Save Money on Gardening

[pennypinch]

You can save a lot of money on food by gardening and canning what you grow rather than buying it at the grocery store. If your not careful though you can put a lot of unecessary money into gardening which will eat away your savings.

First of all having the right equipment to begin with is key. You might be more inclined to buy those five dollar secateurs but they are most likely not quality and won't last you. Pay the extra few bucks to get quality that will last you for a long time. This goes for all of your equipment.

Second of all, make your own compost. Fence in a small area about four by four in size and throw your leftovers in there and other great compost materials such as leaves and so on.

Make your own plant supports rather than buying them. You can do this with things as simple as long, sturdy twigs. Free! Push them into the gound and there you have it.

Collect rainwater to water your garden with.

Canning is fairly easy and gardening is relaxing to me. It's also a great accompolishment to see what you can do to save on your grocery bills.

[moneysense]

I dont can anymore, I freeze everything which is faster and not as uncomfortable to do as canning makes your home exceedingly warm.

I also collect seeds from my plants and dry them to use the next year, thus saving even more money.

Things like tomatoes, peppers etc can be started indoors in February and by the time the planting season starts, you will have nice large plants to transplant outside.

Sharing or trading your seeds with family members or friends will also save you good bit of money and give you an even more diverse selection of plants for the garden.