Growing fruit and vegies at home may be trendy but researchers have found it may be cheaper to ditch the garden and head to the supermarket.
A trip to the shops is rare for Joe Hallenstein who has filled the backyard of his Highgate Hill home with fruit and vegie plants.
Having freshly grown food ready to eat on his doorstop has become a way of life for Mr Hallenstein who has been embracing the sustainability of his urban food garden for more than six years.
"It helps to reduce food miles as there's no transport required, means I'm contributing less to land clearing and the use of fertilisers and pesticides, there's no packaging waste, and it means you can eat a lot of food that's fresh and delicious," he said.
A pair of Australian researchers have questioned the affordability of homegrown food gardens.
Dr James Ward and Dr John Symons used a math-based research technique to find out the type of garden that would bring maximum cost-saving to a household.
Dr Ward said growing food at home used to be considered thrifty, but these days it was done for a different reason.
"These days it's become more of a trendy thing that's only done by people who have enough disposable income," Dr Ward said.
The researchers found the biggest change to garden affordability was the rising price of water and many residents could find themselves spending more on water than the value of the food grown.
"In dry cities you've got a double whammy – the dry climate means plants need more water, and that water costs an arm and a leg," Dr Ward said.
The paper published in Horticulturae used a research technique developed by Dr Ward called land-use dietary optimisation that explored the food needed to deliver a balanced diet at a minimum cost and also which foods can be grown to reduce the food bill.
Dr Symons said the results were that it came down to the size of the garden.
"With a small garden the model lets you be really selective, choosing just high-value niche crops like strawberries, basil, tomatoes," he said.
"The bigger your garden, the more you'll have to fill it up with lower-value crops because, let's face it, you can only eat so much basil and strawberries.
"So naturally, profitability per square metre goes down as garden size goes up."
Mr Hallenstein said he wasn't sure exactly how much money he had spent, or saved, on his garden over the years.
"It's more about living more sustainably and the convenience of just being able to go outside and pick things whenever you need them," he said.
"The fruit trees and chickens mostly look after themselves.
"It's much easier to grow vegies during the winter. Maintenance is mostly planting seeds or seedlings, watering them from our rainwater tanks during the dry spells and a bit of weeding."
Mr Hallenstein grows lettuce, spinach, parsley, coriander, chives, tomatoes, pigeon peas, bananas, pawpaw, guavas, black sapote fruit, pineapples, eggplant, capsicum and passionfruit in his yard.
He also has chickens for eggs and has had bees in the past.
"Mostly my housemates and I eat it ourselves," he said.
"But we are part of a weekly food co-operative at Turnstyle Community Hub where people can bring in their excess produce to share or sell amongst the group.
"Everyone can grow food, whether in a garden or in pots.
"It's enjoyable, people really appreciate eating homegrown produce, and it's good for you and the planet in so many ways."
0 comments
New User? Sign up