Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.
—Jeremiah 29:5

Are you following Jeremiah’s admonition, and are you, like me, a cheapskate gardener at heart? I am always a careful shopper for garden essentials like plants, seeds, and dirt. Ooops, I mean soil. We cheapskates do adore a bargain.

Dave Barry is obviously in our cheapskate ranks, according to this gardening tip he wrote: “Your first job is to prepare the soil. The best tool for this is your neighbor’s garden tiller. If your neighbor does not own a garden tiller, suggest that he buy one.”

In case your neighbor is not Dave Barry’s ideal, I offer here some more practical tips to help you save gardening dollars and still get super garden produce yields.

Seeds

Seeds are $2.00 or less for a pack versus about $4.00 for a six pack of small seedlings. Last spring I planted bean seeds, zucchini seeds, lettuce, chard and beet seeds and got a generous crop at very low cost.

Freecycle.org

This community with an online base, shares all types of things, including garden items, and it is set up so folks can give away and receive free items. Go to freecycle.org, select your city and sign up.

Repurpose what you already have

This is so fun. I pounded holes in the bottom of a very old metal pail and now grow annual flowers in it. People grow flowers in old rain boots and tea pots, and you may set up an old mirror against a fence, which gives the illusion of added depth to a garden.

Pass-along plants

Save seeds, dig divisions, and volunteer plants and root cuttings from your plants, and give them to fellow gardeners, and ask them for pass-along plants in return. My grandma sent me Rose of Sharon seeds, from Indiana, all the way to California. Dig up Iris, Canna and Day Lily divisions to give away, save Zinnia, Coreopsis, Marigold, Purple Cone Flower and Salvia seeds, dig up volunteer Johnny Jump-Ups and Four O’Clocks and trade with friends and neighbors.

Garage sales

You can find garden gear and plants at garage sales. For 25 cents I bought a handsome ceramic pot which was hand crafted as a bowl, but which had a crack along the bottom, making it useless as a bowl, but perfect for a planter.

Have your own garage sale, with seedlings and cuttings from your own plants. Hydrangeas and Christmas cactus do well from cuttings, and most succulents can be readily rooted by breaking off a piece and putting it in soil.

Bird bath for songbirds

I made a bird bath with a large ceramic saucer intended to be used under a ceramic pot, setting the saucer on top of a large old clay pot. This created an instant and inexpensive bird bath that even our cats and visiting possums and skunks drink from.

A gardener challenged himself to grow food this summer to feed his family of four, spending only twenty-five dollars. Visit http://joegardener.typepad.com.

 

Copyright © by Terra Hangen