TOP TIPS TO SAVE MONEY WHEN GROWING FOOD
Vegetable gardening on a budget
BUDGET SEEDS AND PLANTS
To start growing your garden you’ll need seeds and plants, but when starting from scratch the price of all the new plants can grow quickly. Finding a local seed and plant swap group is a great way to bulk out on a new garden for cheap, or even for free. Your choices may be a bit more limited so you’ll need to be flexible, and as it’s a swap you’ll of course need to bring something in return.
When buying seeds make sure to look out for special offers on seed supplier websites both before the start and at the end of the growing season. Remember, while most seeds will survive multiple seasons, some seeds will not last more than a few years, such as parsnips, sweetcorn and spinach.
Some plants are easy to collect seeds from, such as tomatoes, beans and leafy salads, meaning that you’ll be able to grow them again next year for free.
FEED YOUR SOIL FOR FREE
Having a healthy soil is the best way to grow plants, and you can make your own compost for free. You don’t need a fancy bin or compost collector to start, simply set up a heap in a quiet nonwindy corner of your garden which gets a little bit of sun to help speed up decomposition.
Keep the heap contained with spare wood or stones from the garden as a border. In autumn collect the fallen leaves to use in the heap, and between every layer of new compost put a pile of leaves. Farms and stables often give away manure for free, if you’re willing to collect it. This is a great way to make your own ‘black gold’ compost.
GROW YOUR OWN PLANT SUPPORTS
Vegetables which climb as they grow, such as beans and cucumbers, will need a sturdy support. While bamboo canes aren’t that expensive to buy, a free alternative is always better! You can grow bamboo in your garden for free poles, or you can use any type of spare wood you have laying around, such as cuttings from hazel trees or buddleia bushes- it doesn’t need to look fancy to work!
FREE CROP PROTECTION
Crops need protecting from a lot of what nature has to throw at them, such as the cold, the sun or from pests.
For protection from the cold try using plastic bottle over your veg, polythene stretched over homemade hoops, or you could even used recycled glass doors and windows to build a makeshift greenhouse. In the summer improvise some shade cloths with old tulle or net curtains, laid double think when it gets extra hot for a little more protection.
Newly sewn beds can be shaded with carboard until the seedlings start to poke through, or put a put upside down over a seedling until they become more established.
NATURAL PEST CONTROL
Pesticides aimed at killing garden pests can be very pricey, and they tend to kill everything that comes near your plants, good or bad. Instead use natures powers to your advantage to keep the bad pests away. Include nectar-rich flowers in your vegetable beds to draw the pest predators to your garden, helping you keep your plants healthy and uneaten. If you ever start to see aphids on your vegetables try introducing some ladybugs to your garden to eat the small pests. You can also leave some onions and carrots in the ground, which will flower next during the next season.
RECYCLED CONTAINERS
Remember, anything that can hold soil can be used to pot plants. As long as you can put some drainage holes in the bottom of the container then you’re set. For seedlings, try stuff like old yogurt pots, and fruit and mushroom trays. You can turn your old toilet paper tubes into planter pots which can go straight into the soil along with the seed, giving it a better chance to get established and grow bigger roots.
BUDGET FRIENDLY BOUNDARIES AND PATHS
Paths can be made from anything, from cheap bark chippings laid on the ground to temporary cardboard walkways.
For something more substantial, try using recycled or salvaged bricks or cobbles. You can also get cheap bags of gravel to fill in any gaps.
Prefer a downloadable version?
Click the button to open and download this SmartMag as a PDF