Post #2152340

2026-05-05 20:24 UTC

I would never discourage anyone from gardening, but this is wildly optimistic. Growing vegetables takes time, space and effort, and money - you need fertilisers and soil conditions. I find this kind of story not only misleading, but can set people up for disappointment with what should be a joyful pastime. &quot;Families could save up to $50 a week growing their own fruit and vegetables&quot; https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-06/vegetable-growing-at-home-to-save-costs-no-dig-gardening/106630998?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&amp;utm_content=link&amp;utm_medium=content_shared&amp;utm_source=abc_news_web

Replies (9)

@treleanor@aus.social 2026-05-05 20:35

@jillL@theblower.au And fruit? Can’t think of any fruit going to produce in a short time frame.

Open ##2184399
@MichaelTBacon@social.coop 2026-05-05 21:27

@jillL@theblower.au Also, to really see those savings, you need to be growing from seed, which requires a lot more time and skill than growing from seedlings.

Open ##2184402
@siftinsand@aus.social 2026-05-05 21:46

@jillL@theblower.au I think the best quick easy home grown veg strategy is to grow herbs such as parsley. They can be grown in pots and add a zing to any meal eg a simple cheese sandwich

Open ##2184406
@stufromoz@aus.social 2026-05-05 21:57

@jillL@theblower.au ha! Grow your own.. We have 4 herbs, chillies and capsicums growing, and try to add more is a matter of working out what will grow on my balcony successfully. The capsicums would do better on the front balcony but they have more space on the other one, but it’s still a marginal gain compared to buying (chillies have been very successful)

Open ##2184407
@thegarbagebird@theblower.au 2026-05-05 23:21

@jillL@theblower.au this is just more socialising the consequences. “dear public: the government has decided it is unwilling to legislate or make policy decisions that could ameliorate the harms. have you tried making coffee at home?”

Open ##2184408
@synlogic4242@social.vivaldi.net 2026-05-05 23:44

@jillL@theblower.au yeah in general there are sooooooo many ways to "obviously" save money... if one's time is worth zero. lol. cue the obligatory XKCD strip about it. lots of "save money" lifehacks also assume Happy Path happens. never assume Happy Path. life be random and fractal

Open ##2184409
@coolandnormal@aus.social 2026-05-06 21:44

@jillL@theblower.au the big elephants in the room here for me are water and soil. Unless someone already lives on agricultural soil (which only a miniscule proportion of people in australia do), it will cost a lot more to ship some in in bags or truckloads than they will ever reap in calories. Same with water. If someone lives in a place with agricultural rainfall levels they're probably already growing food. If they don't, they would have to toss so much municipal drinking water on the ground that the exercise again becomes more money and effort than its worth.

Open ##2184410
@bakuninboys@aus.social 2026-05-08 07:47

@jillL@theblower.au you could save $-13 a week for food you'll mostly give to someone else in 6 months because holy shit there's so much and then none for a year.

Open ##2539546
@spreadthetruth@mastodon.social 2026-05-08 18:46

@jillL@theblower.au plus like as an example all the tomatoes come in at once and you've got 7,000 lbs of tomatoes which if you don't want to give or throw away you've got to freeze or can

Open ##2539547