Is gardening to save money possible? Well, if you grow the right things for you, yes!
Grow your own food and save a huge amount of money, time, and even space with these do it yourself gardening hacks. Plus, incorporating some gardening into your routine can get you some light exercise in your routine.
Each tip has a link you can follow linked to the italicized header, so be sure to check out these informative articles!
Re-grow your vegetable scraps.
So many people just throw their scraps away and lose out on the opportunity to save some money on those items in the future. The base of your lettuce or the top of the carrots that you usually just cut and toss, you actually can regrow. The same goes for produce like leeks, onions, garlic, and even pineapple tops!
To regrow your vegetable scraps, you can root them in a glass of water and transplant them when they have rooted.
Check out these 20 vegetables you can re-grow from scraps.
Grow your own herb garden.
Herbs are some of the easiest plants to grow because they are barely bothered by pests. In addition, they do not need a ton of care for them to thrive. Just one or two herb plants will provide you with enough leaves to have you set for multiple seasons, and they will pay for themselves multiple times over.
Store your seeds.
When you slice up a bell pepper, store the seeds from it. When you are dicing your tomatoes, retrieve some seeds and store them. Keeping seeds stored will keep you in stock for when you are ready to try your hand at growing some plants.
Start small.
Don’t undertake a large project unless you are prepared to do so and have thought it through. Starting a garden is not necessarily a spur of the moment decision. One way to start small is to use another tip we already covered! Start with regrowing vegetable scraps in your windowsill!
Consider starting a square foot garden if you are interested in a larger undertaking. Growing food in square foot gardens makes sure that you harvest just what you need, work in a small space, and can take care of the few plants you have chosen to focus your time on.
Grow a container garden.
The idea of growing food in containers is pretty much the same as square foot gardening, but you do not need to build a bed. You probably have plenty of containers just laying around that you can repurpose into planters, and if not, start saving them! Not only will you save money, but you can declutter in an environmentally friendly way.
Grow sister plants.
Growing plants that go well together will give a well-rounded setup. For instance, corn, squash, and beans grow well together. Beans have nitrogen that they provide the soil, squash provides shade to keep moisture in, and corn provides support for vines to climb on. Check out the following graphic for an example of how sister plants work together to help each other grow and thrive.
Try your hand at growing greens.
Lettuce and salad mixes are a great savings for people who eat a lot of salad. This is especially true for leaf lettuce that just keeps producing leaves as long as the weather is mild (“cut and come again” lettuce). Tip: if you pick the outer leaves and leave the head, a couple leaf lettuce plants can be enough to sustain your lettuce needs because the outer leaves will grow back.
Conclusion
Take these quick tips with you as you consider starting your gardening journey. If you are interested in taking these tips to the next level, check out this great post by Gardening Know How. They cover numerous crucial points to know before beginners get digging.