How Does Your Garden Grow...To Save Money

[pershing]

I had some containers on my porch last summer that were from a kit. You fill the base with water and lay the fertilizing pad on top and everything grows. It was an Aha moment for me. I saved a whole bunch of money on lettuce, spinach and tomato’s. Grew more catnip than my cats could ever eat, and had mint, basil and greek oregano coming out of my ears!

This year I want to do more. I’ve been reading Victory Garden and watching YouTube videos. I’m going to clear out the right side of my house for a Garden as it’s the side that gets full sun.

My question as Spring draws nearer, who starts seeds indoors. What and when do you start?

My little tip of Massachusetts is in Zone 7 while the rest is not. I’m going to starts seeds indoors for broccoli, cauliflower and snap peas half way through February and I have no idea what I’m doing.

 

[kymom99]

I had some containers on my porch last summer that were from a kit. You fill the base with water and lay the fertilizing pad on top and everything grows. It was an Aha moment for me. I saved a whole bunch of money on lettuce, spinach and tomato’s. Grew more catnip than my cats could ever eat, and had mint, basil and greek oregano coming out of my ears!

This year I want to do more. I’ve been reading Victory Garden and watching YouTube videos. I’m going to clear out the right side of my house for a Garden as it’s the side that gets full sun.

My question as Spring draws nearer, who starts seeds indoors. What and when do you start?

My little tip of Massachusetts is in Zone 7 while the rest is not. I’m going to starts seeds indoors for broccoli, cauliflower and snap peas half way through February and I have no idea what I’m doing.

My husband does and has good luck with it but he hasn't even mentioned it yet. We are in Kentucky. We don't plant outdoors till after Mother's Day

 

[Candlelady]

Love to garden! We have terrible soil, it's like beach sand so I do container and raised gardening for veggies. I start indoors but will also be starting a few of each outdoors next week with this method. I think I am in zone 5b? https://www.facebook.com/groups/WinterSowing.VegGardeningWithSheryl/
Use our sunporch to set up lights and shelving and start 4 or 5 different tomatoes, 2 different jalapenos, green and red peppers, spaghetti squash, dill, etc. I start cukes and summer squash a couple of weeks before planting because they grow so fast. Beans and peas outside when it's warmed up.

I also garden using Larry Hall's Rain Gutter Grow system.(He has a FB page, videos, and Pinterest. Works awesome for me. Took some experimenting, but we've gotten great results. Lots of work to set it up the first year, but now I've got a 20' x 35' garden and love it.

 

[krysenchips]

I do raised bed gardens around the perimeter of my yard. It serves double duty! Not only do we get all the lovely produce, but it also keeps the canines away from the fences that the Houdinis like to try and get out of the yard by going under!

I'm in the Pittsburgh area, so we usually do: tomatoes, raspberries, blueberries, squash, cucumbers, melon, herbs, and this year we are trying our hand at spinach, garlic, and strawberries.

 

[Jaime4004]

I'm in zone 5. I start peppers, tomatoes and onions inside around March 1st, with grow lights. Those are what we eat the most of and they take forever to grow. I've experimented with different start dates and the beginning of March seems to work best for me. Around the end of April I'll start some more things inside, no real plan, just whatever I feel like growing.

 

[pershing]

Love to garden! We have terrible soil, it's like beach sand so I do container and raised gardening for veggies. I start indoors but will also be starting a few of each outdoors next week with this method. I think I am in zone 5b? https://www.facebook.com/groups/WinterSowing.VegGardeningWithSheryl/
Use our sunporch to set up lights and shelving and start 4 or 5 different tomatoes, 2 different jalapenos, green and red peppers, spaghetti squash, dill, etc. I start cukes and summer squash a couple of weeks before planting because they grow so fast. Beans and peas outside when it's warmed up.

I also garden using Larry Hall's Rain Gutter Grow system.(He has a FB page, videos, and Pinterest. Works awesome for me. Took some experimenting, but we've gotten great results. Lots of work to set it up the first year, but now I've got a 20' x 35' garden and love it.

Wow! You've given me a lot to look at between the WinterSowing facebook page and Larry Hall's Rain Gutter System! Tnank you!

I am on sand also as we live towards the end part of Cape Cod. I'm also trying to learn about composting too. Lots to learn.

Can I ask what kind of tomatoes do you grow? Do you can? I actually grew beefsteak last summer, just because they were my favorite and you can't buy a decent one in the store. The first batch were gorgeous, but then I battled the slugs. Yuck! The two beefsteak plants I had also took over the garden! This year, I plan on only one plant in its own area with marigolds and basil growing around it, and I want to add a plum tomato for spaghetti sauce along with a grape tomato. I tried cherry tomatoes last summer but the plant just grew and grew yielding only at the end. It may have been the beefsteaks fault pushing them out.

I also had no luck with green peppers or jalapenos. The plants didn't grow and yielded only one of each. I would like to try again as we eat a lot of peppers. Maybe they are like fruit trees, some summers good some bad.

 

[pershing]

I do raised bed gardens around the perimeter of my yard. It serves double duty! Not only do we get all the lovely produce, but it also keeps the canines away from the fences that the Houdinis like to try and get out of the yard by going under!

I'm in the Pittsburgh area, so we usually do: tomatoes, raspberries, blueberries, squash, cucumbers, melon, herbs, and this year we are trying our hand at spinach, garlic, and strawberries.

Spinach is easy. I grew that as a novice and its so great fresh! If you can grow melon and blueberries, spinach should be a snap. Just keep picking it and don't let it grow a thick stem. I learned to let one area grow and pick the other, but the heat of the summer did it in. This summer I'm planting one more in a shaded area.

I'm kind of intimidated to try berries. Are raspberries easy?

 

[krysenchips]

I'm kind of intimidated to try berries. Are raspberries easy?

I've had no issues with growing the raspberry brambles, but actually getting the berries is a different story! The birds keep eating my berries! I'm going to try netting this year.

Just keep picking it and don't let it grow a thick stem. I learned to let one area grow and pick the other, but the heat of the summer did it in. This summer I'm planting one more in a shaded area.

I've set aside a portion of my raised beds that does not get full sun for my spinach, so fingers crossed that I get good yield!

Thanks!

 

[Candlelady]

I am on sand also as we live towards the end part of Cape Cod. I'm also trying to learn about composting too. Lots to learn.

Can I ask what kind of tomatoes do you grow? Do you can? I actually grew beefsteak last summer, just because they were my favorite and you can't buy a decent one in the store. The first batch were gorgeous, but then I battled the slugs. Yuck! The two beefsteak plants I had also took over the garden! This year, I plan on only one plant in its own area with marigolds and basil growing around it, and I want to add a plum tomato for spaghetti sauce along with a grape tomato. I tried cherry tomatoes last summer but the plant just grew and grew yielding only at the end. It may have been the beefsteaks fault pushing them out.

I also had no luck with green peppers or jalapenos. The plants didn't grow and yielded only one of each. I would like to try again as we eat a lot of peppers. Maybe they are like fruit trees, some summers good some bad.

I am on sand in Northern CT. I would much rather be on sand at the Cape! We go two weeks every year just because one week is not enough for me. LOL, I'll come over and help you if I can stay for the summer!!! Honest I will only bring my two grand-kids, their parents, and the two dogs.

I grow a lot of roma tomatoes and grape tomatoes because that's what we eat the most of. I don't can, but I do freeze my sauce. I actually use quite a bit of the small tomatoes to sweeten it up a bit. One of my favorites is Juliet that I get from Park Seed. Plus Sweet Hundreds and Sweet Millions, also Sun Golds.

We use hog fencing purchased at Tractor supply for all our climbing veggies. Relatively inexpensive and my favorite for all climbing veggies and melons. Still have to weave or tie up but it's very sturdy and will hold heavy tomato plants.
Jalapenos love the heat. Keep them under a grow light (I use inexpensive shop lights) until planting outside. I grow Craig Grande jalapenos from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and have had great luck with those. Also grow Emerald Fire Hybrid jalapenos from Park Seed. A new one (Baker Creek) I tried last year was Jimmy Nardello Italian peppers. Just love these! They are wonderful for salads, and just to eat.
We try to start all of our seeds. I found I had more disease and bug issues when I purchased starts. They brought cucumber beetles to me last year and I lost every one of my cukes even though I replanted. We had no pickles, which are my favorite. Now they are here I will be battling them again this year.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

We live in a zone 3... ahhhh how I am jealous of y'all...

this time of year we are looking at seed packets and getting the germination lights and indoor tents all sterilized... the ground won't thaw for another 3-4 months yet!

 

[platamama]

I'm kind of intimidated to try berries. Are raspberries easy?

Oh my, raspberries are super easy and I have a black thumb. My problem with my one raspberry plant is that it sends suckers EVERYWHERE, so I wish I had isolated it somehow. I have to pull suckers out from all over my yard all spring/summer long.

I've had no issues with growing the raspberry brambles, but actually getting the berries is a different story! The birds keep eating my berries! I'm going to try netting this year.

I also have the same problem with birds and squirrels eating my berries, so I need to find a good way to net it too. I'd like to find something that makes it easy to access the berries while leaving the netting in place. And it has to be big enough to accommodate the plant growth so that the branches don't grow into the netting.

 

[sarah4770]

I got a cheap green greenhouse from tractor supply a few years ago. It is small. I can fir it on my closed in ( but not heated) front porch. I usually start the seeds inside around March 1. Then after they have sprouted I move them to the greenhouse on the front porch. As is warms up, around mid April, I disassemble the greenhouse and take it out to the yard. If it is going to freeze, I bring the plants in for the night.
I start tomatoes, peppers, lettuce., flowers in it. Peas I just put directly outside in March. Spring onions next. Spinach I sow directly in ground. You cannot transplant that.
Its a lot of work, but I love it. Nothing beats knowing where your food came from. You will have to do a little trial and error, but you will figure it out.

 

[sarah4770]

snap peas do not transplant well.

 

[sarah4770]

also, make sure your soil is ready. Add some garden soil to it and till it manually. I have had the best luck with tomatoes using containers. I drill holes in 5 gallon home depot buckets, fill the bottom with rocks for drainage and then a mix of dirt and bagged garden soil. I feed them weekly with miracle grow. they have done 100x better in the buckets vs. in the ground. I get 6 ft. tall tomato plants out of them.

 

[hsmamato2]

ohhhhh I love gardening. However my current yard is 99% shade...(and I really love my trees too) so I've chosen to stop wasting money on trying t garden veggies which always fail miserably) and buy from the framer around the corner from me, they have pick your own sort of little place set up, last year I was buying their lovely tomatoes at 1.00 per pound all summer...I discovered it saves me money to stop pretending I have a yard with enough sun for tomatoes My previous yard was tiny but all sun. I had the entire thing gardened with great harvests ,including tapping the maple trees. Now in my current place, tapping those trees is about all I can do,since the 6 hours of sun doesn't exist in the yard.

 

[Monykalyn]

Have five raised beds. Don't usually start seeds indoors but will grow the cold hardier plants outdoors first (kale, spinach). Also garlic, potatoes and onions will go in late fall and come up in spring. I really really need to build a cold frame or small greenhouse!

Right now the chickens have free reign in the beds. They scratch and eat weeds and dust bathe so the the soils is nicely tilled and worked when I'm ready to plant. Then the fence goes back up so they can only get what hangs over the edge.

Last year I grew tomatoes, green beans, carrots, peppers, jalapeños, onions, potatoes, basil, oregano, cilantro, rosemary, parsley, sage, lettuce (romaine and red leaf) and kale.

Still have tomatoes and sauce in freezer, along with green beans. Still have several pounds of carrots in fridge and tons of basil in freezer.

 

[Judique]

I love to garden!

But I have never saved money by doing so!

I think the enjoyment I get from trying to grow stuff is worth whatever I spend!

Last year I had tomatoes, peppers, parsley and blueberries.

The blueberry plants were a mothers day gift a few years back and so far each year I get a couple of cups of berries. They definitely haven't paid their way yet! But the berries are delicious and I enjoy having them!

The bb plants are in a raised bed, so last minute I threw the other plants in the same bed. Everything grew happily together.

This year I'm going to do better. I have more time and loads of sunny space and good earth for growing so I will try to start my own plants from seed. Years past the deer have eaten the whole garden, but I have mesh fencing ready to enclose the area. We will see how it goes!

 

[kinntj]

also, make sure your soil is ready. Add some garden soil to it and till it manually. I have had the best luck with tomatoes using containers. I drill holes in 5 gallon home depot buckets, fill the bottom with rocks for drainage and then a mix of dirt and bagged garden soil. I feed them weekly with miracle grow. they have done 100x better in the buckets vs. in the ground. I get 6 ft. tall tomato plants out of them.

We'll have to try that. It will free space in our raised beds for our peppers and cukes. Thank you! We are a zone 5. We bought grow lights for a project my Daughter had to do with radish plants in science. Now we'll experiment with seeds this spring.

 

[brennicksmom]

Some years I have tons of peppers and some years I get none. I guess its the luck of the draw. Year before last I got hardly anything to speak of in the whole garden, but I didn't put as much work in it as usual. Last year I did nothing, I am looking forward to getting back into having a garden this year again.

I always sprinkle crushed egg shells and baby powder in the hole I dig to plant the plants, it does help the slugs. I also sprinkle crushed egg shells all over the ground in the garden.

This year I plan to plant Roma tomatoes, peppers, onions, cilantro, and cucumbers. I only get part sun, but it'e the best option I have.

I planted a few mint plants near the garden a few years ago and those are a real pain to reign in. They have spread like wild fire. But it makes yummy mint tea

 

[TwoMisfits]

To save money, I grow my herbs...they are about the only thing I can grow in enough bulk in a town home lot to "save money" for the effort. I grow thyme and rosemary almost all year, I have returning chives now every year, and I replant basil each year. I also grow 1-2 "this year" herbs in pots...I may do a mint this year b/c it is so amazing in fruit salad...I've done cilantro and dill, but they always seem to get away from me by the time I come back from an early summer trip, so we'll see...