I mentioned I'm kinda new to gardening; only dived into it a couple of years ago when I retired. I'm trying to garden effectively where the money spent on amendments, fertilizer, and stuff like containers will be offset by the bounty of the harvest.
Well, it's easier said than done. I started really thinking out what to grow because in the past years I've found some veggies are not worth trying to grow. For me anyway. So I try to grow stuff that will pay off and yet still be something that I like to eat.
I found that Kale is very easy to grow, grows abundantly, and is a multi-producer. Meaning you can pick the outer leaves and more will grow in it's place. At first I wasn't keen to growing Kale since it's really a bland veggie until I started using it as a replacement for rice.
Rice has risen in price lately and even Kale in the produce department is pretty expensive. So now Kale is my side whenever I cook fish, chicken, pork, or beef.
Gonna try to grow Collards this summer as Kale is usually a cool season crop. I like Collards also.
So far the worthwhile crops to grow for me is Pak Choy (actually all oriental cabbage greens) string beans, Daikon radish, and cherry tomatoes.
As a aside, rice is now $12.99 per 15 lb. bag WHEN ON SALE.
Just last year it was $9.99. Gone are the days back in the '80's and '90's when rice was $3.99 for a 25 lb. bag.