Tis the season for everything gardening and planting. But for me and so many others, I still need ALL THE HELP I can get. So, I rooted around (lol, good play on words, huh?) and gathered a bunch of tips to encourage you that you CAN garden well, even on a budget.
Gardening should not take your hard-earned cash. Harvesting fruits and vegetables should be something that helps your budget and not hurts it. Don’t go out and spend a ton of money on gardening. There are ways you can garden and still stay on budget. Going out to your garden to pick out lettuce to put on your sandwich is the best feeling in the world!
These are mostly practical tips and should help you not overthink the gardening process. Ultimately, plant what you KNOW you will eat, can, and won’t get sick of before the season is over. And, if you have room, maybe plant something extra to share with family and friends.
*hint: zucchini and yellow squash are usually the ones that grow aplenty, lol, maybe grow something else to share this season. But you should still keep Proverbs 22:9 in mind, “Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor” (NLT) when you are planting this season.
1- Plant inexpensive produce
One of the best ways to garden on a budget is to plant inexpensive produce. Plant fruits and veggie seeds that don’t cost a fortune.
2- Use up your old coffee
If you drink a lot of coffee, make sure you re-use it in your garden. Use coffee grounds can attract worms, which in return can help the soil in your garden to become even more rich, especially rich in nitrogen.
3 – Pair old coffee grounds with your compost
What’s better than using old coffee grounds in your garden? When you pair your old coffee grounds with a compost pile. Worms can break down the food and help make that soil even more rich, providing amazing plants.
4 – Don’t overdo your garden
Don’t let anything go to waste by keeping your garden small. A smaller garden can still produce a ton of fruits and veggies. A smaller garden means you don’t have to spend as much on gardening supplies. It will also allow you to keep your time spent in the garden to a minimum.
5 – Use seeds not starters
Seeds are obviously the most cost-effective way to have a garden. Starters can be expensive, which can really make a garden costly.
6 – Use whatever planters you can find
If you will be planting in containers, know that you can use whatever containers you can find. From bathtubs to five-gallon buckets. Plants will grow anywhere there is good soil, sunshine, and water.
7 – Water your garden
Why is this a budget tip? Because if you don’t water your garden, you might as well not garden at all. Plants need water to grow! Most places don’t get enough rain for gardens to receive enough water. Be mindful though to NOT overwater select plants you may be growing, then you will ruin that crop altogether – know your plants!
8 – Use up what you have
Before you decide to go buy a bunch of gardening stuff, use up what you have. You may be surprised what you can find to help you garden along. Necessity is the mother of all invention, so look around the house to see what you can use before spending any more money on “stuff”.
9 – Accept free stuff
Don’t be ashamed to accept free gardening stuff. Pots, gardening tools, and seeds are all examples of free things you may be able to get your hands on. Free stuff always helps keep your garden on a budget.
10 – Garden as natural as possible
The trick to growing a garden on a budget is to keep things cheap and simple. Don’t use pesticides and grow as organic of a garden as possible. Surprisingly cheap AND effective fertilizer is rabbit poop. This is called “cold” fertilizer which means you can take it and dump it straight on your garden without fear of it “burning” and destroying your plants. Super helpful and your plants will love you all the more by producing an abundance of fruits and veggies.
11- Make your own planter markers
If a big company can sell you something, they will. You don’t need expensive planter markers. Instead, make your own. This is just another example of how you can cut expenses, while gardening. The easiest thing I use for plant row markers are paint stirrers from Home Depot or Lowe’s – Run a strip of white paint down the sides and then use black paint to write what plant is in each row.
Leave a Reply