional financial years in 2020 with 10% growth, and in 2021 with 13.6%.

Growing what you really eat

If we already take pleasure in seeing a few feet of cherry tomatoes grow in the summer to garnish the aperitifs and amuse the children, this is not the way to make real savings.

To turn your garden into a pantry, Maud Roulot advises to "focus on the vegetables and fruits that you really eat on a daily basis, in order to grow them rather than buy them", such as onions, salads or potatoes. Take stock of your tastes, but also the needs of these crops in relation to the climate of your region.

In parallel, short-cycle plantings, such as radishes, salad, strawberries or cherry tomatoes, will give you motivation with a quick result. Do not hesitate to start small before expanding your crops.

Grow cheaply

When you start a vegetable garden to alleviate financial difficulties, every euro counts. Fortunately, a host of tricks make it possible to cultivate at a lower cost: "When I started, I had almost no equipment," explains Maud Roulot. But you can easily buy used tools on classifieds sites. Pierced yogurt pots also make very good seedling cups, which is financially interesting since a bag of seeds allows you to plant over several seasons. And if you can't, many gardeners donate or sell their surplus plants on the Web at low prices."

Similarly, homemade compost is excellent for enriching the soil, while a rainwater collector can limit the watering bill.

Mulching lawn mowing, crushed hedge trimming and dead leaves (you have to vary the inputs to make it balanced) is still a good way to help your crops conserve maximum water.

OUR "VEGETABLE GARDEN" FILE

When you know the right tricks, growing your vegetable garden takes little time, is cheap and can pay off big!

A quantified gain

Determining how much you can save with a vegetable garden is far from obvious and we must avoid any generality, as the success of crops is variable.

In order to give a concrete example, Maud Roulot took care to weigh all her crops for a year, before estimating their market value compared to the average prices indicated by FranceAgriMer.

At the time of the assessment, for 280.59 kg of vegetables grown on an area of 57 m2, it estimated its total production at € 1,160.18 in organic equivalent, against € 805.68 in conventional cultivation.

A nice financial saving that was also accompanied by a change in consumption. Not only does the family no longer buy vegetables, but they eat much more since the creation of this vegetable garden and multiply the recipes of canned food to make the most of the harvests.

  • Budget
  • Inflation
  • Interview
  • Kitchen garden
  • Purchasing power
  • Economy
  • Gardening
  • Video