Yes this is a blog about financial independence and I’m talking about starting a garden. The health benefits are obvious, fresh food with fewer pesticides and more nutrients but have you ever thought about it from a financial perspective? I believe that inflation will really affect food prices in the coming years. Food costs are a major expense along with gasoline for almost every household. The best way to combat rising food prices is to grow the food yourself. Make a list of common fruits, vegetables and nuts you eat. You can then research what grows best in your area. Many fruit and nut trees are available in dwarf sizes that can be grown in your backyard. You can grow lots of food on ¼ acre of land and even less. If you grow more than you need you can either freeze it, can it or sell it at a farm market. Starting a garden does take a lot of time and effort to get up and running but you’ll see how much you can save by growing your own produce and learning to cook meals from scratch using the things you’ve grown. In addition, you can cut out many of the processed foods you eat that contain preservatives and lack the nutrients of fresh produce. Depending on how much you can grow and how efficient you are at making meals from your produce, I expect you could save 40-70% on your food bill while improving your health. If you choose to follow my advice, study the intensive agriculture method which yields many times more pounds of food than commercial agriculture in less space. If you decide to grow organic produce and sell it at a farm market, you will likely even make a profit from your garden even after you feed yourself from it.