I posted this on Sufficient Self but it fits here.
A community garden just started near me and I joined right away! Got a 4ft x 8 ft raised bed.
I already had some . . . (sooooo many) seeds, then got some more. Might have gotten carried away. Most of my seeds are not organic, but they are mostly Heirloom or open pollinated varieties, to be able to save seed.
The community garden supplies the raised bed, topsoil (heavy clay) , compost (free- from the city), and mulch (also free- from the city).
I filled my bed with roughly equal amounts of the mulch, compost and and topsoil to get the texture and drainage right. I will be adding worms soon to make it even better.
The food wont be quite organic, since we cant control the details on the donated stuff, but the garden wont have any chemicals added. Probably much safer than the average grocery store hide produce.
I spent $ 40.88 so far, and figure that will be easy to recover by the end of the season. It should bring the grocery bill way down.
Eating lots of fresh veggies will help keep me healthy. So will the exercise. I wont need any fancy diet plans or gym membership to get in good shape. I'm also making more friends, since this is a community garden. These aren't things I can put a price on but they are very valuable. So is my sanity. Working with the plants and the dirt is wonderful for that.