Gardening on a dime
By Tawra Kellam
www.LivingOnADime.com
Tools
Watch for people who are moving. Ask if they are leaving their lawn equipment and if you can have it or buy it cheap.Use an old mailbox out in the garden to store your clippers, plastic bags and gloves. (This is my most used item in my garden!) It is especially wonderful because the kids and Hubby don't know where my tools are, so I don't have to worry about them borrowing the tools!
Use wedding tulle found at fabric stores instead of shade cloth to shade plants from the sun or to keep the birds from eating your fruit. It's much cheaper. Better yet, ask a just married bride if you can have the tulle from her wedding.
Cheap plants
If you see plants at a store that are in bad shape but not dead, talk to the manager. Ask him if he will give you a "deal" if you take them off his hands. Most of the time they will because the plants look bad and they don't want to mess with them anymore.Last year I was able to purchase over 50 large 1/2- to one-gallon sized perennials for $50 (over $600 retail). All but about five of them lived and I was able to return those and get my money back. Most home improvement and discount stores have a guarantee that if your plant dies within one year, you can bring the dead plant and the receipt and they will give you your money back or give you a new plant.
Buy seeds on sale at the end of the season. Put them in a brown paper bag in the refrigerator for better storage. Seeds usually last many years beyond the "past due" date on the packet.
Mulch
Ask a tree trimming service to give you their wood chips for mulch if they are in the area.Some cities also have a free mulch program where the city tree trimmers dump all the wood chips. Call your local county extension and find out if there is one in your area.
If you just need a few bags, look for torn open bags at the home improvement store. Our local store has a pile where they dump all the torn open bags of mulch and rocks. They sell the bags for $1 each, saving you up to 75% off! Most just have a few chips missing.
Use shredded paper or newspaper under mulch. This way you can use fewer wood chips.
Keep a shower curtain or tarp in your car at all times. This way if you find a good deal on mulch or plants you can take advantage of the deal right away without messing up your car.
Containers
Use deli trays with lids to start seeds. They are mini greenhouses!Ask the cemetery if you can have the pots they throw away after Memorial Day. (You can dry the almost dead flowers for potpourri.) Look in dumpsters. Many garden centers at the discount stores throw away the dead plants, pots and all. Ask permission first.
Use Styrofoam peanuts in the bottom of pots for drainage. You can also use small six-inch plastic pots, soda cans or plastic bottles in the bottom of larger pots so you don't have to use so much soil and make the pots lighter in weight.
Miscellaneous tips
Use milk jugs as drip irrigation. Poke two or three small holes in the bottom of the jugs and place next to plants. Fill with water and they will slowly water your plants all day.Use vinegar in a spray bottle to kill weeds. Only spray the weed. It will kill any grass or plants you want to keep if you get it on them.
For kids
Have kids water the plants after they swim in the kiddy pool. Have them take buckets of water from the pool and water the plants when the pool needs to be emptied.Buy or ask for sandbags after heavy rains. Use the sand for paths or for the kid's sandboxes. (Only use sand from clean floodwater situations.)
Save scraps of soap when they get too small to bathe with and put them in an old nylon stocking. Knot and hang the nylon on an outdoor faucet.
Homemade Tough Hand Cleaner
- 1/4 cup grated Fels Naphtha soap ends
- 2 tablespoons mason's sand or pumice
- 1 cup water
Tawra Kellam and her husband paid off $20,000 debt in five years on $22,000 a year income.
There is no better metaphor for building wealth as growing your own food. Gardening teaches patience, diligence and faith.
