Know any frugal gardening hints?
frug...@webtv.net
We have had good yields with the 10¢ seed packets. I've tried the
$1.79 packets (when on sale) and had about the same success. The
weather and other factors seem to influence the yield more than the
price of the seeds. Janet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are 'trying' to " lead quiet lives, mind our own business, work with
our hands, not be dependent on others". I Th 4:11,12 NIV
Bob Hale
We had terrible yields on the 10 cent seed packets last year. Plus,
there were very few seeds in the packets. I swore off the 10¢ variety.
I guess its all in YMMV.
--
Bob
Mac-N-Stuff Used Macintosh Computers, Monitors, Peripherals.
Use our links to pricing used Apple/Macintosh computers and monitors.
http://www.macnstuff.com E-mail b...@macnstuff.com
Holly Sullivan
> From: "Laurie Spinney" <mybudge...@hotmail.com>
> I want to do some gardening this year and would love to hear some of
your
> money-saving gardening ideas.
Make friends with other gardeners. Learn how to create new plants from
pieces of existing plants. Make lots of trades. :-)
-- Via DLG2000 v1.2.4
:)---Holly---<--<-@ * Barony of Calafia, CAID * San Diego, CA * (grin)
TechnoMages Guild BBS 619 549-0278 http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/4201
Quarterly barry wavy, argent and sable, and gules, a mermaid displayed
proper between in bend sinister two compass-stars sable, fimbriated argent.
Laurie Spinney
I want to do some gardening this year and would love to hear some of your
money-saving gardening ideas.
Thanks
Laurie
Cheryl L Perkins
Laurie Spinney (mybudge...@hotmail.com) wrote:
: I want to do some gardening this year and would love to hear some of your
: money-saving gardening ideas.
: Thanks
: Laurie
Well, the cheapest way is to raise things from seedlings, but I don't have
much luck with that - lack of skill, and lack of enough light indoors.
I tend to go for perennials, although I usually end up buying some annuals
too. Over time, perennials just keep producing year after year.
It really helps if you know other gardeners. Not only will they probably
be more than happy to give you plants (I've gotten lots that way!) they
are also the best source of information about what grows well in your
area. I try for a balance - most of my garden (aka that place I put plants
more or less at random) has really tough plants well-adapted to the local
climate, but I invariably try a few plants that aren't really hardy here.
It makes things interesting.
Other sources of information - your local library, first and foremost. If
you have a botanical garden in your area, you can probably get information
there, and in our city volunteers associated with it has a sale of unusual
plants already adapted to the climate.
I am talking a lot about plants and climate, because I think it is
essential to consider this. The books give a rough idea (in North America,
anyway) by labelling plants as being hardy to zone 4, or 5. But nothing
compensates for local knowledge. Local nurseries often have more expensive
plants than the local Wal-Mart, but they are also likely to have healthier
plants, plants suited to the local area, and staff who know what they are
talking about. In fact, it's a bit of a joke around here that all the
national chains have plants for sale on May 24th weekend (holiday in
Canada), but the local climate is such that no one would ever plant
anything on May 24th weekend.
So, I'd say, do a bit of research, focus on what thrives in your area, and
don't be afraid to try new plants.
Cheryl
--
Cheryl Perkins
cper...@calvin.stemnet.nf.ca
Blfribourg
>I want to do some gardening this year and would love to hear some of your
>: money-saving gardening ideas.
If you plan on vegetable gardening, I would strongly suggest you look for
"Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Barthlomew. I was able to more than double my
yield last year by putting 4x4 raised bed (we used salvaged pallets). The only
expense was top soil. But now that we have amended the soil, we should be able
to just plant this year, without having to till or anything.
I take the book out of the library to plan my garden. Here is a web site to
give you more ideas about it:
http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
Good luck,
Barb
Dan Birchall
Laurie Spinney wrote:
>
> I want to do some gardening this year and would love to
> hear some of your money-saving gardening ideas.
Pop over to Yahoo! and do a search for "seeds" - there
are quite a few seed companies on-line these days, and
many of them will gladly send you free catalogs. Maisha
is also looking at gardening, and even being very
selective (mostly looking for untreated, non-hybrid seeds)
I managed to get her about 5 or 6 catalogs from all over
North America.
-Dan
--
Dan "Shag" Birchall | I refuse to do business with
Moorestown NJ 08057 | companies that advertise to me
Be gone, foul spam! | by spamming - companies like
'98 spam kills: 037 | TrafficBoost (trafficboost.com)
Jo Anne Slaven
Cheryl L Perkins wrote:
> I am talking a lot about plants and climate, because I think it is
> essential to consider this. The books give a rough idea (in North America,
> anyway) by labelling plants as being hardy to zone 4, or 5. But nothing
> compensates for local knowledge. Local nurseries often have more expensive
> plants than the local Wal-Mart, but they are also likely to have healthier
> plants, plants suited to the local area, and staff who know what they are
> talking about. In fact, it's a bit of a joke around here that all the
> national chains have plants for sale on May 24th weekend (holiday in
> Canada), but the local climate is such that no one would ever plant
> anything on May 24th weekend.
Good advice.
Even here in southern Ontario, annuals shouldn't be planted in the
garden until the first week of June. I learned that the hard way about 5
years ago!
If anyone wants to try to grow anything from seed, they should be
starting NOW. Several years ago, DH built me one of those lovely
grow-light units with 3 shelves. We already have 2 flats of stuff
started. I have _a lot_ of perennials in my garden, but I always manage
to have room for 4 or 5 flats of impatiens.
I'd love to be able to grow some vegetables, but we have this great big
old willow tree in the middle of the yard, so we don't get enough sun
for the veggies to do well.
Jo Anne
Bill Terrier
Bob Hale wrote in message <34EBD2...@macnstuff.com>...
>frug...@webtv.net wrote:
>>
>> We have had good yields with the 10¢ seed packets. I've tried the
>> $1.79 packets (when on sale) and had about the same success. The
>> weather and other factors seem to influence the yield more than the
>> price of the seeds. Janet
>
>We had terrible yields on the 10 cent seed packets last year. Plus,
>there were very few seeds in the packets. I swore off the 10¢ variety.
>I guess its all in YMMV.
I totally agree about Wal-Mart. It's not just the plants -- they sell
such consumery garden products, too! Check out their clearance stuff
after the season gets going, though. Some folks will shop there anyway.
They do guarantee their plants will live. Store all those receipts from
anyplace that does and *return* all the plants that don't and get your
refund!
The 10 cent seeds are usually last years seed lot - there should be a
date on the back of the packet. The important factor is how they're
stored -- humidity is usually the culprit. Of course you don't know
that, but if a particular store has had good seeds in the past, I'd try
there again.
The thing to do with questionable seed, and that includes any you've
saved, too, is to pregerminate to see the success rate. Usually you
wrap 10 in a slightly moist paper towel and roll it up. Place in a
plastic bag, but don't seal it. I stick mine on the top of the fridge.
Keep checking to see if they sprout. For example, if 6 sprout, you have
a 60% success rate. This way you can seed the rest of the seed that
much heavier to compensate (or just buy new seed).
I can get vegetable seed *really* cheap from the Farmers Coop, except
for tomatoes. Of course everything there is recommended for this area
so I don't even have to *think* much down there ;). Some seeds I like
a little fancier so I get them at the privately owned nurseries. Avoid
the yuppie places. I check out the feed store, too. Normally I don't
recommend grocery stores for veggie seeds, but if you are on food stamps
the stamps will pay for the seeds. There're a few mail order places
that sell bulk seed. I recall a place that sold small seed packets to
the home grower. Can't remember any names.
Nancy Bubel's Seed Starter Book and Mel Bartholemew's (sp?) Square
Foot Gardening both talk about how long seeds can be stored. Some seeds
are open pollinated and you can save the seed for the next year. Other
seeds will not produce or won't produce true to the parent plants. I
HIGHLY RECOMMEND HYBRID TOMATO SEED/PLANT VARIETIES RECOMMENDED BY YOUR
EXTENSION AGENT, especially for newbies Plant a few varieties to extend
your harvest and protect from failure. If you lose one type, it won't
hurt you so hard.
If you develop some kind of non bug problem, try to rotate that
crop/family the next year. Otherwise, most yards are too small to worry
about plant rotations.
KNOW AND PREPARE YOUR SOIL. Remove the existing vegetation. Consider
cover crops/green manures. You can learn about your soil from the
extention agents and friends. Some places only need organic matter
added. Add minerals. PH is important - adjust it. Never add ashes to
alkaline soil. If your soil is based on limestone or other calciferous
(calcium rich) material, soil sulfur is BETTER for your soil than
gypsum. Hardly anyone will tell you this. Gypsum adds more calcium to
your soil, which you already have too much of. You will be making your
calcium/magnesium ratio worse, not better! A healthy soil is a
*balanced* soil. Add lime to acid soil. For alkaline soils magnesium
and iron are often low -- add Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) and iron
sulfate. You can also use foliar sprays with epsom salt and iron
chelates. Even if your soil has plenty of minerals, they can be tied up
in the soil if the pH is not slightly acid. The result is plant
chlorosis. If you have a large area and can't get all of it in the
correct pH range, read up on which plants tolerate acid or alkaline
conditions. Try treating some areas more than others and arranging the
plants according to their needs. Add fertilizer. One nursery here --
Wolfe's -- gives a free soil test each spring. Of course, they are
hoping you will buy all the products you need from them. He-he-he.
Some places will charge less for broken bags of fertilizer -- ask. Know
about fertilizers. You can calculate what types are equivalent to each
other. It's N-P-K, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium. Buy the large bags
of these supplies -- they store well in 5 gallon buckets, or you can
split them with friends. If your plants are coming up with purple
stems, they need liquid phosphorus immediately -- you can't wait for an
organic phosphorus to break down. Cultivate the soil gently to remove
weeds. Hand weed as necessary. Remember, a gardener's thumb should be
green, but her fingers dirty! Hand collect bugs in the evening with the
kids.
Many cities have free mulch available for the hauling. Become an
organic scavenger. It's frugal fun! Start a compost pile. Tell
everyone you know that you'll take their non sprayed clippings and
leaves. Put up signs on community bulletin boards saying you will haul
clippings and leaves. (Don't take weeds that have set seeds. If you
hot compost, it'll kill the seeds, but I'd rather play it safe than
sorry).
Plant intensively to cut down on water needs, etc. It is better to
water in the morning so the water can evaporate and not cause any fungus
problems as opposed to late evening. Never water during the day or
while it's windy (drip irrigation okay). Usually water deep to
encourage deep rooting. Different plants have different critical
watering periods during their development. A few plants, such as
lettuce, need frequent watering. Of course you picked a well drained
site with plenty of sun.
Apply lotion generously under your nails and on your hands and let dry
before you garden. This prevents staining of your skin and makes the
dirt easy to come off if you aren't working in water. There are special
gardener's lotions that contain beeswax. Liquid soap dries out your
skin too much. Wear gloves when you can. Garden early and late if you
can, trying to arrange your work so that you're in the shade. Wear
sunglasses, sunscreen, long sleeves/pants if you can stand it, a wide
brim hat and loose fitting clothes of breathable fabrics. Thread a boot
length shoe string or cord through the hat to tie under your chin. A
wet bandana around the neck does wonders. Here in central Texas you
should feel slight pressure on your bladder and have clear urine all the
time when it's hot. Drink constantly; do not wait until your are
thirsty. Caffeine, sugar and alcohol all dehydrate. Cancer and heat
related illness aren't frugal. If you must lift, use your legs. Don't
overdo anything -- get help. Learn to use a tarp to move things.
Wagons/carts are wonderful tools. Learn which bugs are beneficial and
which are harmful. Don't step in the fire ant nests. Know when you had
your last tetanus shot.
Pieces of nylons or knit materials such as tshirts make good plant ties.
They stretch enough to not dig into plant tissue. Red Christmas tree
ornaments foil birds from your tomatoes -- put them out *before* your
tomatoes get ripe. The birds peck the ornaments then leave for greener
pastures. (I've done this). Some folks string tape from broken
cassettes out along the plants -- the sun reflecting off the tape as it
moves in the breeze is supposed to scare them off. (I haven't tried
this).
Maintain your tools.
And above all -- HAVE FUN!
Raincloud
Bob Hale
Laurie Spinney wrote:
>
> I want to do some gardening this year and would love to hear some of your
> money-saving gardening ideas.
>
>
> Laurie
Get a carpet square, or sample (our local swapmeets usually have someone
selling stitched edge carpet samples for 50 cents to a dollar each) and
use it for kneeling on in the garden. Not only keeps knees cleaner, but
also feels better than kneeling on little rocks.
linda-renee
Bill Terrier wrote:
<long, good post about gardening snipped>
> And above all -- HAVE FUN!
Youch! I'm too scared of breaking a gardening rule to have fun! How
might a newbie gardener-wannabe like moi-self not be intimidated?
--
Linda
I can only please one person per day.
Today is not your day.
Tomorrow doesn't look good, either.
J. R.
If you want to grow great tomatoes, add ONE level teaspoon of EPSOM
salts to the planting hole and mix in well. Also works on peppers.
My Best ----
My home page:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/joe_roberts/farmerjo.htm
Heather Pisani-Kristl
linda-renee (lindarenee*kelly'smom*@mindspring.com) wrote:
: Raincloud wrote:
: <long, good post about gardening snipped>
Yeah, I printed it out for the gardening notebook. Thanks!
: Youch! I'm too scared of breaking a gardening rule to have fun! How
: might a newbie gardener-wannabe like moi-self not be intimidated?
I've been gardening very simply on my fire escape for 3 yrs.; I don't trust
the dirt in my neighborhood b/c of heavy metals. I use 5 gal. buckets with
holes punched in the bottom; the lids served as "saucers" underneath them, &
then can be reused to seal the buckets over the winter.
2-3" bottom layer inside bucket is for drainage; I bought a bag of gravel for
~$4 or so, but u could use marbles, broken clay pots, styrofoam peanuts (this
one is debatable). Put a mix of potting soil (or yard soil) & peat moss in
each bucket, up to 1.5" from the top. Then plant what you want; vertical
plants like bush beans, cherry toms., peppers, basil & cilantro are best, IME.
Oregano will winter-over in the pot, too (don't cover it up!). Lettuce works
in larger containers but will go to seed (bolt) in hot weather. I just chose
seeds that were marked for partial-to-full sun and bore produce relatively
early (b/c I live in MA) and started them indoors on the sill each May
(beginning of month). Sometimes they wanted more light & became leggy, but
still were good plants. This yr. I don't have such good sills & may sow the
seeds directly.
Containers require watering 1-2x/daily & can dry out easily. My S.O.
fertilizes w/Miracle-Gro when he remembers; I've also used bottled fish
emulsion (diluted) & will probably use that again b/c it's better for you &
the plant.
Side note: container gardens are a good choice for people who use
wheelchairs, b/c they're higher than the ground.
If you're just starting out, why not try for the "most bang for the buck" &
plant tomatoes & other veg. which taste not-so-good at the grocery store?
Then you can expand to more common crops if u think it's cost-effective to do
so. Just a suggestion.
My personal favorite for can't-go-wrong hot-weather flowers in the NE:
portulaca (rock moss). I'm sure your daughter would get a lot of satisfaction
from these, too. They're low-to-the-ground, not for cutting, and often reseed
themselves.
: I can only please one person per day.
: Today is not your day.
: Tomorrow doesn't look good, either.
ROFL!
--
Heather Pisani-Kristl... expressing her own opinions
Please excuse my peculiar shorthand;
I'm recovering from a typing-related injury.
Henry Forson
Laurie Spinney wrote:
>
> I want to do some gardening this year and would love to hear some of your
> money-saving gardening ideas.
>
> Thanks
>
> Laurie
I have been an avid gardener for a lot of years.
I really love strawberries fresh-picked from the patch with the dew
still on them & served within 10 min. of harvest for breakfast.
Strawberries need at least 6 hours per day of sun unless you have the
day-neutral variety. When I lived in NJ, we lived on a 1/4 acre lot, I
grew lots of things. I started a berry patch with 25 plants, carefully
removed all the blossoms as you are supposed to the first year, mulched
& didn't fertilize much at all. The next spring we had _70_ quarts of
huge beautiful berries! I also planted blueberries, raspberries,
apricot & peach trees, as well as veggies. I had tomatoes growing 5'
from my back door. I would just step out a few minutes before dinner,
pick the ripe ones, throw them in salad. The taste was incredible.
Good fruit can be so expensive! Growing my own was great & worth the
work. I would recommend reading lots of gardening books, there's so
much available to learn. Right now, with our extremely mild winter, I
am getting ready to plant a bunch of perennials & 2 new rosebushes.
Happy digging,
Melodi in VA
anita
Compost, compost, compost!!
Jean P Nance
Sad to say, 9 our of 10 books or newspaper columns are enough
to intimidate any prospective gardener, unless the person is
compulsive and really believes in doing everythig "just right" or
it won't work at all. Plants want to grow. Look at trees on RR
embankments or weeds coming through cracks in the sidewalk.
Dig up some soil in a spot that has as much sun as possible.
Do the best you can but don't ruin your back. Get some seeds
and/or plants. Put them in and keep them moderately watered.
Use some dilute fertilizer on them, just don't go overboard.
If some of them don't thrive, plant something else. If they
get bugs, don't panic. Handpick, or maybe dust on a little
Sevin if you don't mind being "inorganic". Read any books
or articles but if it sonds like too much work, it probably is.
Next year you'll know more.
--
M. Bloom/B. Bomba
Composting is frugal and easy to do.
Bill Terrier
linda-renee wrote in message <34EC69...@mindspring.com>...
>Bill Terrier wrote:
>
><long, good post about gardening snipped>
>
>> And above all -- HAVE FUN!
>
>Youch! I'm too scared of breaking a gardening rule to have fun! How
>might a newbie gardener-wannabe like moi-self not be intimidated?
Sorry about that! When I wanted to start gardening seriously, I used to
joke I had a brown thumb. All I could think about was previous
failures. I seemed to have forgotten about previous successes. I was
in a nursery one day talking to the owner and I noticed some failed
flats. I realized then that even the experts fail sometimes. Many
times we learn something from our failures, though.
These really aren't "rules," either, but rather guidelines.
For a beginner, I highly recommend _Square Foot Gardening_ as the
easiest, fastest way to learn about vegetable gardening.
Start small. The most a new gardener should tackle is 100 square feet.
I only tackled putting in that much of a vegetable plot -- actually 2
plots that totalled that -- in one season once in my life. A lot of
folks take on too much and give up.
Stick to the basics. Learn and add on more stuff over the years as you
become more confident/experienced.
Usually you can dig out the existing plants and remove them or even till
them under. Sometimes you can cover with newspapers or black plastic.
In the hot, sunny summer you may be able to spray with a strong vinegar
or solarize the soil with clear plastic. Sometimes you will have
something persistant and invasive such as bermuda grass or purple
nutsedge. I have seen folks till a large plot of bermuda and have the
grass take over more than half of it the first season. That's when I
resort to herbicides - a 2% solution of Round Up for bermuda and Image
for purple nutsedge. In that sort of situation a beginner may want to
forgo a plot and stick to container gardenening, at least at first.
Once you have a plot started it is much easier to begin each season.
If I was a beginner and wanted to plant right now, I'd have to check out
the feasibility of this. Some places just have one season a year,
others have two. Here in central Texas it's really too late for a
spring garden, so I'd be better off concentrating on preparing a bed for
this fall. I could transplant new tomato plants around the 4th of July
and plant okra if I was ready sooner. In some places I could still till
and plant now.
A beginner should stick to eating fresh vegetables. Too tricky to learn
to can, dry or freeze, too.
A beginner should stick to growing stuff in the usual season. Trying to
start the season extra early with cold/hot frames and extending the
harvest past a freeze can be equipment intensive.
Select just a few vegetable varieties to grow. Sometimes I have only
grown tomatoes in containers. Five gallon buckets are good, but large
peat pots work well, too. Beginners should stick to determinate
tomatoes, especially for containers. These grow on a central axis and
reach 3 to 4 feet. Breaking that rule already <wink>, a particularly
good cherry tomato is Sweet 100, which now is up to Sweet 1000 or
something. Plain red cherry is an open pollinated thick skinned low
taste tomato, IMO. Peppers do well in containers and grow much the same
as tomatoes.
There are soil conditioners, organic and inorganic, that can be added to
containers to retain more moisture. The inorganic stuff swells -- I've
seen it at Wal-Mart sometimes. I only use organic in the soil, although
moisture retention is not a problem in the soil here. Containers dry
out more quickly than the soil. Large containers retain water better
than small containers. Plastic and glazed ceramic retain water better,
too.
A beginner should buy packaged plants to start with when available. It
requires a lot of planning to start plants from seed early and doesn't
pay off unless you're planting a lot of plants. Some plants do not
transplant well and should be started from seed.
If I have a veggie plot, the next thing I plant is green beans, which
you start from seed. I grow some bush for early harvest and pole beans,
too. Fresh home grown have so much more flavor.
Once I had the equipment for vertically growing green beans, I added
sugar snap peas when I remembered to start gardening that early. I had
no success until I used a soil innoculant. YMMV.
Sometimes folks can't have a special veggie plot. You can plant amongst
your other plants like in traditional cottage gardens. My mom has
flower beds in the front yard. It also has a 2 pole lamps and her mail
box in them. She gets free plastic spoons and forks and ties nylon
filament on the handles. She anchors the handle into the ground, then
attaches the other end of the filament to the pole. She does a number
of these on each fixture. She grows scarlet runner pole beans up the
filaments. Very attractive and tasty. Her porch is elevated from a
flower bed. She does the same thing with the filament, but there is
more support on the fencing/trellis support on the porch. She grows
squash on this. Herbs particularly grow well mixed in with landscape
plants. An attractive basil is opal basil. Some folks specialize in
edible landscaping and have developed it into an art form.
A beginner may want to purchase unfrugal plant seed tapes that are
available for radishes/carrots/flowers. These tapes have the seeds
spaced correctly to avoid having to thin the plants. They help a
beginner have success with little effort.
If you're planting in rows, it is helpful to plant radishes along/in the
same row as a slower plant. The radishes come up quickly so you can see
the row and munch, too. <grin>
Hope that helped, rather than confused, with veggie growing.
I advocated mulch in the other post. In ornamental gardening there are
circumstances it is inappropriate. Irises don't like it -- they like
sun on their feet. <grin> Native plants seem to do better without much
mulch. Self seeding won't work with much mulch. In _Perennial Garden
Color_ by William C. Welch (written for the South and Texas), he
recommends the following annuals that may reseed: COOL SEASON:
Johnny-Jump-Ups, hollyhocks, gilia or standing cypress, bluebonnets,
larkspur, snapdragons, feverfew, cornflower, poppies, sweet alyssum,
petunia, drummond phlox, borage, dill, chamomile and French hollyhock.
WARM SEASON: zinnia, basil, marigold, Madagascar periwinkle, portulaca
(this is the moss rose another poster referred to), cockscomb,
bachelor's buttons, hyacinth bean, spider plant, cosmos, candlestick
plant, castor bean, cypress vine, morning glory (the native plant is an
invasive pest), impatiens, and garden balsam or lady-slipper.
Happy gardening <VBG>,
Raincloud
JSchadeck
> leaves. Put up signs on community bulletin boards saying you will haul
> clippings and leaves. (Don't take weeds that have set seeds. If you
> hot compost, it'll kill the seeds, but I'd rather play it safe than
> sorry).
compost from horse manure and yard waste that I collected. A free gift
for the effort of collecting material for the compost.
Blfribourg
> I also planted blueberries, raspberries,
>apricot & peach trees, as well as veggies.
I'm in upstate NY and was thinking about blueberry bushes. We got a flier from
the county cooperative extension, where they will be selling lots of 10 for
$30. How much room and sun do they need? I was thinking of planting them on
the back side of the privacy fence, about 12 feet long and it gets sun till
late afternoon. I could easily split the lot of 10 with someone,
any advice would be appreciated,
Barb
Dreamer
Jean P Nance wrote:
> Sad to say, 9 our of 10 books or newspaper columns are enough
> to intimidate any prospective gardener, unless the person is
> compulsive and really believes in doing everythig "just right" or
> it won't work at all. Plants want to grow. Look at trees on RR
> Sevin if you don't mind being "inorganic". Read any books
> or articles but if it sonds like too much work, it probably is.
Yes!! Thank you for that wonderful post, very encouraging! Gardening
can be as complex or as simple as cooking (as discussed in another
thread) - some people don't want to stray from the recipe, others feel
it is only a suggested guideline and do their own thing, and all have a
level of success. I started out gardening very casually, just threw
some bulbs in the ground one fall and much to my surprise there were
flowers there in the spring! I used to be very intimidated by all the
"rules" on each package of seeds or bag of bulbs; distances apart, depth
to be planted, etc. Felt like I should take my ruler out to the garden
with me. But after that first good experience, I just use common sense
and judge by eye, and it mostly works. The most frugal thing I ever did
was to only plant perennials. I barely pay any attention to them at
all, they keep coming back, and every year I add a couple of new ones.
My flower bed is becoming quite a spectacle of delight. :-) As for
edibles, I have had great luck with my herb garden, lots of them are
perennial or self-seeding. Planted some blackberry canes, they yield up
a decent share of berries each year but the kids beat me to them. :-(
Sometimes you can find plant-swaps, my sister got some very nice plants
for her garden that way, and got rid of ones she had been thinning out.
She also transplanted from some lovely plants from the forest
surrounding their family cottage - jack-in-the-pulpits, trilliums, etc.
Not common garden-fare, makes for an interesting display.
Dan Birchall
Jean P Nance wrote:
>
> Sad to say, 9 our of 10 books or newspaper columns are enough
> to intimidate any prospective gardener, unless the person is
> compulsive and really believes in doing everythig "just right" or
> it won't work at all.
Right on! Maisha has been doing a lot of reading of
things by Ruth Stout ("Gardening Without Work," "The
No Work Garden Book"), who encouraged people to mulch
heavily between plants to discourage weeds, and then
just let nature take its course.
She's also studied up a bit on (and plans to use) the
Native American "three sisters" method of planting
corn, beans and squash together. The beans climb the
cornstalks, and the squash provide ground cover to
keep weeds down, and keep animals from going after
the corn and beans (walking through squash vines is
not easy). :)
Throw in some reading of Scott and Helen Nearing
("Simple Foods for the Good Life" et al) and a couple
organic-gardening encyclopediae by Rodale and others,
and she's raring to go.
Her garden plot will be a 30x30 at a friend's farm,
rented for $30 a year. (The farm is organic, and has
been since 1720 - in the same family the whole time!).
We'll be shopping around for baskets and possibly a
trailer for her bicycle, so that she can transport
mulch and produce from here to there (several miles,
but not too hilly). :)
I think when all's said and done, we'll probably spend
close to $200 on seeds, land rent and assorted gear,
but I'd be amazed to not save many times that on
groceries... :)
[All of this is moot if I get a great job in a far-away
land and we move...]
-Dan
--
Dan "Shag" Birchall | I refuse to do business with
Moorestown NJ 08057 | companies that advertise to me
Be gone, foul spam! | by spamming - companies like
'98 spam kills: 039 | TrafficBoost (trafficboost.com)
Henry Forson
Dan Birchall wrote:
>
> Jean P Nance wrote:
> >
> > Sad to say, 9 our of 10 books or newspaper columns are enough
> > to intimidate any prospective gardener, unless the person is
> > compulsive and really believes in doing everythig "just right" or
> > it won't work at all.
>
> Right on! Maisha has been doing a lot of reading of
> things by Ruth Stout ("Gardening Without Work," "The
> No Work Garden Book"), who encouraged people to mulch
> heavily between plants to discourage weeds, and then
> just let nature take its course.
>
I gardened for a lot of years using Ruth Stout's method.
It works. I planted 10 cherry tomato plants one year, when I was
3 months pregnant & knew I would have trouble being out doing heavy
gardening work later on. I mulched heavily & carefully, watered well,
we had over 150 pts of cherry tomatoes, so many that I was giving them
away.
Viva the cherry tomatoes! :)
Melodi in VA, who is itching to get started on spring.
Cheryl L Perkins
Blfribourg (blfri...@aol.com) wrote:
: > I also planted blueberries, raspberries,
: Barb
Round here, they grow wild. No doubt your county cooperative extension
can tell you the details, but based on where they grow here, they need sun
and an acid soil. Sun til late afternoon sounds good.
The wild ones grow best in recently burned-over forest, which is hardly
applicable to a garden.
I planted some raspberry bushes along the back fence in a not too good
area, and they are thriving, in fact, I think they want to take over the
yard. I think it all depends on whether that particular strain of
blueberry (or raspberry) plants is well-suited to your area.
george k
And plant the front yard. Hell with a lawn. Sell the mower, build your
raised beds in the front yard.
--
to reply; drop the spam in the "address"
And smile!
Gary Heston
In article <georgekspam-25...@ts13.tidepool.com>,
george k <georg...@tidepool.com> wrote:
>And plant the front yard. Hell with a lawn. Sell the mower, build your
>raised beds in the front yard.
And lose everything you grow to thieves and vandals, with the added bonus
of getting to clean the splattered tomatos off your house, car, and
everything else nearby.
Same applies to fruit trees--I've seen a group of people walking along
the street detour into his yard to strip dozens of plums from a tree.
All of them were promptly thrown on the ground, as they weren't even ripe.
Gary
--
Gary Heston ghe...@ro.com spamfodder: root@localhost pres...@whitehouse.gov
sync@localhost daemon@localhost lp@localhost mail@localhost news@localhost
In the 1964 SF novel _Andromeda Breakthrough_ (ISBN 0-06-080471-8) by Hoyle &
Elliot, there is an shadowy, evil multinational corporation. Its' name? Intel.
Jan
In article <georgekspam-25...@ts13.tidepool.com>,
georg...@tidepool.com (george k) wrote:
> And plant the front yard. Hell with a lawn. Sell the mower, build your
> raised beds in the front yard.
>
> --
> to reply; drop the spam in the "address"
> And smile!
I want to make a raised bed for herbs and veggies. any suggestions for
frugal materials to raise the sides of the bed? BTW, I don't use power
equipment -- I am a klutz and have two damaged fingers already!
--
jrg14@*spamfree*cornell.edu
*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_
EcoVillage Ithaca, looking for people to help
plan, and live in, the second neighborhood group.
for info: http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/ecovillage/
Henry Forson
george k wrote:
>
> And plant the front yard. Hell with a lawn. Sell the mower, build your
> raised beds in the front yard.
>
> --
> to reply; drop the spam in the "address"
> And smile!
The prettiest front lawn I have ever seen was at a friend's home.
They didn't *have* a lawn. The entire yard was a huge gorgeous mass of
perennials, flowering trees & shrubs with pathways leading to benches
here & there.. Not a blade of grass, who would miss it anyway?
(As you can tell, I am not a grass fan except for the big plumey types
that don't get mowed. :))
Melodi in VA, where my rosebushes are breaking dormancy.
Henry Forson
> >And plant the front yard. Hell with a lawn. Sell the mower, build your
> >raised beds in the front yard.
>
> of getting to clean the splattered tomatos off your house, car, and
> everything else nearby.
>
> Same applies to fruit trees--I've seen a group of people walking along
> the street detour into his yard to strip dozens of plums from a tree.
> All of them were promptly thrown on the ground, as they weren't even ripe.
>
> Gary
>
grow pears & lots of other stuff, our yard is bordered by prickly shrubs
to keep people & animals out. The barrier works. The only animals we
have problems with are squirrels. I did catch a group of boys in my
yard once years ago, getting ready to tp the property. When I yelled at
them they ran, leaving behind several very large rolls of nice tp,
which I of course used. "Spoils of war." :) They never came back.
Melodi in VA
Jo Anne Slaven
Henry Forson wrote:
> The prettiest front lawn I have ever seen was at a friend's home.
> They didn't *have* a lawn. The entire yard was a huge gorgeous mass of
> perennials, flowering trees & shrubs with pathways leading to benches
> here & there.. Not a blade of grass, who would miss it anyway?
> (As you can tell, I am not a grass fan except for the big plumey types
> that don't get mowed. :))
>
> Melodi in VA
In a very nice neighborhood near here, I have seen a front lawn that was
done up like a birch grove. There are three or four groupings of birch
trees surrounding the flagstone walk. No grass - there is some kind of
mulch (wood chips, maybe) on the ground. There are also several large
rocks scattered about.
In the spring, this yard is full of trilliums, crocuses, violas, and
other natural-looking flowering plants. The beds along the front of the
house contain hostas. Ferns grow in the particularly shady spots. It's
really quite stunning.
Jo Anne
Allison Wolf
In article <jrg14-25029...@132.236.226.17>,
>
>> And plant the front yard. Hell with a lawn. Sell the mower, build your
>> raised beds in the front yard.
>
>frugal materials to raise the sides of the bed? BTW, I don't use power
>equipment -- I am a klutz and have two damaged fingers already!
Um, when I've done it (I don't have a yard, but have helped build a few
raised bed gardens), I've used two 4"x6" boards on each side. There
were two long sides and two short sides (I don't know exact lengths
since I wasn't the one who cut them...) and we nailed the darn things
together as we laid them down (nice, big nails and big hammers). Put
newpaper in the bottom, dump good dirt on top, and you have a raised
bed. This won't last forever, as the boards will eventually rot, but
it should last quite a while.
We used stone when we helped out my in-laws, but it cost a heck of a lot
more.....
Happy gardening!
--
Allison Wolf,
allison*at*mathcs*dot*emory*dot*edu
Emory University, Atlanta, GA
JSchadeck
Jan wrote:
> I want to make a raised bed for herbs and veggies. any suggestions for
> frugal materials to raise the sides of the bed?
Broken concrete stacked about 3 layers high looks nice. Or a rock wall
looks beautiful if you can find large rocks. Hay bales make a great
raised bed but not so great looking.
Blfribourg
> I want to make a raised bed for herbs and veggies. any suggestions for
>> frugal materials to raise the sides of the bed?
>
>
I did raised bed last year for Square Foot Gardening. I did the first block
with salvaged pallets. Do you know how hard it is to take apart pallets??? DH
was ready to kill me. So we got the remaining wood directly from a saw mill.
It was rough cut, but just fine for this project. I think it cost $15 total
for the lumber, and DH was able to put together 5 of them in less time than one
pallet square had taken.
Barb
mer...@hotmail.com
For a frugal source of "stone" for walls and stepping stones, find out where
your city dumps broken concrete from street repair. It takes some work and
time to accumulate, but broken concrete can look just fine as a short wall, or
as stepping stones.
I've been known to stop the car, jump out and lug broken concrete into the
trunk when I spot construction (or, actually, the deconstruction before the
construction).
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http://www.dejanews.com/ Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading
Lorenzo L. Love
Jan wrote:
> In article <georgekspam-25...@ts13.tidepool.com>,
> georg...@tidepool.com (george k) wrote:
>
> > And plant the front yard. Hell with a lawn. Sell the mower, build your
> > raised beds in the front yard.
> >
> > --
> > to reply; drop the spam in the "address"
> > And smile!
>
> I want to make a raised bed for herbs and veggies. any suggestions for
> frugal materials to raise the sides of the bed? BTW, I don't use power
> equipment -- I am a klutz and have two damaged fingers already!
>
> --
> jrg14@*spamfree*cornell.edu
> *^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_*^_
> EcoVillage Ithaca, looking for people to help
> plan, and live in, the second neighborhood group.
> for info: http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/ecovillage/
If you have the room, the most frugal thing is to use nothing. Just slope the
sides at about 45 degrees. You can plant on the sloped sides as well as the
in the bed. That adds a foot or so to each side so if you don't have the
room, you need to box in the beds. If termites are not a problem in your
area, wood is cheap and easy. A lot of people will tell you must use cedar or
redwood to prevent rot, but I have had beds boxed in pine that are five years
old and show no major signs of rot. I figure I can replace the pine three
times for the cost of doing it once in redwood. If you can find used lumber
from a destruction site, great. I have couple beds made with used 2 by 6
stacked two high. I even used used nails to put it together. Because of all
the old nail holes, it will rot quicker then new lumber, but I figure at
least five or six years use. And it was free. Some people have used old wood
pallets for free lumber. If termites are a problem, look for used brick and
concrete blocks. Good used bricks are pretty valuable, but the broken ones
that salvage yards leave behind work fine for a raised bed. Old concrete
blocks have little value and usually go to the land fill. Cause the walls are
so low you don't need to morter these, just dry stack them.
Lorenzo
Dave Garland
J> From: JSchadeck <jsch...@zapcom.net>
J> Broken concrete stacked about 3 layers high looks nice.
In my neighborhood, there's somebody who's got a retaining wall probably 5
feet high made out of stacked broken concrete. From any kind of a
distance it looks like fieldstone. Up close, it loses a little of the
presentation value, but serves the purpose just fine. I was really
impressed.
-Dave
Lech K. Lesiak
On Fri, 27 Feb 1998 mer...@hotmail.com wrote:
> I've been known to stop the car, jump out and lug broken concrete into the
> trunk when I spot construction (or, actually, the deconstruction before the
> construction).
I've been known to bring bricks home on my bike when I was building my
compost enclosure.
Cheers,
Lech
chat...@usa.net
I've used unprinted newsprint roll ends left over from the print runs on
newspapers (you get them from your local newspaper print shop for about $10 a
roll end) and layered the unprinted paper about 5 deep in my garden for weed
control. It lets water and air to the soil but keeps the light out to
greatly reduce the weeds and most of the pests (like cut worm and farmer
ants) and it helps keep the soil moist. in my two 8' x 4' squarfoot
gardens, one roll end lasts two or three seasons (depending on how much is on
the roll end).
I don't till it under, though because it can pack like concrete after a few
seasons (learned the hard way) but for a mulch it works well. I take it up
in the late fall and put fresh down in the spring as I transplant my
seedlings outdoors, after I have fertilized and tilled. The only drawback is
that this method tends to draw red ants (they like the moisture) but they are
easier to contend with than cutworm. (IMHO).
I have also saved the plastic cups that yogurt comes in to start my seedlings
in the winter. They are a little larger than your typical starter kit pots
and definitly larger than the peat pellets that you can buy.
I use dirt right out of the garden to start my seedlings, also, instead of
buying potting soil. I fertilize, till, and then fill my starters in the
fall. Then I lime and fertilize (if needed) and till again before planting
in the spring. I think it helps my seedlings do better after they are
transplanted, because they don't have to adapt to a different soil condition
than what they began in.
Chatzie Massey
In article <6desu8$u...@ds2.acs.ucalgary.ca>,
RSilve1060
Hi Dave , I wondered if you knew that you could freeze leftover garden seeds
for use sometimes up to 3 years? Also in Mother Earth News in the back pages
they have a seed exchange. You can get your seeds for just a stamp sometimes.
Oh! When you freeze your seeds don't let them get wet. A glass canning jar is a
good storage unit. GoodLuck! Cathy
EMBogner
Earthworms, they dispose of organic waste which saves money if
you have to pay for garbage disposal by the pound and make castings that enrich
your soil.