How a greenhouse can turn $100 into $2,500

The extent of the savings to be had when growing your own fruit and vegetables has been outlined by a top home gardening company.

According to burpee.com, a $50 outlay on seeds and fertilizer can be transformed into $1,250 worth of fruit and vegetables.

The gardening website suggests gardeners make full use of every inch of their yard and greenhouse in order to maximize savings and ensure a regular supply of fresh and healthy food.

"Too often home gardeners plant an item such as lettuce early in the season and then leave the site fallow after harvesting a month later," says chairman George Ball.

"A hundred dollars will produce $2,500 in groceries – thats $2,400 a family can save in five months."

As an introduction to food planting, the company has constructed a $10 seed pack called the Money Garden which gardeners can use to turn their garden and greenhouse into an outdoor larder.

The pack contains seeds to help grow bell peppers, beefsteak tomatoes, sugar snap peas, French green beans, butterhead lettuces and carrots.

Barack Obama may wish to consider this offer if he decides to start growing fruit and vegetables at the White House, as has been suggested recently.