Starting a Garden on a Serious Budget

I got so sick of the cold weather this week that I decided to start some seeds for my Spring garden. A bit early you say? Well yes, but I'm tired of winter and this is how I cope.

Currently on my kitchen counter are all number of gardening experiments. From the 4 avocado trees that I started from pits discarded from a magical night of guacamole and Mexican tapas, to Pineapples whose tops were sheared of their pulp then plopped into jars of water to root. I have seeds from a key lime drying, and just-planted seeds from a particularly good spaghetti squash that I hope will sprout. I've repurposed plastic soda bottles into self-watering seed pots in which all manner of basil have been planted. I just can't help myself.

This year, the only thing I've shelled out money for is potting soil (as my compost is frozen at the moment). My seeds have been harvested from last year's plants or stuff we've eaten (plus a few leftover seeds from past years), and my pots are all from the recycled rack at the garden center.

My baby avocado trees growing in free pots from the recycle shelf at the garden center.

There's some serious reward to starting your own garden and growing your own food. Other than the fact that you know where your food is coming from, you can save quite a bit of scratch by not buying food at the grocery store. Seeds are cheap and if you buy them with friends, they get even cheaper. After your first year of gardening, seeds become free—assuming you harvest & save them (which is not hard to do).

You don't even have to have a green thumb, which is good news for most folks. Seeds pretty much do all the work as long as you give them a good bed of soil, some sun, and water. And you don't even need sun for the first part.

SAVING MONEY ON...

SEEDS

1. Save seeds rather than buying them. Although you will have to invest in some seeds unless you had access to someone else's garden last fall and summer when you would have needed to harvest said seeds. But *NEXT* year...
2. Harvest seeds from the produce you buy at the grocery store or farmers market. This is best done with organic produce, but don't let that stop you. I've grown Avocado trees from pits that would have otherwise been discarded, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, ginger, garlic, shallots, potatoes, even pineapples—all from produce that I either didn't eat in time, or from the discarded parts. When in doubt, plant it and see what happens.
3. Find a seed swap or garden club. A good option when starting from scratch. Most gardeners are sharers, but not all towns have these things—so you'll just have to get out and meet people. Check with your local library or state's cooperative extension.
4. Host a seed swap. Can't find a seed swap or garden club? Make your own.
5. Join an online seed swap. Facebook has a few groups who are organized enough to actually post seeds. Just don't be the person who promises seeds then forgets to mail them. So not cool.
6. Buy seed packets with a friend & divide them up. It's not free, but it'll reduce the cost. Depending on the type of seed there might be anywhere from 20 to 100 seeds per packet.
7. Use the seeds that didn't get used last year. Generally speaking, seed packets have a shelf-life. After they hit that expiration date they become increasingly less viable, but that doesn't mean that last year's seeds are duds. Seeds usually maintain their viability for a couple of years (if stored in a cool, dry place). This year, I'm planting seeds that are 3-4 years old. I have them, I might as well plant them and see what happens. Just because they've met the expiration date doesn't mean you have to toss them—give 'em a try, you never know what may pop up.

Pineapple tops rooting in water.

STARTER PLANTS

1. Ask family members, neighbors, or other gardeners for cuttings that you can root. There are lots of plants that can start with cuttings rooted in water (lavender, ivy, rosemary, tomatoes, peppers, basil, savory... anything with a woody stem—heck, even a sweet potato will produce slips that you can plant later).
2. Check the clearance racks. Garden centers usually have a clearance rack for discounted plants. Many times fruiting plants (like raspberries) or unusual plants will make an appearance, as will "nearly dead" plants. In general, I look for perennials (that come back year after year) rather than annuals (unless they're hardy annuals that can withstand the winter).
3. Check the garden center floor for broken off plant parts. On occasion plants break off and a stem or a leaf will end up on the garden center floor. I have been known to carry a plastic baggy in my pocket (or purse) and pick these up. Plants like Pothos, Wandering Jew, tomatoes, etc. can be rooted from stems. Begonias, geraniums, ivy, cactus, and succulents can be propagated from leaves.
4. Shop your own yard (if you have one) or forage. Areas of my yard are somewhat overgrown, but I found patches of wild growing plants like Ajuga (a ground cover that usually costs about $5 at the garden center), ivy, Liriope (also costs about $5), Alpine strawberries, and a few other ground covers. If foraging in public areas, don't be greedy, and be mindful of any rules about taking cuttings.
5. Regrow from scraps. Some plants can be regrown from the parts we'd normally throw away. You can regrow scallions or green onions from the bottom bit with the roots just by putting them in a bit of water. Take a couple of those garlic cloves and plant them in the fall, by next year you'll have a whole new head of garlic. Here's a list of plants that can be regrown:

• Lettuce
• Celery
• Lemon Grass
• Bean Sprouts
• Stone Fruits like:
• Avocado
• Peaches
• Plums
• Most root vegetables like:
• Potatoes
• Sweet Potatoes
• Carrots
• Beets
• Turnips
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Tumeric
• Pineapple
• Mushrooms

Milk Thistle seeds being started in toilet paper rolls.

GROWING CONTAINERS

1. Repurpose your food containers / to-go containers. From yogurt cups to sour cream containers, cans, cottage cheese containers, or egg cartons, anything that can hold food can be a pot or growing container. Take out containers with plastic lids are great little greenhouses for your seedlings. Just clean them before you use them.
2. Recycled paper. You can make little seedling pots out of recycled newspaper, as well as cut paper towel or toilet paper tubes. Here's a lovely video showing you how.
3. Used plastic pots. Places like Lowe's and Home Depot and some garden supply stores usually have a shelf for recycling plastic pots. The pots are free to anyone who wants them. Just be sure to clean them with soap and warm water before you use them. To create a little growing greenhouse, you can use plastic wrap or used plastic baggies that you've rinsed out. Just put these over your pots (poking a couple of holes in your plastic wrap) until your seedlings start to pop up. Then remove the plastic.
4. Discarded pots. Check the curb in your neighborhood. Lots of people when they clean up their garages or sheds will throw pots out or put them on the curb for pick up.

DIRT

1. Make your own compost. This will take time, but you can collect leaves and grass clippings from your yard or your neighbors to create your own compost pile (assuming you have space for it). Add your kitchen scraps to the mix and by next year you'll have a nice bucket full of compost.
2. Buy it. If you don't want to wait a year, you may just have to bite the bullet and actually spend money on a bag of soilless mix for your seed-starting venture. You can try just digging up some dirt from your yard, but chances are it won't be great for starting seeds. Neither will reusing potting soil from plants you potted last season (as the nutrients will have been drained). A 25 qt. bag of soilless mix will cost between $6-$10.

Had I perhaps been a bit more patient and waited for my compost to thaw, I could've started my garden for free. As it is, I'll have spent  a total of $9 (on potting soil) and plan on having a full garden complete with tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, cucumbers, beans, artichokes, squash, and more (maybe even pineapples).

Oh, and if you're wondering about those soda bottle self-watering planters, they're pretty easy to make. Wash them out, cut off the top bit (I used a knife to start then a scissors to finish off the cuts). Keep the plastic lid and poke holes in it with an awl or a nail. Fill the bottom with water and turn the top portion upside down, inserting it into the bottom. Fill with dirt and plant your seeds. You may want to let the soil wick up water and get fully saturated before you plant. That or plant your seed and water from the top until the dirt is moist.