I love to garden. There's nothing quite like the taste of a home-grown tomato or the feeling of serving your family cucumbers, squash or corn from your own garden. But growing a garden doesn't have to cost alot of money.
Here's some ways to save money on your garden:
Think Freecyle. When we needed tomato cages the first year of our garden, we didn't want to buy the cages. So I just posted on our local freecycle group that I needed them. I ended up getting 30 free from a freecycle member who was no longer planning to use them. Cost? FREE
Get free seeds. Red Robin is giving away free tomato seeds here for a limited time.
Swap for tilling. In the early years of gardening, we didn't own a tiller but we needed the garden tilled so we could plant. We arranged for a family member to come till the garden in exchange for supper. Find a local friend who has a garden and see if you can barter for the service. Most gardeners love to spread the love for gardening and would be willing to make an arrangement. Maybe you could babysit their kids one night or "pay" them with your excess toothpaste and shampoo products?
Order a seed catalog...or 2 or 3 I rarely order seeds from catalogs, but sometimes these catalogs come with great coupons the first time you request it.
Free Gardeners Idea Book
Burpee Seed Catalog
Here’s a link with 45 different seed catalogs links.
Start small If you have never had a vegetable garden, don't plan a huge one. Instead, feel free to start with a couple of tomato plants and 1 or 2 other plants.
Participate in a Community/Neighborhood Garden Don't have a community garden in your area? Just find a local neighbor who already has an established garden and ask them if you can be the helper. This is a great way to 'apprentice' yourself to an expert. You will get to enjoy all the benefits and responsibilities but will not have to shoulder it all by yourself the first year. (Of course, you would have to work out the details with the gardener. You would need to do the weeding, planting and maintenance in order to earn the privilige of sharing in the harvest.)
What about you? Do you have ideas on how to save money while growing a vegetable garden? I'd love to hear!
My daughter loves gardening and has it as one of her clubs at school. Me I have two black thumbs..LOL
ReplyDeleteMary
Hi Sharon,
ReplyDeletew/ spring around the corner, I'm definitely thinking about replanting my vegetable garden. Thanks for the useful tips. Thnx for stopping by my site.
Raji
I am just a small time gardner and don't really know what I am doing, but I love doing it.
ReplyDeleteFreecycle has saved me so much money. I have given so much away that I would of had to pay someone to take away. Stoves, grills, I even had a guy come in and dig up flowers that I would have to dig myself. He dug them and took them home.
My Brother in law has a working television, the place where he bought his new one wanted $40 to take the old one away. I told him to post it on freeclycle. There are so many people that would love to have it.
good tips. Please tell others about my giveaway!
ReplyDelete