4 Lessons Gardening Taught Me about Money

This is a Guest Post from Paula Pant at AffordAnything.org, the blog that teaches you to live richly + savor life.
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I’ve always loved plants, but until recently I never knew a thing about them. I can’t identify plant species, discuss the blooming cycle, or tell you about the conditions that would put plants at risk of infestations. For years, my bedroom — in various apartments, across various cities — would be covered in potted indoor plants I picked up from the local Target or Home Depot. Friends would tell me my room resembles a rainforest. Yet when they’d ask, “what kind of plant is that?,” I’d simply shrug and reply: “Um, the pretty kind?”

This year I decided to buckle down, learn the difference between an annual and perennial, and memorize the names of the potted plants I own (English Primrose! African violet!).  I also decided to start growing plants from seed. After all, every gardening blog talks endlessly about how much cheaper it is to grow from seed.

So I started planting vegetable and herb seeds … only to find that it wasn’t as cheap as I thought. Here are some of the financial lessons I learned from my Great Seedling Experiment of 2011:

Lesson #1: Consider the ongoing costs — not just the upfront cost.

I live in the busy, urban heart of the City of Atlanta. The upside is a great view of the downtown skyline, and shops within walking distance. The trade-off is that I have no yard in which to grow things. In fact, I’ve always been a city-dweller. I haven’t had a yard since I was 18.

Not to fear; I finally have a large balcony for the first time in my adult life. And this is where my seeds can live; in pots on the balcony. Right?

Wait, not so fast. That packet of tomato seeds? $1.50. A starter tray? $5. Now I’ve got the beginnings of 36 Roma tomato plants for $6.50. Not bad.

But, hmmm. Where am I going to transplant all of these tomatoes? I’m told that tomatoes grow to be quite large — especially here in Georgia. A six-inch diameter terra cotta pot is $1.20 at Home Depot. Multiplied by 36 seedlings, those tomatoes are going to cost me $43.20 plus tax. Plus I’ll need a bag of potting soil — an extra $10. My tomato project is now up to $59.70 plus tax.

But tomatoes aren’t the only thing I planted. I also planted basil, lavender, peppers, and – er – some other hybrid of tomato whose name I can’t recall. All of these need pots and potting soil, too. Suddenly, this seedling project isn’t looking as cheap as I thought it was. This is creeping past $200 quickly.

The lesson here? Don’t just consider the upfront cost of something — in my case, the upfront cost of seeds and a starter tray. Think of what your ongoing “maintenance” costs will be down the road.

Lesson #2: Invest in the Fundamentals

Last fall I found some citrus trees on sale for $8.50. They resembled nothing more than twigs. I brought them home and decided to transplant them into a 12-inch container.

Unfortunately, I filled the containers with cheap soil. Cheap, nutrient-deprived, horrible soil. The result? Those poor trees have withered — and that’s quite a feat when you START as a twig.

Lesson here? Splurging on cosmetics, like a beautiful planter pot, may be frivolous — but spending good money on the fundamentals, like nutritious soil, is essential. It’s not so different for people: heading to the spa may be a luxury, but eating healthy foods and visiting the doctor is a wise use of money, even if it does get pricey.

(from Andrew:  I agree with Paula on #1 and #2.  Enthusiasm in a new venture will lead to imprudent money choices, in this case pricey accessories. For the first-time gift shop owner, it might be splurging on an expensive cash register and fancy display cases, and skimping on a good accountant)

Lesson #3: First Come the Shoots, then Come the Roots.

Fortunately, I wised to the money lessons those citrus trees were trying to teach me (who says money doesn’t grow on trees?) and transplanted the trees into bigger pots with premium soil. Within a week, I started to see new buds form: tiny little leaves along the tree’s trunk.

That’s when I realized that first come the shoots, then come the roots. The citrus trees need to grow leaves first, in order to collect the sun’s rays; once those leaves have properly sunbathed, the tree will begin spreading roots and becoming stronger, which in turn will generate even more leaves and create a positive cycle.

This isn’t so different from how money works: first we need to offshoot our money into investments, into small business ventures and index funds and Roth IRA’s. Once those investments have soaked up the dividends and capital gains and growth, we’ll begin to establish roots: the roots of financial freedom. Once we have strong financial roots, our invested money will make more money — creating that same positive cycle.

Lesson #4: Sugar is great.

Okay, this isn’t a money lesson, per se. Plants photosynthesize with sugars. Which tells me sugar is great. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to eat that last cupcake.

(from Andrew:  Overall, an attagirl and well done! to Paula for trying her hand at container gardening in a small space.  The premise of the post is also a good subject matter.  Besides the obvious hands-on aspects, there is are many lessons to be learned from the practice of raising food and flowers:  Patience.  How to observe and take action. Inputs and outputs.  Feeding your soil, not the plants. Experimentation and Optimism)