What money saving tips do you use for your vegetable garden

[Allan23]

I noticed that this forum allows you to take a poll. I have never used a forum that allowed you to take polls, so I can't wait to try it out!

Here is the question:

What money saving gardening tips do you use?

I know that there are various ways to save money when gardening. Such as using seeds from last year(I've never tried that one), making your own compost using food scraps, and making your own tomato/pole bean supports, etc.

I look forward to seeing the results!

[prettygurl]

I have cloned plants instead of saving seeds. I also shop for supplies at the dollar stores. For instance, I bought the plastic covered tin foil casserole deep pan. I use it as a mini greenhouse to start seeds in. I fill little solo cups with seed starter and poke holes in the bottom. Not pretty but the system works perfect for me.

[imafan26]

I ask friends for cuttings and seeds for plants I don't have
I can get some seeds and plants from the grocer at better prices.
lemon grass, ginger,garlic, watercress, mint, basil, sprouting seeds, dried bean seeds.
Garage sales sometimes have pots, tools and plants.
shop around online prices vary a lot from different sources. But you need still need to check the seed counts not just the price and the guarantee.
I save drink cups, yogurt, gallon cans (I can get that free from the bakery), styrofoam boxes from restaurants make good planters.
Egg boxes for seed starting
worms gets rid of vegetable scraps and gives me vermi compost
I save rice water and some gray water to water some of the plants in the yard
rain barrels
I use Utz jars to make my own pocket pot. (Its a lot lighter too.)
Dollar store or thrift shop bowls and old pots become planters. Chairs plant stands.
Bamboo trellisses
rubbermaid 18 gallon totes = earth box
Old hoses = soaker hoses, tree supports.
pallets (can usually be gotten free) fences and raised beds (after rebuilding.
kiddie pool = planter
aquarium = small aquaponic starter or with bubble aerator brewer for compost tea
hospital bath basin = planters, urinals(bleached) = watering cans.
gallon bottles, bleach, vinegar, milk planters and hanging baskets.
medicine bottles = store seed
dessicants = keep seed dry.
plastic bottles = store fertilizer, slug bait, labels, wires, clips, etc
save sprayer tips from cleaning bottles = spray bottles, misters.
alcohol = all purpose insecticide

Use old pantyhose and knee highs as tree ties, cover fruit to protect them from fruit flies (does not work for birds they rip through the stocking), and they make fertilizer sacks to put or tie on the orchids. I have not done this but I have seen people use panty hose to support heavy fruit on the trees.

[Allan23]

I have cloned plants instead of saving seeds.

That's a good idea. I guess that should have been one of the options in the poll. Is it easier to divide plants then get and save the seeds from them?

For instance, I bought the plastic covered tin foil casserole deep pan. I use it as a mini greenhouse to start seeds in.

I like your idea for a miniature greenhouse, very resourceful.

[Allan23]

I ask friends for cuttings and seeds for plants I don't have
I can get some seeds and plants from the grocer at better prices.
lemon grass, ginger,garlic, watercress, mint, basil, sprouting seeds, dried bean seeds.
Garage sales sometimes have pots, tools and plants.
shop around online prices vary a lot from different sources. But you need still need to check the seed counts not just the price and the guarantee.
I save drink cups, yogurt, gallon cans (I can get that free from the bakery), styrofoam boxes from restaurants make good planters.
Egg boxes for seed starting
worms gets rid of vegetable scraps and gives me vermi compost
I save rice water and some gray water to water some of the plants in the yard
rain barrels
I use Utz jars to make my own pocket pot. (Its a lot lighter too.)
Dollar store or thrift shop bowls and old pots become planters. Chairs plant stands.
Bamboo trellisses
rubbermaid 18 gallon totes = earth box
Old hoses = soaker hoses, tree supports.
pallets (can usually be gotten free) fences and raised beds (after rebuilding.
kiddie pool = planter
aquarium = small aquaponic starter or with bubble aerator brewer for compost tea
hospital bath basin = planters, urinals(bleached) = watering cans.
gallon bottles, bleach, vinegar, milk planters and hanging baskets.
medicine bottles = store seed
dessicants = keep seed dry.
plastic bottles = store fertilizer, slug bait, labels, wires, clips, etc
save sprayer tips from cleaning bottles = spray bottles, misters.
alcohol = all purpose insecticide

WOW! That's a lot of very creative ideas... Thanks for the post. I guess gardening can be inexpensive if you know what to use!

Thank you everyone, for taking the poll and giving your money saving gardening tips. I am learning so much!

[rainbowgardener]

I save seeds from a number of things and gradually getting better at that. I also buy seed. This year I bought seed in bulk, much cheaper than the little seed packets, sometimes about the same price for 500 or 1000 seeds as the seed packet with 20 or 50. Seeds keep, so I will be using these seeds for a couple more seasons after this one. The next couple years, I shouldn't need to buy seeds.

I have two 75 gallon rain barrels and I do sometimes use gray water.

I save and re-use all my gardening supplies - deer netting, plastic, plastic pots (bought a lot of 3" plastic pots for seedlings cheap from wholesaler and use them year after year). For hoops to put netting or row cover or plastic over, I use the wire frames that political yard signs come on, which I save.

I make my own mini greenhouse for hardening off seedlings, by taking an ordinary metal shelf system and wrapping it in heavy plastic. Glue velcro strips down the edges so you can open and close it.

I'm sure there's more, but that's all I'm thinking of right now.

[Lucius_Junius]

The only thing I can ever remember buying for my garden are seeds, and I'd like to get beyond that someday. I cut my fence posts, use and re-use old chicken wire for trellis, I compost, etc. I grow food to save money, which is part of a larger mentality of downsizing and simplifying. If I was spending more to grow my vegetables than I could be buying them for - not including the time I devote to the work, which would be spent doing some other, less productive leisure activity - I would have to re-think my motivation.

[gumbo2176]

I've used wooden pallets from the lumber yard to build compost bins. They were pulled from their dumpster and put to good use.

I use wood shims used for shimming cabinets and doors for plant markers. I'll write on them with permanent marker pens and they last the season. Much cheaper than the designated markers at nurseries.

I compost all my vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells and mix it with stable waste I get from the local police horse stables.

I build my own trellises and they are sturdy enough to last several years before needing repair or replacing.

I have 2 old toilets bowls setting in my back yard. One is planted with Mother-in-Law's Tongue (I find it appropriate), the other has a flowering succulent who's name escapes me at the moment. I also save just about every usable pot that plants come in when up-potting to a larger one.

I use newspaper, shredded paper waste from the house and cardboard boxes gotten from the local store to use for weed blocker between rows. I also head to the local cemetery several times a year to pick up the many bags of grass clippings and oak leaves I use to mulch around my plants.


My compost pile supplies me with the ingredients for making compost tea that I use to help the plants while growing. I got a cheap aquarium aerator at the local Wally World and use it to speed things along a bit.

[jal_ut]

Seed will remain viable for several years. Use your old seed. Save some seed from varieties that easily produce seed. Carrots and beets are biennial. If you hold a carrot or beet root over winter and plant it in the spring, it will make seed. Here it is too cold for them to survive in the ground, but a refrigerator or root cellar works. You can save some potatoes for planting too, the same way.

I don't have a compost heap, but just put the organic matter on the garden. Lawn clippings, leaves etc. It acts as mulch then eventually gets tilled in or decomposes on the surface. Either way it goes into the soil to enrich it.

Manure can pretty much be had for free from the local farmers. You gotta put in some labor. They are happy to have you move it in many cases.

Bean supports: I cut willow bean poles from a wild area up on the river.

Fertilizer, our local Co-op has bulk shipments of fertilizer. I take my own bag and bag my own. They weigh it and I pay lots less than buying bagged fert in a store.

Tomato supports? Let them sprawl.

[prettygurl]

I have cloned plants instead of saving seeds.

That's a good idea. I guess that should have been one of the options in the poll. Is it easier to divide plants then get and save the seeds from them?

For instance, I bought the plastic covered tin foil casserole deep pan. I use it as a mini greenhouse to start seeds in.

I like your idea for a miniature greenhouse, very resourceful.

I enjoy dividing the plants. That way I know that they are coming from a strong plant that is a good producer, there is no need to mess with germination, and it is a fun experiment.

I have too many seeds now to save. I need to use the ones I already have. I started some Better Boy seeds from 2005 last month.

The other type of plastic covered tin foil containers that I purchase are the rectangle ones that are about 1-2 inches high. They come with the plastic top cover attached to the bottom of the pan. I never remove the tops and use the entire container as a saucer for my indoor buckets.

[sepeters]

Great tips from all so far! (I'm taking notes, Iamafan!) Here's a couple more!

*I always start from seeds, that way I get a jump on the season, don't pay for transplants and don't bring greenhouse bugs into my garden

*Make my own compost and vermicompost, that way I do not need to pay for compost or worms for the soil.

*Get free (empty) frosting buckets from the bakery in the grocery store to store your finished vermicompost/compost and brew your compost tea in, make sure they have lids

* fish tank pump and air stone plus free bucket can make a brewing station for your compost tea for about $10. You won't have to fertilize as often using the tea.

*get tomato suckers from someone in your area with strong plants, they almost always take and don't need indoor time and care. nice free way to get a second harvest

*almost any waterproof container can have holes drilled in the bottom to hold herbs, no need to buy pricey pots, just modify

*def. make your own cages if you need them

*sanitize and re-use your seed starting cells as long as possible

*don't buy "grow-lights". most people here will tell you you'll be fine using regular shop lights or a fluorescent set up, one warm and one cool will do ya fine.

* a regular heating pad on a thermostat controller to keep it ambient will work just as well as a seed starting heat pad and will cost at least half as much

*make some visits to your local community garden, they will often give away many of the plants they are thinning out. free transplants that you know will grow well in your area!

[tomf]

I do many of the same things as the rest of you. I put as much organic stuff from the yard as I can into the garden, and I use a drip system to cut down on water, this also cuts down on weeds between the beds.

Gumbo you kill me! You have two toilets in your yard, man this is the start of many red neck jokes.LOL as McDucks says "mum mum I'm loving it".

[DoubleDogFarm]

Cut up junk mail envelopes and make into seed packets. Envelopes with windows are especially nice.

Eric

[gixxerific]

Does throwing out (putting in flowerbeds up front) 5 full wheelbarrows of some really awesome, though possibly contaminated soil away count as as saving money?

Had a bad disease with my winter dwarfs. I am repurposing all that soil since I will need to start with clean soil for starters, wouldn't want to bring disease to my garden.

[Avonnow]

Well even with my thrifty ways, I still think my garden costs me more then it probably should. I am a seed hoarder , even with savings my own seeds I can't pass a catalog or carousel in the store without buying something.

But I do make my own trellises, either from stuff I have here, or things I see others throw out. I bring it home and make my husband fix it up. I collect old plastic pots in spring when everyone is landscaping (from the the trash) when I am out working, so they are recycled. They charge money for those at Home Depot and ACE! I ask my customers for their pots as well when I see them plugging the yard or planting to annuals.

I take my white plastic stakes that I buy for labeling plants and soak them in bleach water to re-use - they come out good as new. I save seeds (but still buy). I also have a compost pile. I also have no trees in my yard other then palms (FL) so I collect bags of yard leaves from people I know to use all year in my compost.

[imafan26]

I reuse labels from my orchids. They are stronger labels too. Paint stirring sticks from the paint store are really good for labels.

I use the spent orchid mix and soil that is not good for the garden any more as fill in low spots in the yard. The old orchid bark I use for mulch. I still bleach them first to kill as much of the bacteria and fungus I can on them.

I buy in bulk fertilizer, peat moss, perlite from an agricultural wholesaler.
By mixing my own potting mix, I get the mix I need for my plants whether I am growing cactus or watercress and it ends up cheaper than buying ready made potting mix.

I have turned old bathtubs into water gardens, broken wheelbarrows into planters. Wine boxes and coolers into planters.
Grape containers from costco into mini greenhouses

Buckets from restaurants and bakeries for planters. Sometimes they sell the buckets but the gallon cans are free for the asking. 50-55 gallon drums usually at a reasonable cost make good rain barrels or half barrel planters.

To save on watering, I group plants that need more water around the sprinklers but hand water other plants on scheduled days.

Free mulch is available from the local recycler and some other places if you pick it up. The electric company will dump a truckload of tree trimmings if you ask for it and they are in the area.

[Happy Days]

Lots of good ideas. I use many of them and will incorporate others in my gardening.

I save $ by repurposing a lot ... saved the old metal security/storm door frames when we replaced ours with new ones and will use those either as trellises or to make into a vertical garden ... also old storm windows for a cold frame of sorts. Reused the old ceramic tiles removed from the bathroom as a border for a rose bed.

When reroofing, old roof shingles laid down for a path either alone or with shredded bark on top. Really smothers out the grass and weeds.

I made the border of one bed with empty 3L wine bottles turned upside down with the necks pushed into the ground.

I use old chairs, ladders, whatever to make trellises for various vining plants including clematis and honeysuckle.

I buy the vinyl lined canvas type tote bags for $1 at the Dollar Store (the larger ones cost a little more), poke holes in the bottom, fill with soil, and they can be used as planters outdoors, either hung up or sitting on the ground. The handles make it easy to move the plants around if need be.

I save all the plastic food containers and such that we get for rooting and other purposes.

I have a rainbarrel and also try to capture and redirect runoff.

I make plant markers out of strips cut from empty soda cans. The shiny side can be permanently "engraved" with the plant name by pressing hard with a ball point pen.

I "Lasagna" garden and also have a composter to make my own compost.

I swap/trade plants and seeds whenever I can.

I use kiddie wading pools (bought for $10 or less when they go on sale at the end of summer) for making raised beds.