Gardening on a Budget
March 04, 2013 at 12:46 PM
Gardening can be lots of fun when watching your plants grow and it does not have to be expensive. As long as you have the following then you will be able to start a garden -
Where to grow:
- Among your flower garden, next to the house or garage.
- In pots or vessels which can hold soil (those containers you may normally throw away, e.g. butter containers, plastic milk bottles, old gumboots, plastic buckets, or broken sandpits etc).
- Dig a part of the lawn which gets a lot of morning sun (Note: check with your landlord if you are renting).
Fertilising:
- Add manure (from a local farm), dig it in, or use your food scraps to dig in (called trenching).
- Go to your local beach and collect seaweed.
- Get an old paint bucket with a lid and put manure or seaweed into it then top with water. Leave for two to four weeks then water down to a weak tea colour and water your plants.
- Fertilise once a month, particularly during spring, summer, and autumn.
How to get plants:
- Share or swap seed with your neighbours as packet seed expires and it can be hard to get through a whole packet of seeds before the ‘best before’ timeframe.
- Leave one plant to go to seed so that you have seed to plant for next season or leave it to self seed.
Which plants to get?
- There are certain plants that grow really well and can be used nearly all year round – they are a must for all gardens (silver beet, gourmet lettuce, kale, parsley).
- Other plants which do not need much attendance once you have them established are runner beans (the tubers remain in the ground for years), rhubarb (cook the stalks, add sugar, and put on your breakfast cereal or make rhubarb crumble for desserts, it can even be added to jams if you do not have enough berries). DO NOT eat the leaves – they are poisonous.
- Depending on where you live (and what the temperature, rainfall etc) will dictate what else will grow well in your garden. Other great plants are tomatoes (they are really versatile and you can freeze them to use for tomato based sauces), garlic as it is expensive in the shops (it stores for months and you can pickle it for keeping even longer), spring onions (are easy to grow, great for salads, omelettes, and stir fries and you pick them as you need), beetroot (as it can be bottled, pickled, or made into chutney). Many herbs are also great to have, such as coriander, mint (but keep in a pot as it roots under all your other plants), thyme, sage, rosemary, dill, fennel and many more depending on what dishes you like to cook.
- All other plants, you either need a big garden, certain rainfall/sunshine hours, or can be cheap to buy when in season. Below is a list of vegetables and fruit which you can preserve, freeze, or pickle.
- Keep all unused leaves and stems for your compost (tip: cut up stems/stalks so that they break down faster).
- Rhubarb leaves can be boiled up (use an old pot which you will not use for cooking as leaves are poisonous), sit to cool, strain, and use spray as a pesticide
How to start off seedlings:
- Use old egg cartons to start your seeds off.
- Use soil which is broken down really well and does harden into clumps.
- Water your seeds really well when you first plant them, then continue to water lightly everyday.
- Tip: soak your seeds in water over night before planting as this can help them germinate
- Put seedlings in morning sun away from wind, take inside away from frost, snails and slugs during the night.
If you do not want to spray or use fertilisers:
- Plant rotation is the most beneficial (and the cheapest way) for your plants to get the nutrients they need without you having to fertilise much.
- Companion planting can help keep the bad bugs away and some plants work really well together.
What plants can you freeze, pickle, or store (there maybe more but this is a good starting point):
- Herbs you can dry – Thyme, Basil, Sage, Dill (Parsley and Mint can be frozen in ice cube trays)
- Vegetables you can store for months in a dry, dark place – Garlic, Onions, Potatoes, Pumpkins
- Fruit and Veg you can freeze straight – Berries, Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Capsicum, Zucchini and Corn
- Fruit and Veg you can blanch (although some may then need to be used in soups or stir-fries as they can come out soggy) – Runner Beans, Peas, Cabbage, Silverbeet, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Leeks
- Fruit and Veg you can jam or make chutney – Rhubarb with Berries, Green Tomato Chutney, Beetroot Chutney, Tomato Relish, Cucumber Chutney etc
- Fruit and Veg you can pickle or preserve – Gherkins, Garlic, Chilli, Jalapenos
- Freeze in Butter (in rolls with glad wrap or ice cubes) – Herbs and Garlic
Tags: Budget Tips
Category: Budget Tips
