Grow a Garden - For Dirt Cheap!
Vegetable gardening has so many benefits for families. It provides access to fresh food at a time when food prices are rising at an alarming rate. It improves mental, emotional and physical health. It improves fine motor skills and creates a reciprocal connection between the gardener and the earth.
Starting your own little garden can be an intimidating process, but what if we told you that you can create a flower or veggie garden with hardly spending any money or time digging? All you’ll need is some creativity, time and patience! Whether you are new to gardening or already a plant enthusiast, here are some useful tips to prepare you for a successful growing season on a budget!
The very basics: All you need to start growing is a sunny location (a balcony or even a windowsill will do), water, soil, something to plant, and something to put it in.
No Yard? No problem.
When your backyard is a concrete patio or an apartment balcony, it’s hard to imagine growing a bountiful garden. But it can be done. Many vegetables will grow wonderfully in containers of all sizes – in fact some varieties have been developed specially to grow in smaller spaces and containers.
And you don’t need to shell out a lot of money on fancy pots either. Does it look and act like a container? Then it can probably be one! DIY pots can be nearly anything: buckets, baskets, reusable grocery bags, plastic bottles, PVC pipes, tires…you name it. Just make sure the container is sturdy enough to hold lots of water and soil for months at a time and has drainage holes so that the excess water can run out. Plants don’t like having their roots all soggy.
And remember that larger plants need a bigger container – a non-cherry tomato would be perfectly happy in a 5 gallon plastic bucket, while basil will thrive in an old coffee can.
Seeds
Choose what you want to grow based on what you like to eat, and how much space and sunlight you have. Some great small-space, easy to grow veggies include:
Leafy greens (lettuce, chard, spinach, kale)
Peas and beans – although they will need something to climb up
Cherry tomatoes
Cucumbers
Herbs of all kinds
Radishes
Carrots (varieties with shorter roots)
Tips for finding seeds on the cheap include – dollar stores, the local library (VIRL has a seed sharing program), and sharing with friends (do you really need 100 carrot seeds for one container?).
The back of the seed packet will tell you everything you need to know about the seeds – when and how deep to plant it, how far to space the seeds, and how long the plant will take to grow.
Make Your Own Soil
If you don’t already have one, consider setting up your own compost system for this coming season. Making your own compost is a terrific way to cut costs on soil and fertilizers. You can add kitchen scraps (no meat or dairy), leaves, grass, and yard trimmings to your compost. You don’t have to spend money on a fancy bin either. You can compost in an old garbage can drilled with holes, or just a pile in an outdoor corner. The trick is to make sure that you “turn” your compost with a shovel or garden fork every 3 or 4 days so it breaks down more quickly – but even unturned compost will eventually turn into soil.
Plan for Maintenance
A vegetable garden requires regular work of watering, weeding, harvesting, and more! It is helpful to plan for the maintenance of your garden.
Reap the Benefits
Whether you have the space for a small backyard plot, or just a few pots, growing your own food is incredibly rewarding. Let’s get growing!
This article appeared in the Yuk'akw'usthut (Spring) 2023 edition of our Four Directions newsletter. You can read the full newsletter here.