Chesapeake on the Cheap

Gardening

What a wonderful money-saver gardening can be! It can also be a black
hole for your savings if you let it. Aside from it’s addictive qualities,
there are so many cool toys and accessories one can buy. Some of the
modern tools are real time and labor savers, so don’t discount them completely. Just be sure that the benefit really justifies the expense. Is that thingamajig really going to save time and or money? Enough to pay for itself? Enough about that, no more lectures.

Gardening expenses can be divided up into two major categories: supplies
and equipment. Supplies are seeds, fertilizer, plants, trees and shrubs,
insecticides and other chemicals, soil and amendments, pots, landscaping
materials (notice most of the non-plant items here are consumables).
Equipment are the tools you use to do your gardening.

• Supplies

As mentioned supplies can be divided up into further categories:
consumable and renewable. The surest way to save money in your garden are to make sure you spend as little as possible on consumables! Renewable resources, such as perennial shrubs, last indefinitely.

Many of the consumable products one would use for gardening can
be had for free by recycling. Think compost! Not only can you generally get free chicken or cow manure (this too needs to be composted to avoid “burning” your plants), but you can compost your kitchen waste. I found a beautiful ceramic pitcher at a garage sale last month to put my compost in in the kitchen, so as not to have an ugly bucket on the counter. Composted green material and manure will cover a large part of your “soil amendment” costs. In addition, incorporating compost in your garden reduces (or removes) the need to use commercial fertilizer.

To cut back on the need to use insecticides, plant companion plants
that deter pests. Marigolds and garlic in a garden deter all sorts
of unpleasant little buggies.

Having a problem with slugs or snails? Put a shallow dish of beer
in your garden (make sure it’s out of pets’ reach!); it attracts
the slimey pests and they drown in it.

There are many other natural or less costly (and caustic) remedies
to common garden problems: you’re already at the source of the information–your computer. Just google it, as they say.

While seeds are a consumable, they are also renewable if you collect
seeds from your plants at the end of the season. Another way to save
on seeds is to find a gardening friend and share the cost. Nobody
really need to grow 40 tomato plants. (trust me on this!) It’s a
great idea to share 6-packs of vegetables with a neighbor, too.

Another way to share with other gardeners is through propagation.
Many plants can be started this way; I have 6 beautiful hydrangea
bushes to prove it. eHow.com is a wonderful source, just search on the word propagate.

Need cups to start your seedlings in? Try your nearest cafeteria,
half-pint milk cartons are just the right size. Poke a couple holes
in the bottom for drainage and you’re all set.

Other pots for your plants can be made from just about anything.
Get creative! If the container you choose doesn’t have a drainage
hole, put a layer of stones or gravel on the bottom before you put
the soil in.

Need mulch? Use newspaper topped with pine straw. Everyone knows somebody with a pine tree or two! Also, check with your local tree services, they usually grind their cuttings into mulch, many city
sanitation dumps have mulch piles open to the public too.

For plant markers, I reuse the slats from vinyl mini-blinds. They
are easy to cut to size with plain scissors, and are easy to write
on with Sharpie® markers.

Freecycle is another source for supplies (and equipment)

• Equipment
  I’m a tool person. I love tools, all tools. Garden tools, carpentry
  tools, kitchen tools, you name it. I’ve largely gained control of
  my “addiction” because I realized that when all is said and done,
  I stick to using the standards. Here is a short list of some possible
  equipment.Need to have:
  • Shovel
  • Spade and/or spading fork
  • Garden rake
  • Leaf rake
  • Hoe
  • Trowel
  • Gloves
  • Pruning shears
  • Garden hose with assorted sprayers/sprinklers

  Nice to have:

  • Tiller
  • Lopping shears
  • Watering Can
  • Irrigation System

  The basics are this: borrow what you can until you can afford to buy
  quality tools. There’s no point in buying a cheap shovel if you’re
  just going to have to replace it in a year. And take care of your tools!
  My favorite tip is to keep a 5-gallon bucket partially filled with
  sand in which a quart of used motor oil has been mixed. A couple of
  quick dips and the shovel is not only clean, but protected from rust.

I’m personally a big fan of the square foot gardening method. The principle
is simple, instead of planting a huge garden that is a burden to work
in, you plant enough for your family. Careful planning and rotation of
crops keeps things simple. Frugality through simplicity. There are
two versions of the book that explains this method, “Square Foot Gardening” by Mel Bartholomew, and a new version by the same author, “All New Square Foot Gardening.” It’s been around a while, so you may be able to find it in the library. If (like me) this is the sort of book you will refer to often,
consider purchasing it used.

If you like mail order for your gardening supply, check out this source!