Planting veggies in your home's backyard can be an immensely rewarding experience. For one, there's the idea of growing produce from seedlings. Second, you'll be able to complement your groceries with the food you have grown in your own backyard. Third, you can put in ample time tending to your garden which can serve as a form exercise.
Backyard gardening need not be a costly endeavour. Here are some frugal gardening tips that you might want to try.
Grow seeds using recycled containers.
Instead of buying seed pots, you can rummage around your home to find alternative seed pots like cereal boxes, egg cartons and yogurt containers.
Use old newspaper for mulch.
Again, instead of buying mulch, you can fill up pots and garden beds with mulch made with old newspaper and shredded paper that you can find in your home or office. After putting a layer of paper mulch on your garden bed or pots, you can cover this with either dirt or mulch.
Make it communal.
Perhaps you have little space to spare in your yard. This eliminates the possibility of planting a diverse number of crops. One trick that you can use here is to enlist the help of your neighbours and make it a communal activity. Perhaps one homeowner can plant tomatoes while another plants lettuce and then another one plants herbs. Once it is time to harvest, all participants can share their excess produce.
Get big discounts on potting soil and mulch.
If you need to replenish your supply of mulch and potting soil, wait until your local home improvement store runs a sale. Some stores offer big discounts on mulch and potting soils with tears on the packaging. Although a minimal amount of soil and mulch may have been lost, you can save a huge amount of money through the discounts.
DIY garden chemicals
If you want to save money on fertilisers and weed killers or if you are simply looking for a safer alternative, why not make your own? Use a concoction of cinnamon and chili powder which doubles as a weed killer and fertiliser. You can also try putting eggshells at the edges of your garden to ward off slugs and snails.
Make your own compost.
Compost provides valuable nutrients that your crops need. But instead of buying, why not try making your own using garbage and discarded materials in your home? You can even make it a project for the whole family.
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