Dirt Cheap: The Best Frugal Gardening Ideas On The Internet

With the price of healthful groceries going no place but up, lots of thrifty folks are starting a garden to save money on their bills this year. But what about the money to start a garden? It can be a very expensive undertaking, especially if you’ve never gardened before in your particular location.

I’ve been researching ways to start my own garden as inexpensively as possible and thought, “HEY!!! I know some other folks who would absolutely love frugal gardening ideas!” So…here they are.

Step One: What Kind of Garden Are You Going to Grow?

Of course, the very first thing to decide is what type of garden will work best for your situation. This will depend a lot on your soil, your climate, your skill set, and what you have easy and inexpensive access to. Following are some articles and books that will help you make your decision.

Pallet Gardens: Simple, Easy, Free

Straw Bale Gardens Complete

How to Build a Recycled Greenhouse

Create an Instant Garden with Sheet Mulching

Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling, No Weeding, No Kidding!

DIY Metal Raised Beds

DIY Super Easy Raised Garden Bed for Under $30

How to Build a Raised Garden Bed for $12

For those who aren’t build-y: Big Bag Fabric Raised Beds (I have used these with great success for veggies with shallow roots and as a bonus, you can use them on concrete if you’re gardening on a patio.)

Using Pallets to Make Free Raised Garden Beds

Square Foot Gardening: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More in Less Space

15 Fruits and Veggies You Can Grow in a Bucket Garden

PVC Drip Irrigation System for Your Garden

How to Save BIG on Lumber Supplies for Your Square Foot Garden

Step Two: Plan Your Garden

Now that you have figured out how you’ll grow your food, you need to figure out what to grow. A lot of that depends on your goals. Are you just hoping for salad this summer? Or are you planning to grow an entire year’s worth of food for your family? These links will help you make some decisions!

FREE Garden Planning Printables

How Much to Plant for a Year’s Worth of Food

Granny Miller’s Garden Planner for Home Preservation

An Inspiring 5000 Square Foot Garden Plan

Last Frost Date Seed Planting Worksheet

Step Three: Start Your Seedlings

While it’s easy and less hassle to buy your seedlings already started, it costs a whole lot more. One plant can be the equivalent of an entire package of seeds!  Starting your own seedlings is not that difficult and you don’t need an indoor growing operation that marijuana drug lords would envy.

Seed Starting 101

Frugal Seed Starting Station

DIY Seed Starting Mix

10 Seed Starting Hacks

20 Frugal Repurposed Seed Starting Containers

How to Make Newspaper Seed Starting Pots

Another Way to Make Seed Starting Pots from Newspaper

Chicken Manure Tea for Seedlings

Why Your Seeds Aren’t Germinating

Step Four: Amend, Create, or Prepare Your Soil

No matter how sturdy your seedlings or how efficient your beds, your garden is only as good as your soil. These tips will help you, whether you’re amending what exists, creating soil, or preparing your soil to recieve seedlings.

Know Where You’re Starting Out: Test Your Soil

How to Make Your Own Garden Soil and Compost

Create an Instant Garden with Sheet Mulching

10 Tips to Improve Your Soil

Using Eggshells in the Garden

Using Coffee Grounds in the Garden

Build a Compost Bin from Pallets

Is Your Soil Getting Enough Calories?

Bonus: Pest and Weed Control

You don’t have to break the bank to keep weeds and pests at bay.  Many of the things you need are things you’d normally throw in the trash. Other DIYs are chemical-free and thrifty to make.

Natural Pest Control in the Garden

5 Ways to Naturally Control Weeds

Natural Flea Beetle Control

The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Pest and Disease Control

Repel Insects Naturally with This All-Purpose Garden Spray

Using Banana Peels in the Garden to Repel Pests

Bonus Bonus: Miscellaneous Frugal Gardening Awesomeness

These resources didn’t fit into any of the above categories but I found something useful for my frugal gardening efforts in every single one. So, I figured you guys would like them too!

10 Things That Can Be Recycled for the Garden

Cheap and Easy Gardening Tips

The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible

The Top 10 Plants for Companion Gardening

Vegetable Gardening Basics

DIY Garden Hose Repair

7 Budget-Friendly Garden Tips

Build a Simple Cucumber Trellis

21 Gardening Hacks

Frugal and Free Landscaping and Garden Ideas

25 Cheap Gardening Tricks for Self-Reliance

9 Gardening Supplies You Can Get for Free

How to Start a Garden on a Budget

70+ Frugal Garden DIYs

80+ Items You Can Compost

Bonus Bonus BONUS: A Peek at My Personal Gardening Library

These are the books I have on my own bookshelf in the gardening/homesteading area. I’ve included links so you can find them on Amazon. All links are to the newest editions, so the books may not look the same as the ones you see on my shelf.

Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling, No Weeding, No Kidding!

The Backyard Homestead

Straw Bale Gardens Complete

The Woodland Homestead

Urban Farming

Western Garden Book

The Encyclopedia of Country Living

Building a Shed

Organic Gardening (There are only a few used copies of this one on Amazon)

The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible

Craft Wisdom and Know-How

The Taylor Guides

Not shown because I let someone borrow them or read the e-version:

All New Square Foot Gardening, Second Edition: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More In Less Space

Garden Like a Ninja

What are you waiting for?

If you are into the preparedness lifestyle, I’ve mentioned again and again what a terrible idea it is to wait until after a disaster to begin learning to garden. I’ve had a couple of bad years in a row, and I’m determined to make this one better. I have that luxury now, because groceries are plentiful, albeit pricey, at my local store.

Clearly, budget isn’t an issue! There are so many things you can do on a dime that there’s absolutely no reason for you to delay starting a garden for self-reliance.

Do you have any frugal garden tips you’d like to share? Your comments could be included in a future round-up! Post them in the section below!

The post Dirt Cheap: The Best Frugal Gardening Ideas On The Internet appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

The Dirt-Cheap, Frugal Way To Start Seeds

Image source: Pixabay.com

It’s easy to go overboard when shopping for seed supplies. Not only is it exciting to start growing things again, but there are so many tempting products. If you’re not careful, starting seeds can become surprisingly expensive. But with a little planning, you can get your hands on everything you need at a low cost — or even for free.

Containers

Reusing, repurposing and making your own planting containers is one of the easiest ways to pinch pennies.

If you don’t mind transplanting your seedlings, all kinds of plastic food containers can be repurposed into pots: yogurt cups, cheese tubs, milk jugs, water/juice/soda bottles, plastic clamshell containers from purchased fruit and vegetables, or K-Cup coffee pods. Soft plastic containers have an advantage — when you’re transplanting, you can squeeze the soil and seedlings out, without worrying about injuring the seedlings or their roots.

Need Non-GMO Seeds? Get Them From A Company You Can Trust!

However, if don’t want to mess around with a bunch of different-sized pots (which can be a headache as far as positioning your grow lights), you can make seed flats out of larger containers. Foil containers with clear plastic lids are especially useful, because they will create a greenhouse-type effect. Rotisserie chicken trays, frozen cake pans, or trays from the deli section, used for family-sized meals like lasagna, work well.

If you prefer biodegradable pots so that you can avoid transplanting, there are free options for those, too. It’s easy enough to cut toilet paper/paper towel/wrapping paper tubes down to peat-pot size. You don’t really need a bottom on these. Paper egg cartons provide excellent individual seed pots, too — just cut the cups apart when you’re ready to plant. Or, if you’re looking for a project on a blustery winter day, you can fashion pots out of newspaper. There are lots of online tutorials with instructions. All you need is newspaper, a glass or small mason jar to roll the paper around, and tape.

Potting Mix

Image source: Pixabay.com

The next step, of course, is filling your pots with a planting medium. While bringing in garden soil might be the cheapest option, this is the one item that you really should spend money on (one bag goes a long way). Garden soil might contain insects, weed seeds, or pathogens, and it’s likely too heavy and dense to have good aeration and drainage. If you really want to use garden soil, you should sterilize it by baking in your oven, and then amend it by mixing one part soil with one part peat moss and one part perlite or coarse builder’s sand.

You also can make your own soilless mix, which costs more than amending garden soil, but is still cheaper than buying the premixed stuff. A basic recipe is to mix together one part perlite with one part peat moss and one part ground sphagnum moss. Another recipe, posted at The Prairie Homestead, is to mix two parts coconut coir with one part perlite and one part sifted compost.

Seeds

The last essential product you need to start seeds is, well, seeds. If you don’t already save your own seeds from year to year, you might want to plan for that this season. If you buy seeds, you might have extras lying around that you didn’t plant in years past. It’s always best to test the viability of old seeds before planting them. The germination rate of seeds decreases over time.

The All-Natural Fertilizer That Doubles Your Garden Yield!

It’s easy to test the viability of seeds. Simply moisten a couple of layers of paper towels, and space out about 10 seeds of any one variety. Roll or fold up the paper towel and place in a plastic bag. Keep the bag in a warm, bright spot, and make sure the paper towel stays moist until the testing is done, which might take up to two weeks, depending on the type of seeds. Check every few days to see if any seeds have sprouted. If at least some sprout, it’s worth planting them — but make sure to plant extras to make up for the ones that won’t germinate.

Seed Tape

One last tip: if you love seed tape as much as I do, you can pinch pennies by making your own. All you need is toilet paper, homemade flour and water paste, and seeds. There are several online tutorials about how to make seed tape, and it’s another great project for a blustery winter day.

Gardening is already a frugal way to feed your family, but you can stretch your food dollars even further by starting seeds at an extremely low cost.

Do you have any more tips on how to save money while starting seeds? Share your secrets in the comments below:

Bust Inflation With A Low-Cost, High-Production Garden. Read More Here.

Why Homesteaders SHOULDN’T Own Livestock

As homesteading continues growing in popularity, many wannabe homesteaders face sticker shock – surprised by the costs of a self-sufficient life.

But this week’s guest on Off The Grid Radio says that homesteading doesn’t have to be expensive. Homesteader Steven Gregersen, who lives on 20 acres in Montana, says too many homesteaders begin with the wrong outlook and goals, thus dooming their endeavor.

Gregersen wrote a book, Creating the Low-Budget Homestead, that explains how he homesteads on the cheap.

Gregersen explains to us why he urges first-time homesteaders not to buy livestock – and how they still can get free meat. He also tells us:

• How to find inexpensive land that, with a little work, can be perfect for homesteading.


• How the proper view of budgeting can place a homesteader on the path to success.


• How he “gets by” without having a lot of things Americans take for granted.


• How he earns money off-grid, and how you can, too.

If you’ve ever wanted to homestead but didn’t think you could afford it, or if you simply want to learn new ways to save money, then this week’s show is for you!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:41 — 26.3MB)

13-Year-Old Invents Cheap, Award-Winning Clean Energy Device

On October 19, 13-year-old student Maanasa Mendu was awarded the grand prize in the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge for developing a cost-effective device that uses solar and wind power to create energy. [1]

Her “solar leaves” device earned her the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist,” as well as a $25,000 prize.

Mendu, a 9th grader at William Mason High School in Ohio, was inspired by a visit to India where she discovered that many people lacked basic life necessities such as clean water and lighting.

According to Water.org, World Bank estimates show most water sources in India are contaminated by sewage and agricultural runoff. Access to drinking water has improved somewhat, but about 21% of communicable diseases in that country are related to unsafe water. In India, diarrhea causes more than 1,600 deaths per day.

The student’s first design harnessed only wind energy when she entered the competition. The initial design secured her a place as a finalist in the challenge, and cost just $5 to make. Over the summer, Mendu participated in a mentorship program, along with 9 other finalists. [2]

During that time, Mendu worked with Margauz Mitera, a 3M senior product development engineer, in developing a more advanced system inspired by how plants function.

The “solar leaves” harness vibrational energy, gleaning energy from rain, wind, and the sun using a solar cell and piezoelectric material. This material is the part of the “leaf” that picks up on the vibrations, which are then transformed into usable energy. [3]

The device creates energy in virtually any type of weather.

Mendu would like to scale up her creation, dubbed HARVEST, for commercial distribution.

Sources:

[1] EcoWatch

[2] Business Insider

[3] Inhabitat

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About Julie Fidler:
	Julie Fidler is a freelance writer, legal blogger, and the author of Adventures in Holy Matrimony: For Better or the Absolute Worst. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two ridiculously spoiled cats. She occasionally pontificates on her blog.