Gardens save you money. That’s a fact I’ve discovered is always true after years of gardening. Growing your own food is simply cheaper than buying it at the grocery store {and we’re not even factoring in the health benefits for years to come that come with additional savings}! But it costs money to save money, so of course, there are ways to cut down on those costs when you’re looking at planting your spring garden. Here are just a few ways you can save while gardening:
Over Plant: Seems like an odd thing to say, but it can actually help to plant crops thicker than they actually grow. If you are normally a stickler when it comes to planting directions, be a little lax and see how it works. You can plant crops like beets, carrots, onions, lettuce, basil, and arugula closer together than traditionally prescribed, thin them out and eat the thinnings while the crop continues growing. So maybe instead of planting seeds 10 inches apart, plant them 5 inches apart.
Buy Seeds Early and In Bulk: Many seed companies will give you a discount if you buy before March. If you wait, the price will go up. Snag them starting in January for the best deals. You can also often score even better deals if you buy in bulk, so gather your friends, family and neighbors and go in together on a seed order!
Start Your Garden From Seed: Let’s be honest. Those little overpriced plant starts are tempting to buy, because they are already growing. Starting your garden from seed requires a little time and a little patience. But trust me when I say it is sooo worth it! A packet of seed can run as low as $0.25 while a 6 pack of veggie starts or even individual plant starts can run a few dollars per container. The savings really adds up! Even better? Save your seeds from previous years, and then the cost is nothing!
Shop Plant Sales: If you don’t have the patience for seeds, make sure you buy your plant starts on sale. Hit up a local farm’s harvest sale or an annual or semi-annual plant sale. That is where I have found the very best prices on plants!
Utilize Seed Libraries: Google “seed libraries” and you might be surprised to find that you can score free seeds near you. You can often take all the seeds you need for free with only a promise of letting one of your plants go to seed. You then gather those seeds and contribute them back to the seed library. It’s a win/win for everyone!
Bulk Up Your Soil on the Cheap: Sure you can go buy materials to improve and strengthen your soil, but why pay for them when you can often get them for free. Ask a local farmer for some manure, save your used coffee grounds {or grab some from a coffee shop}, or even bag up the leaves in your yard! Those are all ways to pack your soil with a nice mineral-rice punch for free!
Don’t Plant it Just Because You Can: I know it’s tempting to have a massive, full and beautiful garden, and I’ve made the mistake myself of planting a veggie knowing in the back of my mind there was a good chance it might go to waste because it wasn’t a favorite. Plant what you know you will eat; don’t buy and plant something just because the seed packet was beautiful or the plant itself is pretty. I know that’s hard to resist sometimes because those seed packets are gorgeous!!
Buy Equipment on Sale: Getting a garden started is expensive! Aside from seeds and soil, you’ll need shovels, spades, rakes, and buckets. That can add up! If I ever need to replace something, I try to wait until the season is over. Come fall, you’ll see huge sales and deep discounts on all things garden! Most stores do this to make room for their holiday inventory, and you reap the savings rewards!
And there are just a few ways you can save A LOT of money on your garden, which will in turn save you A LOT of money! Did I miss any great money-saving tips? What do you do to save money on your garden?
Get your garden on,
~Mavis
Amanda says
Outside of vegetable gardening, you can often find people thinning perennials and giving them away. I drove past a sign at a house just this weekend “free perennials, plant today”. Would have stopped, but was already running late. The free section on Craigslist can also be a good place to keep an eye on. I’ve seen garden beds, soil, rocks and pavers, perennials, raspberry canes, surplus veggie starts, and more. Certainly more effort and less predictable than finding things at a store, but if you’re on a budget! 🙂
Emily says
Mavis, you inspired me to buy some seeds last fall in preparation for this upcoming summer. Botanical Interests was so fun to shop that I bought more than anticipated.
I tried to “start” some inside at the beginning of March and it was a dud. I was bummed out since I bought a grow light and heated mat along with with planting cells, and seed starter soil.
During the ONE day over 60 degrees in MN, I went bonkers and just started tossing seeds in some dirt or pots willy nilly. I also buried some runuculus and glad bulbs figuring it couldn’t hurt.
Then the cold (and SNOW!) came back and I thought all was lost. Last week it started to warm up again, and I tossed more seeds in cells and hoped for the best, putting them on my patio to get natural sun. I came home yesterday and couldn’t believe my eyes. I ran out to the patio and walked around my minuscule garden of Eden with a giant smile on my face.
My lupine, artichokes, beans, squash, peas, daliahs, bunny tail grass, holly hocks, lettuce and others are busting out of the ground! THEN my HOA president stopped by to chat and recalled a conversation he had with my neighbor (I refer to them as the Clampets- long story!) forbidding him to plant any edibles saying it was an association rule. Yeah….. I guess I’ll have “ornamental” green beans, peas, squash, and lettuce.
Note to self for next time…… keep track of what you planted where. I have some mystery green popping up that will be a complete surprise.
I’m totally taking pictures and sending them in to you. I’m so flippin’ excited!! :):):):)
Lisa Millar says
Great story! Glad you ended up with some success and didn’t get totally discouraged!
Every season I have successes with some things and failures with others… it always changes.
What is really doing my head in is that someone would make a rule about you not allowed to grow edibles??? Who thought that was a good idea?? I am really struggling to see the sense in that one!
Enjoy eating your ornamentals! lol
Amy says
Use caution when acquiring free manure from a farm and ask questions. There are certain chemicals sprayed on grass (think hay fields) that have a residual of several years and will kill all of your tomatoes and other veggies planted into it. So even if you are getting manure from a horse barn that doesn’t spray, they might obtain their hay from someone who does.
These sprays are beneficial to the animals that eat the hay, since they will control the tansy and other poisonous plants that occur in hay fields. Farmers and gardeners just need to be educated and aware of the possible downstream ramifications. We have used these chemicals to clean up our pastures to make them safer for our livestock, but we are very careful with the manure so that it doesn’t get anywhere near a garden.
Karen L Andersen says
I had a similar experience picking up free horse manure from a nearby stable: the horses were apparently given deworming treatment as the bed which received this composted manure became a dead zone.
Judy says
Instead of buying equipment new, try tag,estate, yard sales! Really quality hoes, rakes,shovels, and spades can be had for $5 that would cost $50 easily retail!Also makes people selling off an old gardeners things feel better knowing they will be going to a good home! A win win!
Stephanie Z says
There is a website http://www.ripenear.me which maps out free food often from households with excess produce.
You can post your freebies and search for nearby foods as well.
Sue R. says
Even though starting seeds is cheaper than buying plants–I do buy some plants inexpensively. I buy 6 packs of a few vegetable starts even though they are small. It ends up at about 60 cents a plant and often have more than the 6 starts in the container. Then I repot them into bigger pots, keep them warm and happy until they grow and then plant them outside. Works well for me.
Lisa Millar says
Great post – its awesome to develop your money-saving garden on the cheap.
These are a few things extra that I do:
* I now save a lot of my own seeds. There is very little I need to go and buy new. Some seeds – like beans, peas, garlic are easy to collect. Other plants you need to leave in longer and wait while the seeds develop.
Not only can you then plant your new seasons crops free, you can also swap/sell your extras
*Grow extra tomatoes for free by using the laterals (Maybe you call them suckers?) off your existing plants. Its easy – so you can buy one or two special tomato plants and grow several more without spending a cent more.
*If you have room and you don’t mind the slight chaos – let plants that self seed do their thing. Its free food that you didn’t have to put an effort into! (I think I had about 40 plus self seeded tomatoes this last season!)
*If you live by the beach and can collect seaweed – do it. The grassy stuff makes a great free mulch and soaking kelp in water for a couple of weeks makes an awesome nutrient boost for your plants. Better than having to buy it!
As we head into winter here in Australia, I am enjoying watching gardens unfold at the other end of the world!
Mel says
I definitely agree that gardening can be done cheaply and can potentially save a lot of money on food costs, but it’s also important to remember that nearly all investments incur risk. You might get a great harvest, or you might get nothing or close to it if you have pest, disease, weather, or soil issues. I think you can minimize that risk in some ways (resistant or native varieties, sheltered location or cloches, amendments), but it’s hard to eliminate them entirely.
It’s also important to remember that starting a garden from scratch requires lots of up-front costs, especially if your soil or location are not ideal. Again, you can minimize them, but you can’t eliminate them or guarantee success. We’re in our 4th year with our garden, and I think we’re only just now starting to move into the realm of saving more money from growing it than we spend on maintaining it. So, garden investments will likely pay off eventually, but you may have to be patient and continue to spend money now to save it later.
As our garden has become more reliable, I’ve tried to use that stability to help others get started. I just gifted several friends with heirloom tomato seedlings I started 3 months ago under lights. Along with plants, I gave them compost, planting instructions, a companion plant, plant markers, and tomato cages. These were negligible costs for us with our current operation, but it likely saved our garden-less friends a good bit of cash. They can now start mini gardens of their own almost cost and risk free.
Maxine says
I bought the plastic wheelbarrow pictured and it “ripped/tore” the first year. I then bought the metal/wood kind for $50 and it’s still going strong.
Jennifer says
One way to save money and grow from seeds is to winter sow in plastic jugs. I did it for the first time this year. No grow lights or heat mats needed. Everything is planted in used milk jugs or something similar. You place it outside and the seeds start growing when it’s time. The temperature in the jug is warmer so plants grow sooner. I had my doubts at first, but it really works. Since I was skeptical, I also grew seedlings inside. There wasn’t a need. Everything did great. Next year, I’m turning off the grow lights.
I also went on Craigslist and found several tree services that offered free delivery of free mulch. My driveway was full the next day.