Posted on 01/30/2009 6:49:17 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
With the economy as it is, many are talking about being thrifty. These frugal gardening tips may help save some "green."
Make a list of what you'd like to see in your garden and stick to it. A list will help your self-control when you are tempted to purchase something on impulse.
Start a compost pile
Soil is the key to a wonderful garden. Making compost is a low-cost way to improve soil.
If you're not already composting, look for a sunny, out-of-the-way spot in your yard to put a compost bin. Bins can be made of scrap lumber, chicken wire and even hay bales.
Look for free material to add to your compost pile. What can you put in the pile at no cost? Grass clippings (yours and your neighbors'), coffee grounds from local cafes and shredded newspaper. Also, watch for bags of leaves set at the curb for disposal. Toss in your vegetable scraps, egg shells and garden waste (spent annuals, shrub prunings, etc.).
Turn the pile every few weeks, and soon you will have rich compost to add to your soil.
Recycle
Many expenditures for containers and equipment can be eliminated by reusing items already on hand. Egg cartons, margarine tubs and yogurt and cottage cheese containers are fantastic for seed starting.
Discarded windows can be converted into cold frames. Plastic milk jugs can be used to make mini-greenhouses. Cut a jug horizontally around the container, leaving it "hinged" under the handle. Punch holes in the bottom for drainage. Large soda bottles, cut in half, can be used to cover plants when a freeze is predicted.
Maximize resources
Grow vertically -- tomatoes, climbing peas and beans are great options -- to make the most of your square footage.
Plants such as yellow squash, zucchini and peppers are notorious for their ample yields. Trade with neighbors for vegetables you didn't grow.
Grow your seeds
Many plants reseed themselves. My flower beds are full of seedlings from the old-fashioned petunias I planted last spring. Batchelor buttons, alyssum, poppies, violas, toadflax and larkspur also need to be planted only once. (In zones warmer than 4/5)
Members of the sedum family are some of the easiest plants to propagate. Break off a piece of the mother plant and bury the stem in the soil with some foliage exposed. You'll have new plants in no time.
Find a friend
Share the costs of gardening with a friend. If a packet of seeds is more than you need, divide it and its cost with a fellow gardener. Or trade seeds for a new variety you want to try.
Combine other purchases with a gardening partner, too. For instance, you can usually save by buying mulch and potting mix in bulk rather than in small bags.
Swapping bulbs and plants with friends, neighbors and family is a great way to garden with little or no expense. Cuttings for propagating plants, such as roses, and divisions of overgrown perennials can be traded to increase the variety in your landscape.
Garden art
Homemade items or found "treasures" make unique yard art.
Steppingstones are an easy do-it-yourself project. For molds, use old cake pans or plastic storage containers. Embellish your steppingstones with marbles, old jewelry or leaf impressions.
Add more fun to your garden with wind chimes made of vintage forks, knives and spoons.
Wooden chairs, ladders, tricycles or wagons can serve as interesting garden accents.
Container gardening
Repurpose containers instead of spending money on planters.
Anything that can hold soil can become a planter. Old gardening boots, wheelbarrows and toolboxes make whimsical substitutes for expensive outdoor containers.
Discarded sinks, washtubs, water troughs and wagons make excellent planters. Drill holes for drainage, fill the vessel with potting mix and plant your favorite posies.
Save water
Significant savings are possible with these techniques:
* Check the soil before you water. If it's still damp, don't water.
* Cover the soil with a 3- to 4-inch layer of mulch. It keeps the soil moist longer.
* When possible, use drip watering systems to deliver water exactly where it is needed.
* Water your landscape and lawn in the morning, when less will evaporate.
* Group plants with the same water needs so you are not watering plants that don't need it.
* Capture and store rainwater for landscape watering. Plant a rain garden to capture runoff and keep the water in your yard, off the street and out of the storm drain.
* If you have an automatic watering system, make sure all parts are operating properly.
So does this mean granny’s re-instated?
Can anyone get up with granny? I know she was really heartbroken about their decision. I didn’t and don’t understand why she got her hand smacked, but I wasn’t going to argue with the mods.
We only have 1.2 acres...but we’re surrounded by 700 acres...so it looks like we live on ‘Southfork’ but without the property taxes, LOL!
You can cram a lot into a small space when it comes to growing food.
I love ‘Square Foot Gardening’ and ‘How to Grow More Food on Less Land...’ Two of the best books on the subject, IMHO.
The last e-mail I got was that her computer was down...not that she’d been banned, so I’m not sure what the story is.
Mine, too! I get a lot of answers to questions I can’t find answers to anywhere else.
I can’t wait to start my seedlings this year! When I start them too early, they get spindly. I’d love to do the coldframe growing this year. We’ll see.
Mrs. BGH
Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to check it out.
Last I heard from her, the mods told her to stop spamming threads with recipes and such. Granny was really upset about it and said she was leaving FR. haven’t been on much lately tho so I might have missed her. Some of the crowd was going to try and petition Jim to let her have her thread back. I realy enjoyed it, when I had tome to browse. Tons of good info.
If you’re lurking granny, we miss you!
Bump!
Thank you for the reference to gardenweb.com.
It is exactly what I have been looking for.
I’d like more information on your composter. I’ve been looking at the tumbling composter bins, but they’re kind of pricey. My hubby said he could make one similar, we have some 55 gal. plastic drums we could use. Any additional specifics you could share just might get me a composter barrel this spring. :)
Those sites are great. Thanks for the links - and on how to research the subject further!
I spent HOURS on that thread last night!
Tons of great info there!
ps. Looks like I have a challenge in front of me. One site that I found said at above 7000 feet in the Sierras, we have only 40 growing days.
BTW, your idea of searching using ‘high alititude’ worked really well. Just putting in ‘Sierra Nevada gardening’ got me little. I guess not many garden high in the Sierras, but I can take the wisdom from those in other areas and try to apply it.
I couldn’t keep up but granny pinged me to the stuff she knew I was most interested in.
Sounds like someone got their wires crossed, but they sure hurt granny’s feelings when they told her to quit posting. :(
Kind of like our own version of The Firefox Series. Sigh.
Even thought about printing it, but I don’t have that much time/paper/ink. LOL
My uninvited cantalopes didn’t get very big (a little bigger than baseballs), so I didn’t taste them. I did throw them outside the fence for the deer.
I love cantalope, just don’t have the space to grow them.
I grow my veggies in raised beds.
I learned a lot from my mistakes last year.
Any suggestions from freepers on the best (most nutritious) veggies to grow in small spaces?
I am thinking brocholi, lettuce, tomatoes, bell peppers, green onions, climbing beans (maybe some peas, I love them). Oh, and celery. I use a lot of celery. I figure I can chop and freeze these for stews.
I hate to hear that about granny. I loved reading her posts.
I bought some of these nasturtium for the first time last year, for my flowerbeds. I just fell in love with the leaves and flowers.
My aunt from England told me they use them for salads there, and they are delicious. So I may try them next summer.
You’re welcome.
I love that site, but not as much as FR, of course. :)
You are welcome. I’m glad you found it helpful. Lots of good advice to be had there.
Me too. :(
Caught your post the other day about long hair and go carts! OUCH! My hair is still long—to the pockets of my jeans, but that’s as far as it goes. It won’t get any longer. Like yours, it’s ruler straight and baby fine. If I had any sense, I’d get a crew cut and be done with it! I always had short hair when I was little—hated brushing the tangles out. Keep it braided or tied in a knot now.
Sorry to hear about your neighbors house. Are they ok?
Don’t you just love “Love in a Mist”? I haven’t tried it here, prob too hot and humid. Same goes for Canterbury bells and lilacs. :( Haven’t tried CB’s but delphiniums crap out so I’m assuming the cb’s would too.
Hope you’re feeling better. :)
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