I love gardening. After living in apartments with little patios or balconies, having a home with a bigger yard is really exciting. But I soon realized that gardening can be expensive. Because the soil here is very sandy, I have been using pots and buying potting soil. I didn't have any tools other than a small hand trowel and a fork. Expenses can add up quickly, so I decided to take time and collect things a little by little.
I already have a small collection of plastic pots, but most are small ones that I used in my balcony gardens. When I go to thrift stores, I buy large containers. These are some of the containers I found at thrift stores. Each one didn't cost more than $3.
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| Humming bird tree is in a big blue bucket found at the thrift store. |
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| Collection of small planters. A metal container, a crock pot container, small plastic pots and 5 gallon buckets. |
I buy rice in either 10lb or larger bags. I have used empty bags to plant kale.
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| Rice bags as planters. |
Once I found a stack of flower pots on sale at the nearby garden center. The pots were designed for a special type of plant, and they had left over stack of pots without the plants. Each pot was just $2. I bought the whole stack - it had 15 pots. I planted radish in these pots. These are just deep enough for small icicle radish.
I bought several tools at yard sales. This wheelbarrow was $2.50. It was a bit rusty, so I cleaned it and painted with a can of paint that I had at home.
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| A wheelbarrow for $2.50 is a real bargain. :) |
When washing vegetables I collect water in a bucket that I keep next to the kitchen. If I have water from steaming vegetables, that also goes in there. Once the bucket is full I use it to water ornamental plants.
To reduce the amount of store bought potting soil, I have been making compost. All kitchen waste goes in to a hole dug near the back fence. I also add dry leaves and grass clippings. I still have to buy soil, but gradually I plan to make enough compost.
Last weekend I made several raised beds with the help of a friend. I keep an eye on the 70% off lumber pile at the home improvement store and buy untreated planks. These are not very wide, but still good for making small raised beds. So far I have 3 new beds to grow vegetables.
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Now I'm getting ready for spring gardening. 😊
I don't have a lot of vegetables yet. But I have enough greens for my daily juice, and at least once a week I harvest greens for sautéing, several broccoli florets, radish, and herbs now.
Do you have any frugal gardening tips? How is your garden doing?
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Nil
Looking good Nil. Rather envious of your $2.50 wheelbarrow. Those are the good ones with metal handles curved the right way for moving stuff. You might ask neighbors for their leaves and clippings too. I get my folks' yard stuff for my compost heap so they don't have to pay to put it in their garbage. It really helps it build up - since it composts down.
ReplyDeleteYes Lady Locust, the wheelbarrow is a very good deal. The person at the yard sale said he would sell both the wheelbarrow and a 5 ft ladder for $5, so I bought both. :)
DeleteGreat thrifty tips, Nil! Gardening is a long term prospect, and so your composting will be crucial in years to come. Till then, maybe investigate a worm farm so that you can make your own liquid fertiliser? My garden now has lovely juicy worms in it, when I dig down -and it is very sandy soil, so there is hope!
ReplyDeleteThank you earthmotherwithin. I should read about worm farms. This sounds silly, but I'm a bit squeamish about worms. I think it's time that I get used to worms if I want to have a garden. Hehee
DeleteYes a worm farm would be good, Nil. Your compost will build up that's for sure. You are looking forward to planting in spring and we are looking forward to planting in autumn. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you are looking forward to cooler temperatures and autumn gardening, Chel. Here it is already getting warm.
DeleteI don't really have any frugal tips Nil other than try and save your own seed, then you can have some things free the next time around, I do this with tomatoes, peppers etc.
ReplyDeleteWe have a compost bin, this helps a little as its the buying bags of compost which can make gardening expensive.
I save some seeds, and sometimes get seeds from store bought produce as well. That's how I grew bitter gourd, but they all died when the temperature dropped. :(
DeletePotting soil, compost and cow manure are my biggest expences. I watched YouTube videos about making compost bins, so that's going to be one of my future projects. :)
Some great ideas there Nil, and I love the rice bags as planters. You've given me the nudge I need to look at what we'll be growing this year. We only have a small space but I enjoyed what we managed to achieve last year. X
ReplyDeleteThese rice bags are made of a porous material, so I didn't even have to make holes. :) I hope you will find veggies suitable for a small space.
DeleteYou are incredibly good at thrifting! And using rice bags as planters, brilliant!
ReplyDeleteThank you Priscilla. :)
DeleteI'm trying to reuse things as much as possible, without putting them in the trash bin.
Hi Nil, I'm impressed with your broccoli. Right now I am growing artichokes and lettuce. I had sandy soil in my backyard when I bought my cottage. I layered coffee grounds from Starbucks, manure, leaves, and straw all over the backyard. I topped it with wood chips. It really helped the soil. I mulch my citrus trees heavily with leaves and straw. I feed them compost, too. I also use a lot of compost tea during the growing season. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteOh I love artichokes. I'm not sure if they grow well here, but planted some seeds last week. :)
DeleteYou've got lots of frugal gardening ideas, Nil. All those inputs - potting mix, pots, seedlings etc. can be expensive - so making your own compost, saving seeds, growing in different containers, planting what suits your climate, swapping cuttings with other gardeners etc. - all helps to save. Last year, I wanted to decrease the amount we spent carting in mulch for our garden so I planted lemongrass and canna lily. Both are thriving now. Soon, I will chop them back and use these trimmings for mulch in some areas of the garden. We also have a worm farm and that's wonderful for processing veggie scraps and turning them into worm casting and worm tea. Magic stuff! Happy gardening! Meg:)
ReplyDeleteMeg, I also planted lemongrass last year. I bought one plant, later divided it into many. They grow wonderfully. I cut the leaves and use as mulch. I learned it from Morag's blog. :)
ReplyDeleteStop in from down to earth. Right now I can't even see my garden, snow covering it. I see you have some artichoke seeds. Even if I live in North Idaho we do grow it.
ReplyDeletePlus I'm a thrift store shopper. If you have time stop in for a cup of coffee
Thanks for visiting and commenting Dora.
DeleteI'm not sure if artichokes grow well here in Florida, but I'm going to try. :)