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"As you can see by Amy and Melissa&amp;#039;s posts today, the Woman&amp;#039;s Day editors have started blogging! Associate Editor Crystal Tate, Articles Director Angela Ebron and Executive Editor Ellen Breslau and I will be bringing you all sorts of interesting (we hope!) posts about money\u2014from tried-and-true cost-saving strategies to our own slip-ups and successes with money. Since it&amp;#039;s early April and planting season has begun, I&amp;#039;ve been thinking a lot about how the garden will save us cash this year. It has cost my husband and me about $200 at the outset for seeds, tools, fencing and other supplies (and only $60 of that was for seeds). But I suspect that this is definitely going to be something that pays off in the long-run. If we take care of the tools, they can last us decades (we have some of my grandfather&amp;#039;s tools in the garage that are probably from the 1940s) and the seeds we buy can grow dozens of plants. We probably spend $60 per summer in lettuce alone. We&amp;#039;ve ordered different varieties of beans, salad greens, herbs, radishes, kale, zucchini, Swiss chard, carrots, sunflowers and tomatoes. The ones I&amp;#039;m most excited about are these Italian Ice Tomato Plants. I&amp;#039;ve never seen a white tomato before, and at $4.95 (which is on the high-end for seeds), it will pay for itself in just a few pounds of tomatoes. You can see the tomatoes we&amp;#039;ve started indoors in the photo below.  Even with a modest-size garden, there&amp;#039;s always plenty of food to go around. I have memories of my parents practically chasing down our neighbors to give them fresh-picked veggies from our yard. If you plant to feed yourself and your family, you&amp;#039;ll save money on supermarket groceries, and if you plant some extra, you&amp;#039;ll be able to donate the surplus to a food bank or needy neighbor. Scott&amp;#039;s has been asking people to pledge to Garden for the Greater Good and give to those less fortunate. Money is tight all around, so this is a great way to do something small and benefit many. If you&amp;#039;re interested in gardening, listen to the WD Radio Show I&amp;#039;m hosting tomorrow (Tuesday) at noon ET. I&amp;#039;ll be talking to Albert Sabatini and Kevin Ruch from 14 Acre Farm near Jim Thorpe, PA about planting and cooking your own produce. To listen, go to womansday.com/radiowd. \u2014Annemarie Conte "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/a42443/how-will-your-garden-grow-5142/>