Comments on: The scavenged garden makes gardening free

By: Happy Mother’s Day garden! | Cheap Like Me

Happy Mother’s Day garden! | Cheap Like Me — Sun, 10 May 2009 11:31:34 +0000

[...] has sprung in the Northern Hemisphere, and even though we aren’t doing much gardening around here this season (and so haven’t really started), a few things are springy despite [...]

By: Cheap Like Me

Cheap Like Me — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:36:20 +0000

@Patty – What a great idea to garden together, even if the turnout isn’t farm-quantity.

Yay to all of you just starting out! Good luck!

@Anne, maybe you can make dandelion honey? I saw instructions online last year, but we’ve never had enough organic dandelions to try it.

By: Patricia

Patricia — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:29:37 +0000

Several years ago I built 2 8 foot raised beds in my backyard and filled them with veggies from the garden center. It was so expensive that I didn’t try gardening again until this year. I purchased seed packs and started them inside which was much cheaper and I enjoyed watching them sprout. Scavenging is an even better and less expensive idea which I will try next year, and have done with bulbs and flowers and such. Don’t know why I didn’t think to use it with garden vegetables. Thanks for the tip about pre sprouting old seeds, that will help also.

By: How we boost our organic garden for free | Cheap Like Me

How we boost our organic garden for free | Cheap Like Me — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:07:08 +0000

[...] Scavengers whom I wrote about yesterday appear to be gardening partly organically, but not completely. At our house, we stick with the [...]

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 06 May 2009 04:32:45 +0000

I think I garden to save money. Never sure wbout that as it seems I spend more than I bring in- but who can put a price on homegrown quality? As far as the slurging part, I acutally bought a cordless electric lawn mower this year. Nothing to do with veggie gardening but still fun! As far as veggies go, I would like to spend the money on those fancy fake-wood raised beds but, I still use real wood (some of it old pieces of fencing from a fence I tore down after the wind knocked it down)but I can still covet!

By: aemcdraw

aemcdraw — Wed, 06 May 2009 03:20:03 +0000

It’s a goal of mine. But honestly I’m a bit intimidated (I’ve never had a eatable garden), and a bit overwhelmed (I’ve got a million dandelions to pull). I’m working on the compost, so I’ll be ready when the time comes. My plan, hopefully for next year, is to have the yard under control and work towards building a vegetable plot in the backyard. However, I’m starting from a yard full of dandelions, so maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on myself right now.

By: Chile

Chile — Wed, 06 May 2009 01:18:46 +0000

Most of our gardening efforts have proved to be rather expensive, largely due to really crappy soil in this rental house’s yard. However, it’s doing better due to free compost materials I’ve gotten off craigslist including pine needles & oak leaves, 2 straw bales, chicken & sheep manure, and pig & goat manure. Those combined with our leaves and kitchen scraps have yielded a nice compost which seems to be working better.

Many of our yard tools came from yard sales, flea markets, and thrift stores. We purchased most of our seeds, but in larger quantities for a better price. The local Food Bank gives away a dozen packets of free seeds to anyone interested: 6 vegetables and 6 flowers or herbs. They also have free compost but it’s not good quality.

Fertilizer is free in the form of urine. It’s sterile as it leaves the body and is a great source of nitrogen when diluted 10 parts water to 1 part urine. Best to pour onto heavily mulched areas and absolutely do not use it on plants such as greens or roots where it could come in contact with the edible parts. Use it on things that bloom and produce vegetables up on the plant, your citrus and nut trees, or use it to moisten a dry compost bin.

By: How Green Is My Valley

How Green Is My Valley — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:19:13 +0000

We’re planning to garden, but I’m looking at anything we spend on that this year and next as start-up costs. Down the road we may save seeds, but we’re trying to start small and build up. If I can successfully grow carrots this year, I’m calling it a victory.

By: patty

patty — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:54:57 +0000

We garden with our neighbors. Everyone brings their expertise or lack of to the plot of land. We plant cukes, watermelon, eggplant, cantalopes, broccoli, and whatever else strikes our fancy. The problem is that last year we got maybe two watermelons, no eggplants or tomatoes. While we tried and to some extent were successful, (we canned the cucumbers) there is no way to do half of our diet in home grown food. I live in the Northern part of Maryland and I experience early frosts, and late springs. We also have droughts, deer, rabbits, slugs that partake in our ventures. I try to buy local but it gets expensive unless I go to the farmers market, where I have to drive to get there. Just because you live in the country doesn’t mean food is cheap. There is no seed bank, but we do trade flower plants. California is lucky that there is weather that will permit such growing, but on the east coast we have four season.