Posted on April 28, 2009 - by Amanda

Gardening

With the economy a bit down and people looking to pinch pennies wherever they can, vegetable gardens are enjoying a day in the sun. It seems that anyone with a bit of space is planting food to help with the grocery bills. With this in mind we offer a few tips to help you avoid some of the more egregious errors beginniners can fall into.

1. The $64 dollar tomato dilemma.

Far from being frugal, gardening can easily turn into a money pit. Buying plants, buying soils, buying tools and seeking ideal produce can quickly turn your frugal goals inside out. We advise keeping your expectations low and being very strict about how much you will allow yourself to spend.

2. Growing what is cheaper to buy.

Carrots are finicky to grow and dirt cheap at the store. Potatoes are easy to grow but take up a lot of space and cost mere pennies to purchase. Think through each vegetable’s store-cost before taking the time and spending money on plants or seeds.

3. Growing what you will not eat.

Maybe you think that you should eat more squash but if you don’t like it now, it is highly doubtful that you will suddenly love it in three months. Improving one’s diet is a good goal but spending a lot of time weeding and watering is unlikely to endear a vegetable to you. Maybe trying growing one thing that you think you can develop a taste for, but don’t grow much of it and be patient with yourself and your family.

This is the first year I have grown a garden. My mother gardened when I was young (and I developed an abiding disgust for it) and as an adult I’ve avoided it assiduously. It made sense though to spend some effort on it this year when money was tight and I was home all the time.

We built a medium-sized raised bed out of materials we had on hand, bought a yard of topsoil and about 4 cubic feet of compost. We also bought eight packets of seeds and four plants on a two-for-one sale. Our total expenditure was about $35.

We love zucchini bread so I planted two hills of zucchini plants. I’m the only one that likes tomatoes so I only bought one regular plant and one cherry tomato plant. We love fresh herbs (and they tend to be expensive) so I bought a basil and an oregano plant and planted thyme, parsley and chives. Lettuce is easy to grow and fresh salad is marvelous so I also planted lettuce, arugula and spinach. Until the nights are a bit warmer I am covering my tomato and herb plants with cut-open milk jugs.

If we get a dozen salads, some zucchini bread and fresh herbs for a few dishes then we will have “paid” for our monetary investment but the gardening wouldn’t be worth the time if I wasn’t home full-time already.

Get busy! Planting season is well underway!