MSN Money has an article about 5 Foods it's cheaper to grow. Their expert's recommendations are:

• Fruit trees
• Lettuce
• Herbs
• Vine vegetables (e.g. zucchini and cucumbers)
• Bell peppers

They also list 5 foods to leave to the professional growers:

• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Celery
• Asparagus
• Wheat

Note that 4 of the 5 "cheaper to grow" choices are definitely low-carb, while 3 of the 5 "don't try this at home" foods are NOT low-carb. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!!!

We'll have to move the celery from the bottom list and swap with the fruit trees I guess.


I guess they think tomatoes are vine veggies.

Lettuce is a pain to grow though. Bugs love it.

I always grew more potatoes than I wanted, and they make their own starts if you leave them alone. I also have asparagus I can't stop and celery is not too hard to grow from heritage seeds.

Fruit trees can be cheap if you don't have to try to keep deer out of the apples, that can be a high tech, high dollar problem.

ROTFLMAO!!! Actually, I find peppers cheapest to buy at the farmer's markets, then use that land to grow okra and brassicas.

I have fruit trees. I think they are economical if you realize they are just bait. If I could only shoot squirrels in a suburban neighborhood.....

One thing I think would be VERY economical would be Hazelnut trees/shrubs. I have room on the side of the house and I am thinking of picking up a couple.

I do save a ton of money growing my own herbs. I have chives, oregano, thyme, mint, sweet woodruff, rosemary, and sage. I just planted some fennel and dill from seed so hopefully those take. I just harvested a batch of chive blossoms that are now sitting in some vinegar. It turns the vinegar a lovely purple color, and after it mellows over a couple of weeks, it makes a great salad dressing. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

my dogs eat all my veggies in the backyard.

I'm going to have to be a rebel and plant a victory garden in the front.

ooohhhh, if the neighbours didn't talk before....

Well, considering how expensive Apricots and apples are, my fruit trees are a bargain! And store bought apricots are always crappy tasting.

That's true. Apricots are the worst, but lots of fruit doesn't appeal to me in the store, apples are either too tart or too sweet, oranges are too dry and sweet, avocados are horrid and plums are bland. Once you've had them from an old family tree, grown in rich soil with earthworms and leaf mould around them, store bought fruit is just a disappointment.

I've got blueberries and (thornless) blackberries growing. But I'm afraid most fruit is forbidden to me now. I like it too much and can sit under a tree munching all day if I don't watch out.

Some years ago I read that it is possible to buy hazelnut bushes with the roots pollinated (?) by truffle spores. I think it was a company in Oregon that was selling them. If my memory does not deceive me, they were promising 50% success with truffles. This might be a good idea. And one could sell excess truffles and make some extra buck.

I have an orange tree, grapefruit tree, lemon tree and fig tree. I grew tomatoes last year but ran into some issues with aphids so I don't think I will grow them again even though they were delicious.

I would love some berry bushes but I don't have the space.

Funny thing is that you can now buy fruit trees that produce fruit that tastes just a bad as the stuff in the stores. Same for tomato plants.

Living in a cold climate, finding the Russian heirloom varieties of tomatoes was a blessing. Not much in this world beats the taste of a Black from Thula or Black Krim tomato straight from the vine.

I might be interested in that. I looked it up in google and found some folks in the UK that were selling such trees, but not here. Do you happen to remember any additional facts that might help my search?

I read about it in Los Angeles Times (could have been the Food Section). It must have been around year 2000 + or - 2 years. I can't remember the details, unfortunately. All I remember that it was a plant nursery in Oregon. If there is nothing on the Internet then maybe they have discontinued. I would imagine they would advertise if these were still available. That's too bad. Maybe you could order from England? Another thing is whether truffles would grow in Vermont. I always thought of them as southern mushrooms that grow in places like France and Italy. I remember that the article mentioned the time zones where these bushes would yield a truffle harvest, but, unfortunately, I don't remember what these were. Good luck! Please let me know if you find them.

I read up a little on them, and some of them might grow here, since they grow in England and Germany.

The ones in the UK all say, "No shipping to the US" which means there is probably an agricultural ban. But they do grow them in California, Oregon and Washington state.

I'll probably send out some emails and talk to those folk who grow them, they probably can tell me where to go...

Gosh, Beardric, no need to send out an email -- I can tell you where to go!