Frugal Gardening

I started gardening as an exercise in frugality. The first year, I didn’t even break even because everything but the herbs died. The second year, I broke even by the virtue of my green pepper plant, which produced a massive harvest late in the season and then promptly passed away due to cold. This year, I’m going big — and hopefully I’ll clean up.

Here’s a few ideas that should help you with frugality, especially down here in the south.

Somewhat Frugal, definitely easy

  • Don’t buy expensive garden products, even if they are more reliable.
    • It’s cheaper to plant nine seedlings in a seed tray to make SURE you get at least one plant than it is to buy nine jiffy pods and still run the risk of seed not germinating.
    • Newspaper or recycled food containers can make excellent planters or seed germinators.
    • Think about what other things you buy. Do you really need them for a good garden, or can you make a substitute out of things that you already have and maybe would normally discard or recycle?
  • Don’t call the garden center when you need manure or compost, call some local horse farms. Offer to repay them with work (shoveling an hour is cheaper than an hour at a gym…) in exchange for a steady supply of garden compost.
  • In the same vein, get your sandy fill dirt from a construction site that has too much.
  • Friends with pickup trucks will do just about anything for a steady supply of fresh produce.
  • Learn to Can and preserve your salsas, pickle your beans, and cure your onions so that they last all winter.

Extremely Frugal

  • Use your “gray water” twice — things like dishwater, face-washing water, dog-washing water, and even bathwater can be “recycled” into your garden.