Ground Report

Having your own garden in your backyard or whatever location around your house is one heck of a beautiful experience. As amazing as this sounds, what if you could actually save money by growing your food in your garden?

While this is so possible, there are many people who just do not believe this is possible. For them, when you put the cumulative investment cost of soil preparation, seeds, equipment, etc. it is almost the same as going out to the grocery store to buy food items. Before we get started, it is important we debunk this widely accepted myth.

If you own a garden and cultivate important fruits and vegetables, you should already understand the money saving benefits of it. This nonetheless, doesn’t mean you cannot learn a thing or two about other cost-effective way of running your garden.

In this post, culling from years of gardening experience, we take a look at top ways for you to save money gardening for your own food.

Invest In a Good Soil

Okay, we all can agree about the importance of a garden soil. It is literately the environment you would expect your plants to live and grow in. Plants, irrespective of type or species, require nutrients and a quality soil to grow.

If you are looking to start out a new garden, a good way to save money would be to use the soil present in your backyard. Most times this will be enough to provide nutrients for your garden plants. Now there are times you would need to improve the soil’s texture and quality.

A cost effective way to improve your garden soil would be to visit the nearest farm and get quality manure. Most times you would be able to get it cheaper or even for free. If you do not live close to a farmland, you could check local listings or on Craigslist. An improved soil will ensure your garden maximizes productivity.

Get the Right Seeds and Seedlings

Starting off your garden would mean you would have to spend some money buying seeds and seedlings. Subsequently, you should be able to get seeds and seedlings for the next season production.

Buying starter plants from nurseries cost more than buying seeds. So it is very cost effective if you can start out nurseries in your garden or learn how to grow plants from seeds. Some plants are easy to grow in home gardens. As a beginner to home gardens, you may want to start off with these types of plants.

Most crops are often seasonal and would do better in their seasons. Ensure you start planting early to get the best out of the fruit or vegetable. If you have a garden with lots of soil space, you can consider planting more than one type of crops. This way each crop gets to use the same cost spent on soil improvement and other costs which can be shared.

Some plants are easy to grow in home gardens. As a beginner to home gardens, you may want to start off with these types of plants. This guide to starting a vegetable garden also has some great tips

Save Money on Gardening Equipment

When it comes to gardening equipment, they fall into a wide range of selections. There is some equipment that is more important than others while some can be used for more than one function. Some garden equipment is affordably available while others are not.

You can visit your local store to get the cheaper equipment and look for alternative ways to get the costlier ones. You can check on Craigslist or in stores that sell used garden equipment. There are always people looking to sell equipment every now and then.

Alternatively, if you have plans to grow lot of crops in your garden, you can invest in buying new equipment that would last you a longer time. Consider them as your capital investment – with the amount of crops you will produce over many production seasons, this shouldn’t be much of an issue.

Growing your own food in your garden would not only save you the time and effort on grocery shopping, you also tend to save up on spending on fruits and vegetables. It would require your time and efforts in preparing and taking care of a garden but it would definitely be worth it in the end!