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Ways to Save Money In The Garden (When Growing Your Own Vegetables)

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One of the ways I save money each month is by growing much of my own food.

But – as I’ve found out – just because you begin a vegetable garden doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll save money.

Indeed, just like with any other hobby it’s all too easy to get carried away and spend an insane amount of money in the garden center.

The purpose of this article is therefore simple; I want to show you some of the ways to save money in the garden – without having to compromise on the quality of your harvest.

Take Care of What You Have

Gardening might be an absorbing hobby - but it can also be an expensive one. Over the last few years this blogger has managed to build an incredible garden while spending next to nothing. If you want to save money on your garden then follow these proven steps for success. Click here to learn more...If you have any kind of garden it’s likely that you already have an assortment of gardening tools and other supplies.

From lawn mowers to garden forks your shed or garage is likely full of equipment.

The first money-saving tip is a simple one then; take proper care of your existing supplies to prevent having to replace them.

This means taking proper care of your tools.

After use, for example, allow any soil to dry and then carefully brush it off your fork, spade or hoe to keep them in top condition.

This prevents them rusting in storage.

Buy from Junk Stores, Markets & Yard Sales

If you need any kind of equipment for your garden it very rarely makes sense to buy new.

The fact of the matter is that most garden tools have very little value on the second hand market, meaning that you can often pick up a second-hand fork or mower for next to nothing.

Also, when it comes to bulky items like greenhouses keep an eye on your local paper and on freecycling websites.

They’re heavy and fragile so many people would rather allow someone to come and collect their unwanted glasshouse rather than having to do the job themselves and charge someone else for the service.

Reuse Household Items

I lose track of just how many household items can be reused in the garden. This has the double benefit of not only reducing the volume of garbage you throw away, but also helping you to save money in the garden.

Need some examples?

Drinks Bottles

I use old soda bottles and milk bottles with the bottom cut off as mini-greenhouses. When you plant out sensitive seedlings like zucchini or pumpkin – which my local snails seem to love eating – placing a little cloche over the top can be useful for helping them to get established.

Toilet Roll Tubes

The unwanted cardboard tubes from kitchen rolls and toilet paper can be used to start seeds. No need to purchase expensive plastic pots – just fill your tubes with compost and pop your seeds in. Even better, when it comes to planting your seedlings out you can simply plant the entire container, as the cardboard will slowly rot away naturally during the season.

Plastic Tubs

From margarine containers to ice cream tubs, many food items come pre-packaged in solid plastic containers. With a few holes stabbed in the bottom these can become useful seed trays. Line them up on your windowsill in early spring and get a head start on the season by planting indoors for starters.

These are just a few examples of what I’ve been doing. I’m sure if you think about it you’ll be able to come up with all sorts of extra ways to reuse unwanted household items to help you save money in the garden.

Collect Seeds & Take Cuttings

One of the most expensive parts of growing your own vegetables can be buying the seeds and plants in the first place.

While each pack of seeds may not be overly expensive, the truth is that you might end up buying dozens of packs to get you started. As a result, the prices can start to add up quickly.

While in many cases this expense will be a necessary evil in your first year of growing vegetables it doesn’t always need to be that way.

I now save seed from my harvest each year, keep the seeds over winter and then start my vegetable plot afresh the next year.

Now to be fair you can’t do this with every vegetable plant. Some, like mini sweetcorn, need to be bought again each year because they’re a special cross.

But most crops can easily be started from your own saved seed. Just this year I have grown the following from my own home-harvested seed:

… and more. I’m sure you can imagine just how much money this has saved me in comparison to buying all this from the garden center.

Learn to Create Compost

If you’re growing your own fruit and vegetables then you’ll likely get through a lot of potting compost. It’s ideal for growing seeds and for growing vegetables in containers. It’s much higher quality than the soil in your garden, being full of nutrients, which helps to give your vegetable plants the best possible start to their life.

But buying bags of compost rapidly gets expensive, not to mention how back-breakingly heavy lugging giant bags of compost home from the garden center can be.

Instead, when it comes to ways to save money in the garden why not consider learning how to make your own compost?

The process is surprisingly easy and allows you to turn unwanted kitchen scraps as well as garden waste into crumbly, rich, nutrient-packed compost in a very short space of time.

Liberally apply it when planting out your vegetables and you’ll have the best harvest ever.

How do you save money in your garden? Please leave your top money-saving tips in the comments section below…

How to save money in the garden when you're growing your own fruits and vegetables. Top money-saving tips every gardener needs.

Richard

Sun-worshipper and obsessive frugality blogger. For loads more money-saving advice come and join us on Facebook.

1 comment

  • Richard Sanderlin says:

    Ways that I save money on the garden… First, by taking the suckers off tomato plants and rooting them in a cup of water. In no time you have a “clone” of whatever variety of tomato. You can get lots of extra plants that way. Just start early with the first set of plants. Second, for improving the soil, as most places have less than ideal conditions, find a farm. In my case I found a local organic egg farm to buy a pickup truck load of chicken manure for only $25 per load. It really improves the soil, especially for nitrogen heavy feeders like corn. Over time will really help the soil hold onto moisture in very sandy soils and aerates clay soils. I just dig a trench between rows and load my kitchen scraps, pulled weeds after they dry out, grass clippings, leaves and the chicken manure, then cover it up with garden soil. Next year I turn it all over and there are lots of worms and great soil amendment. And you didn’t have to keep turning a pile repeatedly during the year.