Is It Cheaper to Grow Your Own Vegetables?

The Grow-Your-Own Dilemma

Every spring, the same thought crosses your mind as you walk past the seed display in Wilko: “Should I grow my own veg? It’d save a fortune.” But does it actually save money? We’ve crunched the numbers, factored in everything from compost to slug pellets, and the answer is — well, it depends.

Some vegetables absolutely save you money. Others will cost you more than buying them from Aldi. The trick is knowing which is which, and avoiding the common traps that turn a money-saving project into an expensive hobby.

The Honest Numbers — What Does a Veg Patch Actually Cost?

Let’s start with the setup costs, because most “grow your own” articles conveniently ignore these:

Seeds: £1.50-3.50 per packet (average £2.50)
Compost: £4-8 per bag (you’ll need 2-4 bags to start)
Grow bags: £1.50-2.50 each (good for tomatoes, peppers)
Fertiliser: £3-6 per box (lasts a season)
Pots/containers: £0 if you recycle, £10-30 if buying new
Tools: £0 if borrowing, £15-40 for basics (trowel, fork, watering can)
Netting/cloches: £5-15 to protect from birds and frost
Slug control: £3-5 for organic pellets or beer traps

First-year startup cost: £30-80 depending on what you already own. Subsequent years drop to £15-30 since you’ll reuse pots, tools and can save your own seeds.

The Winners — Vegetables That Genuinely Save Money

1. Herbs (Save £50-100+ per year)

This is the biggest no-brainer in grow-your-own. A pot of fresh basil from the supermarket costs £1.50 and lasts maybe a week. A £1.50 packet of basil seeds gives you enough basil for the entire summer — and you can freeze the surplus as pesto. The same goes for:

Mint — Grows like wildfire, costs £1.20 in shops, free forever from one plant
Rosemary & thyme — Perennial herbs that come back year after year. One plant costs £2-3 and produces for 5+ years
Chives — Another perennial. Dead easy to grow, £1.50 in shops, free from year two onwards
Coriander — Tricky but rewarding. One packet of seeds vs £1 per small pack in the shop

If you currently buy fresh herbs regularly, growing your own saves £50-100 a year with minimal effort. Just put them on a sunny windowsill or balcony.

2. Salad Leaves (Save £30-60 per year)

Cut-and-come-again salad leaves are absurdly profitable to grow. A bag of mixed leaves costs £1.50-2 and goes slimy in two days. One packet of seeds (£2) produces leaves from May to October. You can grow them in window boxes, containers or the ground. They need almost no space and very little skill.

The trick is to sow a few seeds every two weeks so you always have fresh leaves ready. That way you never need to buy bagged salad again for six months of the year.

3. Tomatoes (Save £20-40 per year)

Tomatoes are one of the most rewarding things to grow, and they taste incomparably better than supermarket ones. A pack of six tomatoes costs £1.50 in the shops. Two tomato plants in grow bags will produce 5-10kg of fruit over a summer — that’s £15-30 worth of tomatoes from a £2 packet of seeds and £5 of grow bags.

Cherry tomatoes are the easiest for beginners. Try “Gardeners Delight” or “Sungold” — both reliable and prolific.

4. Courgettes (Save £15-25 per year)

One courgette plant costs about 80p from a garden centre (or grow from seed for pennies) and produces 15-30 courgettes over a summer. At 60-80p each in the shops, that’s £9-24 worth of veg from a single plant. Two plants and you’ll be giving them away to neighbours.

5. Potatoes (Save £10-30 per year)

Growing potatoes in bags or containers is easy and satisfying. A 2.5kg bag of seed potatoes costs £3-5 and produces 10-15kg of potatoes. The same amount from the supermarket costs £10-15. Plus, new potatoes dug fresh from the soil taste incredible — there’s no comparison to shop-bought.

The Losers — Vegetables That Cost More to Grow

1. Onions (Not worth it)

A bag of onions is cheap as chips from any supermarket. 1kg of basic onions costs 65-90p. Growing them takes months, needs a lot of space, and the savings are negligible. Buy them, don’t grow them.

2. Carrots (Debatable)

Carrots are cheap in the shops (50p/kg for basics) and frustrating to grow. They need deep, stone-free soil, they’re plagued by carrot fly, and the yield per square metre is poor. If you’ve got perfect soil and want the taste of fresh carrots, go for it. But financially? Not worth the hassle.

3. Celery (Don’t bother)

Celery is cheap to buy, needs constant watering, and takes up a lot of space for very little return. Skip it.

4. Maincrop Potatoes (Marginal)

We mentioned potatoes as winners above, and they are — if you’re growing them for the taste of new potatoes. But if you’re calculating purely on cost per kilo versus supermarket basics, the margin is thin once you factor in compost, bags and the space they take up.

The Hidden Costs Nobody Talks About

Time: A veg patch needs 15-30 minutes of attention every couple of days. If your time is worth £15/hour, that’s £30-60 a month in labour you’re not accounting for.
Failures: Slugs will eat your seedlings. Birds will peck your strawberries. Blight will kill your tomatoes some years. Expect to lose 10-30% of your crop.
Water: If you’re on a meter and watering throughout a dry summer, that adds £5-15 to your bill. Get a water butt — they pay for themselves in one summer.
Space opportunity cost: That bit of garden could be a patio, a play area or a place to sit. Is £30 of saved veg worth losing it?

Our Verdict — The Smart Way to Grow Your Own

Grow-your-own saves money if you focus on the right crops. Our recommended starter kit for maximum savings:

Herbs in pots (£10 setup, £50-100 annual saving)
Salad leaves in window boxes (£5 setup, £30-60 annual saving)
2 tomato plants in grow bags (£7 setup, £20-40 annual saving)
2 courgette plants (£2 setup, £15-25 annual saving)
Potatoes in bags (£8 setup, £10-30 annual saving)

Total setup: £32 | Total annual saving: £125-255

After year one, when your setup costs drop to about £15 for compost and seeds, the savings are even better. And that’s before you count the fact that home-grown just tastes better.

Where to Get Cheap Seeds and Supplies

You don’t need to spend a fortune to start growing:

Pound shops — Often sell seed packets for £1. Quality varies but it’s a cheap way to experiment.
Wilko — Good value seeds and gardening basics. Check our Wilko deals page for current discounts.
Seed swap groups — Search Facebook for local gardening groups. Many do seed swaps in spring — free seeds in exchange for varieties you have.
Friends and neighbours — Most gardeners have surplus seeds and would happily share. Just ask.
The Real Seed Company — UK-based, sells open-pollinated seeds so you can save your own seeds year after year (unlike F1 hybrids).

The Bottom Line

Is it cheaper to grow your own vegetables? Yes — if you grow herbs, salad and the right crops. No — if you try to grow everything or pick the wrong vegetables. Start small, focus on high-value crops, and you’ll save money from year one. Try to turn your whole garden into a smallholding and you’ll spend more than you save.

Think of it this way: a windowsill herb garden costs £10 and saves you £50+ a year. That’s a 500% return on investment. Not bad for something that also makes your kitchen smell amazing and your cooking taste better.