Who gardens to save some money?

[DizneyDogs]

I always plant a garden every year. For me it was never a money saving benefit even though that's great, but rather that I much prefer the taste of home grown fruits and veggies than what you buy in the grocery stores.

me too! fresh fruits and veggies out of the garden are so yummy!!!

 

[Jen_in_NH]

We do! I buy seedlings rather than starting my own - it never goes well for me. We usually do lettuce, cucumbers, squash, peas, beans, broccoli, peppers, and corn. We have a pretty big garden, so we have fresh veggies all summer, and enough to freeze for the winter. I'd love to try strawberries, but I'm not sure I have enough space for them.

 

[extremesoccermom]

Hey by gardening you wont only save money, but help to grow a better environment and save this earth from global warming disaster. This should be followed by every human, as it keeps environment cool, and satisfies your hobbies too.

ABOSULTELY! HEY. I bought 2 peach trees and 50 strawberry plants last year hoping for a great year.

Does anyone do Square Foot Gardening? It is FANTASTIC! The yields from a small space are unbelievable. And its super easy to weed, water, monitor and harvest.

You can check out the books by Mel Bartholomew at the library or google Square Foot Gardening. There are two websites. The store website and the information website--with forums! You know how we love forums!

This year we are growing tomatoes, lettuce, onions, carrots, leeks, celery, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, rosemary, beans (not sure what kind yet), and peas.

I also tried Square Foot gardening last year. It worked pretty well but it was a really bad year for our gardens in general. Japanesse beetles and leaf hoppers in the spring wiped out the green beans, they didn't do anything until late in the season when the bugs finally left. Butternut squash did great but zuchhini was destroyed by the vine borer. Then summer was so hot the flowers fell off the tomatoes and peppers. It wasn't until late summer, early fall that we started to get any night shades. The only thing that did well was lettuce, celery, and carrots. I have bought some netting for this year in hopes of not having to use pesticides.
Right now I have a sheet of plastic over one bed and have planted my cool weather plants. The rest are getting a head start inside and hopefully I can try again at hydroponic gardening (like Epcot) later in the fall.

 

[bettymae1121]

I plant mostly bell peppers, every color except green (green peppers are so cheap here when they are in season that it "pays" better to grow yellow, orange, and red which are much more expensive at the stores). DH also likes hot peppers so I grow some jalepeno and habinero peppers too. I also grow tomatos for DH to eat (I hate fresh tomatos). I'd love to do more but until DH buils me the raised beds I want, I'm limmited to my containers.

 

[ilovejack02]

I plant mostly bell peppers, every color except green (green peppers are so cheap here when they are in season that it "pays" better to grow yellow, orange, and red which are much more expensive at the stores). DH also likes hot peppers so I grow some jalepeno and habinero peppers too. I also grow tomatos for DH to eat (I hate fresh tomatos). I'd love to do more but until DH buils me the raised beds I want, I'm limmited to my containers.

Green peppers are also very cheap here too in summer, so I have cut back on green bell peppers and will do more colors this summer .

We started tomatoes about 4 years ago, because my DS8 at the time was eating them like candy. He was killing me lol. Whew, so nice on the budget when we started growing them.

Green beans, jalepenos , squash, zuchhini , tomatoes , cucumbers . I planted blackberry bushes last year and hopefully they will produce . Think I will look into lettuce and sugar snaps this year.

 

[robin09]

Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong with Broccoli? It grows,but flowers before we can pick it.... We never get decent broccoli. We've done well with tomatoes, peas, stringbeans... BUT I want to garden better and want to learn how to grow more... any hints? books?

 

[herdtoDisney]

I do garden-we're only 2 years in here so the first year was trying to dig up a garden area (after removing dozens of forsythia bushes that had gone wild while the house was abandoned/foreclosed before we bought it). Last year I realized that the trees shaded the garden, and the fruit trees I planted died

Soooo, this year we're borrowing a tiller, and moving to a sunnier spot. I enjoy the gardening and have enjoyed the few tomatoes and lettuces we've gotten from it. I'm also replanting the peach and plum trees that died and this time, I'll keep them watered We're learning! I have 2 apple trees that I'm trying to get in shape (existing and overgrown). I don't think I've saved any money yet, lol, but hopefully after this year I'll have it all in order. I have a half-acre yard (which is huge to me) but between the house, sheds and many trees, there isn't room for as huge a garden as it sounds-it will just be for fun really.

 

[mom0299]

Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong with Broccoli? It grows,but flowers before we can pick it.... We never get decent broccoli. We've done well with tomatoes, peas, stringbeans... BUT I want to garden better and want to learn how to grow more... any hints? books?

I'm sorry I can't help. The deer ate all my broccoli last year.

 

[yrdlyprincess]

we do we do...DH is a landscape manager so we get stuff all the time....not sure what I will be putting in the garden this year ...peppers, zucchini, tomatoes. not real sure. right now we are getting our stuff from produce junction...its real good and you get alot (just hope it gets eaten every week!)

 

[pampam]

I do raised bed gardening. Because it is raised up I don't get weeds. There really is no work to it at all. It takes about an afternoon to slap the garden together using 2x4s and it lasts years and years and years. Since I don't need to till it I don't need rows so I broadcast my seeds, using every inch of space. I get copious amounts of veggies, with no work. This year, I think I'll try this too.
http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/garde...re-feet-081760

 

[lucyem]

We have a large garden. It is next to the chicken run and in the off season the chickens are allowed in and they dig and fertilize etc. When I weed I toss the weeds into their run and they love it.

As far as the garden it is saving us money. Seriously I only had to buy fresh veggies for salads over the winter. We still have frozen corn, carrots and green beans left in the deep freeze. I also do the pick your own places and we still have some frozen blueberries, strawberries and strawberry jam.

Every year it gets better and better as we learn what does and does not work.
I like the square foot gardening book as well as the lasagna gardening book. (using layers of mulch and compost and dirt like a lasagna)

Potatoes, garlic, patty pan squash, cheese pumpkins, corn, cucumbers, pole beans, carrots, onions, peppers and tomatoes (big and small) are our staples. Usually by mid Aug we are eating green beans and cucumbers daily.

Last year I tried peas but they were a lot of work for so little a yield so skipping this year.

 

[extremesoccermom]

Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong with Broccoli? It grows,but flowers before we can pick it.... We never get decent broccoli. We've done well with tomatoes, peas, stringbeans... BUT I want to garden better and want to learn how to grow more... any hints? books?

Broccoli is a cool weather plant. Depending on where you live now is a good time to get it started. I just planted mine in St. Louis, MO. When the summer heat comes it bolts (flowers) very quickly. You can also replant in late Aug for a fall crop.

 

[redandblue]

We do a few plants like tomatoe and pepper. We also do herbs, a few years ago we did chives in a planter and every year they come back and we do nothing with them other than water.

Anyone know of any other herbs that don't require replanting would it be called perenials? I live in Michigan.

 

[Mom of 3 Princesses]

We have a pretty long growing season here in NC, but we really have to work the soil.

We compost, which is awesome, saves us money and our gardens grow very well. We never have to use chemicals or anything else to make our garden grow.

We are HUGE tomato planters.. HUGE HUGE HUGE.

So that we do not take up too much space in the beds, we have started growing them directly out of Manure bags, works like a charm.

We grow:
Okra (hubby loves it and it freezes REALLY well)

Tomatos, we save a ton of money on these. We plant and harvest and make pasta sauce from them. We then freeze it and use it throughout the rest of the year. We would go through about a jar of pasta sauce a week.. let's see that could be 1.00-2.99 per jar (we do not use canned tomatos sauce) or more. If we buy 2, that would be almost 5-6$ per week. That is a lot of savings over the year.

Peppers,: Depends on the season, sometimes we get good ones, sometimes... not so good. The freeze, ok.. but not for long. They are great to spice up other meals that we freeze though.

Cucumbers: Last year we had a bum crop, will try a smaller amount this year.

Hot peppers: We plant them, use them freeze or dry them and stick them in a zip lock bag and use them throughout the year. nothing like YOUR hot pepper in your winter chilli.

We also plant A LOT of basil and last year we got a BOOMING crop. It grows and grows and grows, we just have to be careful to snip it back before it flowers. We make Pesto sauce and freeze it in ice cube trays and then freeze them in Zip Lock bags. We use these all year too. You can get a real bumper crop from a small plant.

We also plant sage, thyme and other herbs in my daughters butterfly garden. when we want fresh herbs, we just go out and snip some. Its FABULOUS.

We love it and in a few weeks we are starting our summer garden!

 

[Mom of 3 Princesses]

We do a few plants like tomatoe and pepper. We also do herbs, a few years ago we did chives in a planter and every year they come back and we do nothing with them other than water.

Anyone know of any other herbs that don't require replanting would it be called perenials? I live in Michigan.

SAGE.. comes back year after year. Also grows really well in colder climates.

 

[indimom]

We have a pretty long growing season here in NC, but we really have to work the soil.

We compost, which is awesome, saves us money and our gardens grow very well. We never have to use chemicals or anything else to make our garden grow.

We are HUGE tomato planters.. HUGE HUGE HUGE.

So that we do not take up too much space in the beds, we have started growing them directly out of Manure bags, works like a charm.

We grow:
Okra (hubby loves it and it freezes REALLY well)

Tomatos, we save a ton of money on these. We plant and harvest and make pasta sauce from them. We then freeze it and use it throughout the rest of the year. We would go through about a jar of pasta sauce a week.. let's see that could be 1.00-2.99 per jar (we do not use canned tomatos sauce) or more. If we buy 2, that would be almost 5-6$ per week. That is a lot of savings over the year.

Peppers,: Depends on the season, sometimes we get good ones, sometimes... not so good. The freeze, ok.. but not for long. They are great to spice up other meals that we freeze though.

Cucumbers: Last year we had a bum crop, will try a smaller amount this year.

Hot peppers: We plant them, use them freeze or dry them and stick them in a zip lock bag and use them throughout the year. nothing like YOUR hot pepper in your winter chilli.

We also plant A LOT of basil and last year we got a BOOMING crop. It grows and grows and grows, we just have to be careful to snip it back before it flowers. We make Pesto sauce and freeze it in ice cube trays and then freeze them in Zip Lock bags. We use these all year too. You can get a real bumper crop from a small plant.

We also plant sage, thyme and other herbs in my daughters butterfly garden. when we want fresh herbs, we just go out and snip some. Its FABULOUS.

We love it and in a few weeks we are starting our summer garden!

Can you tell me about Okra? I love it, but I've never grown it. Also how do you cut and prepare it for freezing? Thanks!!



From those who have grown asparagus, I would love to hear about it. I've never grown it. I would swear that someone once told me it will come back volunteer every year. Any truth to that??
Also, Do you freeze it? I've never liked the frozen or canned asparagus at the store, just fresh, so maybe it's not an option for me?? Either way, it would be nice to have in the summer.
Thanks!!

 

[4forWDW]

I would really like to grow tomatoes and strawberries. I really like the big tomatoes - I think they are called beefeaters or mortgage lifters
The tomatoes from the grocery store don't come close to ones from a garden.
My DS loves strawberries so that could really save a lot of money if I could grow those. We live in WV so any hints would be greatly appreciated.
TIA

 

[jbmom]

Can you tell me about Okra? I love it, but I've never grown it. Also how do you cut and prepare it for freezing? Thanks!!



From those who have grown asparagus, I would love to hear about it. I've never grown it. I would swear that someone once told me it will come back volunteer every year. Any truth to that??
Also, Do you freeze it? I've never liked the frozen or canned asparagus at the store, just fresh, so maybe it's not an option for me?? Either way, it would be nice to have in the summer.
Thanks!!

We don't grow asparagus, it grows wild on the sides of the road here and my dad has a bunch growing in his field. We just stop and pick some at his house. He doesn't plant it and it comes back every year. I have blanched it before freezing it, not quite the same as fresh but way better than canned. Someone told me you can freeze it in water, not blanched and its supposed to taste even fresher. I haven't tried that yet.

 

[Mom of 3 Princesses]

Can you tell me about Okra? I love it, but I've never grown it. Also how do you cut and prepare it for freezing? Thanks!!



Okra is really easy to grow for us actually. We go to our local nursery and start it from a small plant. You will eventually have to stack it cause it will grow tall. It does need quite a bit of sun, but not QUITE as much as tomatos. You can water the way you water the rest of the garden,

For freezing, we just cut it at the base but leave the pod intact. Sometimes, they split, and that is okay, but we try to leave them as intact as possible. We freeze them in a ziplock bag, and just pull them out when we are ready to cook them. We let them thaw a tad, if we want to chop them.

Otherwise Okra is easy and we always end up with too much. I wish everything else grew as easily as Okra.

 

[Mom of 3 Princesses]

We don't grow asparagus, it grows wild on the sides of the road here and my dad has a bunch growing in his field. We just stop and pick some at his house. He doesn't plant it and it comes back every year. I have blanched it before freezing it, not quite the same as fresh but way better than canned. Someone told me you can freeze it in water, not blanched and its supposed to taste even fresher. I haven't tried that yet.

I have heard this as well..
We have had no luck with growing it though... too hot