Gardening On a Budget
Gardening can be expensive. Here are some ways to stretch your budget.
Get free mulch. Purchasing mulch can really add up. But, many cities offer free mulch. It usually isn’t treated and may contain seeds. But if you have a large area that needs mulch, this is a great way to save a truckload of money! For a Jefferson, GA location click here.
Free mulch also comes in the form of leaves! Instead of having the city take away your free leaf mulch, store it up or turn it into leaf mold. Plants love it! Just watch out for bird pirates. I had to net my box of leaves to keep them out!
Nylon Screen insect barrier (used to prevent pests from getting to plants, cross-pollination or to collect seeds)
There is no need to buy a pricey insect barrier. You can easily make your own. Use sheer curtains. Some places sell sheer curtains for $5 or less.
You can cut them to size or sow them together to cage whole plants to keep pests out! If you aren’t handy with a sewing machine, use clothes pins to tightly seal up the edges. This is also a great way to prevent cross-pollination if you’re wanting to do seed saving. You can also cut them to size and sew them together to bag flowers, like Zinnia or Daisies, to save seeds.
Save Your Own Seeds
Saving seeds costs you nothing but a little time and a bit of knowledge. This is a great way to save tons of money on purchasing seedlings and seed packets. For every seed that has ever been in the Seed Library’s Catalog, the growing tips page will tell you how to save its seeds.
Make use of a Seed Library near you!
At the Jefferson Seed Library, you can’t beat our prices! We even offer collections of seeds and kits with seedlings! All our seeds, kits, and collections are FREE!
Purchase Old Seeds
Some Feed and Seed stores will have last year’s seed packets for ridiculously low prices. These seeds are still viable as most seeds will last at least 2 years.
Plant Twist Ties
Use regular twist ties from bread bags. (Just make sure no wires are exposed, as this can harm your plants.)
Seed Bags (or seed packets)–for storing saved seeds.
There’s no need to purchase seed bags/packets you can make your own at basically no cost. All you need are long envelopes, scissors, and tape.
- Step 1: Seal up a long envelope. Tape the corners so no seeds can escape.
- Step 2: Fold in half or fourths.
- Step 3: Cut along the edge.
- Step 4: Seal one edge with tape for each bag, making sure there are no spaces for the seeds to escape.
- Step 5: Label the package with the name of the seeds and the year saved, then fill the bag with the seeds.
- Step 6: Seal the open edge with tape, making sure there are no spaces for the seeds to escape.
Or, if you have more time, make an origami seed packet.
This is where the savings really starts to add up! By starting tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and flowers from seed. I save on average over $100 a year on seedlings alone. If you calculate in the savings from seed saving and savings from the grocery store, it is closer to $200+ a year.
It does have an up-front cost to get set up: purchasing grow lights and seed starting mix, stands/shelves. But you should quickly recoup the money. And if you purchase these items during the off-season, they tend to be cheaper. Starting most things from seed is definitely the way to go!
Seedling Container Pots
- Use cleaned yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, egg cartons, etc containers to start seedlings.
- Strawberry contains work really well too and they already have holes.
- For ‘Potting Up’ You can use clean plastic drinking cups, larger yogurt, or larger cottage cheese containers, etc.
- Save any containers from plants you buy. These will last many years.
- Or make your own bio-degradable pots out of toilet paper/paper towel rolls and newspaper.
Seedling Trays
- Save your aluminum roasting pans. Just clean them up and reuse!
Create Your Own Compost
- Composting is a great way to get nutrient-rich soil for your garden. You don’t have to get fancy with it. It can be as simple as piling up garden and kitchen waste and letting it rot!