Comments on: Garden Savings

By: Michael Ford

Michael Ford — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 11:41:27 +0000

We have a small vegetable garden in our backyard. We don’t have to buy onions, herbs, tomatoes etc in stores whether it’s summer or winter. We even give some to our neighbors and friends.

By: Vanessa Chiasson

Vanessa Chiasson — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 21:00:15 +0000

My husband and I have been veggie gardening for 4 years now at our nearby community garden. We’ve had ups and downs, learning a ton each year. Nothing like that first ripe tomato! But, like any other hobby or interest, you can always be tempted to spend money to make things easier/more successful/more fun. One great investment was a small tiller that was half price at end of season clearance. A small, clearance priced indoor mini-greenouse has been great for starting my seed babies. Less sensible was spending $30 on parmesan cheese and pinenuts to turn a few cups of basil into a few cups of pesto (delicious, but horribly expensive). We’ve also wasted plenty of money on plants that required more expertise than we could give, buying plants that others would be thrilled to give away (squash, mint, oregano), and attempting to start things from scratch that were actually much less expensive at a gardening center (ie: discount flats of pansies or marigolds vs buying peat moss kits, ordering seeds online, paying for shipping, etc…)

My go to book for gardening issues is Gayla Trail’s “You Grow Girl” because it is a Canadian publication, and it focuses on budget friendly, realistic gardening projects for the average person. While it is focused a bit more on urban and young gardeners, I think anyone would benefit from it, as it was motivated by the author’s grandma growing potoatoes in a bucket on the balcony of her senior’s home. It has a great accompanying website at http://www.yougrowgirl.com and she’s since published follow up books and contributed articles to the Globe and Mail.

By: joey

joey — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:52:01 +0000

There’s nothing like going out to the garden in summer and picking your supper! – mmm, just thinking of fresh cucumber and dill with mayo on toast- ok, still a ways away…we just got the garden in-potatoes, lettuce, peas, dill, cukes, radish, carrots,spinach, onions, these are the faves. We also freeze alot of raspberries, saskatoons (i have a small u-pick) and tomatoes. Love to freeze saskatoons on trays and eat them frozen -natures’ candy! Rhubarb and zucchinni are prolific around here and friends are always dropping some off. I am working on having raised beds for the veggies hopefully to start next year, just been convincing my farmer hubby of trying a different way of doing things! (he can still have his potatoes out in the field..) Happy gardening everyone!

By: GS

GS — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:06:24 +0000

My cross-the-street neighbours have a front yard full of vegetables and it looks fine, everyone loves it. Makes me hungry when I walk past in August. Since our house faces the opposite direction we get the sun in the back. We started using raised square foot gardens (also Mel Bartholomew’s book) because we didn’t want our pets to get into them. It’s so much easier to plant, weed, and water, and so much more organized – seems like we waste less seed, soil and water.

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 24 May 2012 01:55:53 +0000

I moved into a house with a less than desirable lot for growing things, but a very sunny driveway leading back to the garage. I bought several laundry tubs, without the legs, and used them as planters for things that needed alot of sun. Not lovely looking, but workable. When we moved to another house, I took the tubs with me, and even though we have a large yard, I still have them on the driveway, just now more pleasingly surrounded by railway ties and planted with more of a kitchen garden focus. I’ll not win any Architectural Digest awards for this, but a lettuce bed at my side door is lovely.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 24 May 2012 01:19:38 +0000

I read your post right before I went to BJ’s. BJ’s had a nice selection of vegetable plants. I bought 3 nice tomato plants for my deck. Amazon recently had a free Kindle book about container gardening. I can’t wait to read it now. Thanks Gail!

By: Alero

Alero — Wed, 23 May 2012 23:50:44 +0000

Thanks for the post, Gail. While I’m not a veggie-gardener, I apply the same logic to my bedding plants. I generally let my perennials go to seed every year and then happily wait to see what comes in subsequent generations. To date, I’ve added to my “crop” of balloon plants, snow-in-summer & tiger lilies by employing this method. Deadheading is good to keep things looking pretty but letting Nature do what she will with the seeds means a very light touch to the wallet in the springtime when it’s time to getting the bedding plants in order. If you’re not afraid to transplant & have a lot of patience, you can create a wonderful perennial garden in a few short years.

As for my garden plot, it’s used every year by a pair of ladies who keep it completely weed-free and beautiful all summer long. Potatoes, peas, corn, zucchini, beans & carrots seem to be their staples. I have the best of both worlds!!!

By: ana

ana — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:31:48 +0000

just got my herbs planted (and blogged lol) and veggies are going in tomorrow. and for everything else that i haven’t grown, i’ll be visiting the local farmer’s market. i love this time of year.

By: Angela

Angela — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:22:34 +0000

I agree re: the farmers markets not always being cheaper. I paid 3 dollars for 3 sticks of rhubarb last week! That said I like to support farmers and the rhubarb was delicious. I also like buying local. This year I am going to try growing herbs on my apartment balcony for the first time – I bought mint from loblaws recently and not only was it overpriced they’d flown it in from Mexico. I don’t understand how it’s cheaper for supermarkets to buy things from other countries and not support local farmers here in Ontario.

By: The Witch

The Witch — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:56:36 +0000

Gardening is underway here also.
I’ve started most of my seedlings indoors and I’m hoping to climatize them outdoors this weekend so I can plant the following weekend. The first Full Moon in June is usually safe from frost and certain insects. Old wise tale but it always works.
We have a huge garden which we also freeze most of the veggie’s and then make Mustard Pickles, Hot Dog Relish,14 Day Pickles,Pickled Beets, Damson Jam and Grape Jelly. Last year we made a freezer Salsa Sauce which was easy and so delicious.
This year I’m scouting out a good recipe to make Dilly Beans like the ones you can buy in the store for drink garnishes and eating of course.
I will freeze most of our Strawberries if we have any extra’s but then we also make a day’s outing of picking Strawberries, High bush Blueberries and Apples. This year we planted two Haskap Berry Bushes to introduce more fruit to our lot. We also planted two more apple tree’s.
I just love to garden and I can thank my wonderful Grandparents for this love of gardening and living within our means.

By: Victoria R

Victoria R — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:33:05 +0000

When all those cherry tomatoes ripen at once, i plop them into freezer bags as is. Recipes that call for a small amount of tomatoes (like some curries) are ideal. I just drop a few frozen tomatoes into the recipe and presto, summer flavour in the middle of winter.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Wed, 23 May 2012 19:17:37 +0000

To all the Moms involving your kids in gardening, keep in mind produce can be entered in your local fall fair. My brother and I cleaned house for many years, raking in all kinds of cash and gift certificates… all in time to pay for back to school clothes.

Seriously the best memories of my childhood.

By: jackfree

jackfree — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:14:53 +0000

Best bet for veggies in pots for success are Cherry or Grape Tomatoes(Hybrids) and Sweet Yellow Peppers. You will get too many to eat. Use a mix of Shrimp Compost and 3-6 month miracle grow or scotts soil. Also pick up some tomato spikes or feed. You can also move the pots around if the sun is not ideal.
Enjoy the product in 40-50plus days and continued till late in the season.

By: ~julie~

~julie~ — Wed, 23 May 2012 17:11:29 +0000

I’m a fledgling gardener, and first time using containers on my new balconey. We get tonnes of sun, but with all that sun, comes a whole bunch of critters. Any suggestions how to deal with urban raccoons and squirrels? I don’t want to lose my hard grown tomatoes!

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 23 May 2012 17:03:36 +0000

My DH is an overly eager gardener and we start our seeds in March to prepare for planting as soon as the community garden opens up (May 5th this year). I’m still convinced that our tomatoes went in too early and it was no surprise that our watermelon shriveled and died but all the rest of the plants are coming along nicely. We are growing potatoes for the first time this year and I am amazed at how well they are doing.

I can’t say that we will be really saving much money by the end of the summer. I know we’ve already spent over $100.00 for the plot rental, top soil, weeding sheets, and seeds but I figure it is a pretty cheap hobby for my guy so I consider it money well spent.