How to save money with a vegetable garden [Video]

Connie Cao has come up with an innovative way to combat the rising cost of grocery bills – she’s turned her Melbourne backyard (and front yard, for that matter) into an edible garden. Her thriving space – or ‘food forest’, as she calls it – is feeding her family with daily harvests of fresh seasonal fruit, herbs and vegetables. 

“I filled my entire backyard and it’s feeding my family,” Connie says. She has flowers, berries, annual veggies, dwarf fruit trees and a greenhouse for tropical produce, as well as a load of chillies. While Connie hasn’t calculated the dollar savings from growing her own fresh food, she has seen the difference at the checkout. “We don’t buy much fresh produce anymore, so I think we save quite a bit,” she says.

Video: Narelda Jacobs gets a tour of Connie Cao’s verdant vegetable garden on The Brighter Side

Connie’s top tips for edible gardens

Think about pots

To maximise your …