Gardening on a Budget....

[Whitewater]

I like seeing the looks on the faces of my friends when I tell them that yes, THOSE tomaotes and THESE strawberries and THAT zucchini all came from an initial investment of no more than $3 each, either per plant or per seed packet. It's like my produce looks like it *must* have cost an arm and a leg, or something.

All I've got is some water, some seeds (I admit, I did pay about $30 for a bunch of started special heirloom tomatoes and peppers!), a sunny patch of dirt, a small $5 hand shovel (I've got hand issues, had to find one with 'ergonomic' handles!) and a WHOLE LOT of backbreaking labor (it will be SO MUCH EASIER next year because I won't have to sod bust!).

It just doesn't have to be expensive. I look at my mother and just sigh. She can't understand why I don't have real, non-knock-off Crocs to garden in, and $30 gardening gloves, and a potting table with a sink "just like the one that Martha Stewart uses!" and one of those little rolling carts that has a seat on it, and a whole armory of expensive top of the line gardening tools and a $900 tiller and on and on . . . why I don't buy my compost (because the city provides it for free, duh!), why I don't use non-organic fertilizers, why I leave a few of the milkweed alone (to encourage the monarch butterfly population!), why my strawberries and raspberries aren't in a perfectly shaped, perfectly neat row, on and on and on.

Sheesh. To hear her talk, only millionaires could afford to get in the dirt!

And she's also appalled that I go out in my painting jeans and my floppy hat -- apparently there's actual 'gardening clothes' out there somewhere?

Just more expense.

All you need to garden is some seeds or baby plants, some water, and a patch of dirt somewhere (in a container or not) in a sunny spot. Voila. You're a gardener!

If I can afford to garden, anybody can!


Whitewater

 

[GrowsLotsaPeppers]

While seeds may seem cheaper than plants, I find that it's best to spend $1 on 4 young plants from local nursery than spend $2 on 30 seeds to only watch them not do near as well because I don't take as good of care of the seedlings.
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Wow, I can't get four plants for a dollar anywhere around here! My options are limited to just big chain stores, no local nurseries. They only carry potted single plants here for $3.25 apiece! I went to get some strawberry plants and saw that, and decided on no strawberries...I used to be able to get them for $3 a dozen at a greenhouse. I think that I am going to set up some old lights I have laying around and make a nice indoor seed starting area and take seedlings to the local swap meet for sale. Maybe I can make my garden pay for itself that way!

Walmart here labels veggie plants as food, so I can buy them on foodstamps. For anyone else getting foodstamps, it might be good to check if your state and local stores have that policy, I can get plants and seeds that way from stores that accept the stamps. Also, ebay has some nice deals on big packages of seeds for really cheap. Many of them are packaged to last for years, they label them as "survival seeds".

Thanks for the link, budget-friendly ideas are always helpful to me, since I'm on a very low income.

I don't know about your state but here in California you can't sell live plants without a nursery license and regular inspections for pests and disease by the Department of Agriculture.

Exception to what hoodat says may be the local community college, with their greenhouse sale each spring. Lots of great seedlings and potted veggies available for cheap on that weekend. But those folks know what they're doing, and if you can fit their schedule, you can get some additional benefits from your tax dollars at work. And they often have some interesting varieties.