Wednesday 5 June 2013

Gardening on a Budget - Guest Post at Lovely Greens

Tanya from Lovely Greens invited me to write a guest post on some aspect of DIY/Homesteading as part of a series of posts she has planned over the next few weeks.  I decided on Gardening on a Budget or, as I like to think of it -  Credit Crunch Gardening, as my topic. 



As you can see from my salad garden - due to lack of space, I grow everything in containers that I have collected - it is astonishing just how much you can squeeze in to washing up bowls, crates and supermarket cartons - this really is growing your own food on a small scale with whatever comes to hand.

 If you want to read more about this subject then head on over to Tanya's blog to read my post and return here if you wish to leave a comment.

For those of you that don't already follow Tanya's blog and are interested in living a self-sufficient and simple life, then you will find her posts on everything to do with veg growing, keeping hens and bees and making her wonderful bath products, very interesting and informative. 

She is a great ambassador for the beautiful Isle of Man, UK, where she lives - and is very much part of island life.

49 comments:

  1. Wonderful - lots of lovely ideas - thank you very much :)

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    1. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment - nice to meet you.

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  2. A great post and lots of ideas. One thing I like doing is cutting up plastic bottles to make plant labels. Also look out for free packets of seeds on magazines. The June "Kitchen Garden" one had 12 packets (£22 worth) of herbs etc. Pretty good! xx

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    1. I don't buy any gardening magazines but that sounds like a pretty good deal.

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  3. Really great tips Elaine! I'll have a look out for Serendipity's tip on Kitchen Gardener too.

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    1. Thanks for hosting this series Tanya - it has been nice to meet some of your followers.

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  4. I love your post, it's really great. I use almost all of this methods(milk boxes rule!) except buying seeds. We don't have "economy" range seeds. All seeds are very expensive, but I found a way to buy cheap seeds(even hybrid ones). Here in Croatia we have professional farmers that have better access to the seeds and most of them sell seeds that they don't need online. You can get different, even exotic seeds(vegetable and flower) for only few pennies.

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    1. What a great way to buy cheap seeds I'm not sure whether this happens in the UK.

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  5. I enjoyed reading your post. I think we gardeners are a very thrifty bunch.

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    1. I think you have to be these days with everything being so expensive.

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  6. Some clever ideas to borrow! Repurposing before things get too worn is good as is your tip that the seed producers have an interest in selling more seed long before the "old" seed has expired. Thank you.

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    1. Thanks for dropping by David - I tried to leave a comment on your blog but couldn't quite work out how to do it.

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  7. I use loo rolls for plants that I am potting out saves time and pots!

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    1. I used to do that but found they went mouldy - maybe I was just overwatering.

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  8. I agree with everything in your article, Elaine. There are so many ways to save money by re-using things, I save every container going to sow seeds in.

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    1. The only problem is where to store everything that I have collected.

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  9. A most enjoyable, and informative, post. I'm definitely a budget gardener with my biggest 'expenditure' being the time I spend plotting.
    I used know someone who gardened on a really small budget. She bought what she needed at Woolworths and local plant sales, and treated herself to just one nursery plant, usually a rose, a year. Her small garden was a real delight. Flighty xx

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    1. I would have loved to have seen it Flighty.

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  10. Lovely post Elaine. Lots of great ideas.
    Patricia x

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  11. Absolutely excellent advice over on Tanya's blog - and so true.

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    1. Thanks for coming over and leaving a comment - nice to meet you.

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  12. Proof that you don't need a Chelsea show garden budget to grow beautiful healthy crops. I wish the supermarkets didn't over package so many things but their plastic containers come in very handy.

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    1. That's how I look at it - if you have to buy from supermarkets at least you can re-purpose most of the packaging with a little imagination.

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  13. Great tips,Elaine. I use crates,boxes,old buckets,plastic milk cartons and we even planted a few spuds in a cut down huge plastic pipe.!
    I also went to Tanya's blog and thing she is great,found and liked her on FB too :)

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    1. Glad you enjoyed Tanya's blog - she certainly is a live wire.

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  14. Fantastic post over at Lovely Greens, with plenty of good tips. A couple of years ago I saw a garden that was created on a tiny budget. It was absolutely amazing, and I always find it inspirational to see beautiful things that are made from very little expenditure. Thanks for the great ideas.

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    1. Thanks CJ - I am always dead chuffed at what I can grow with a little time and a lot of imagination.

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  15. I'm visiting from Tanya's blog. Great post full of very helpful ideas!

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    1. Thanks for coming over and leaving a comment Staci.

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  16. The word 'resourceful' fits your attitude. I just wish I had more of it myself!

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    1. Resourceful - yep I'm definitely that alright.

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    2. This article gives the light in which we can observe the reality. This is very nice one and gives indepth information. Thanks for this nice article.
      Garten Blumen pflanzen

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  17. Wonderful post Elaine and nice to "meet" you through Tanya's guest posting series. I use similar methods to you, including catching rainwater in any spare containers I can find :) I'm also addicted to collecting seeds from my garden and from other people's gardens, I hate to see them go to waste, so I give away any that I save and can't use myself. That's probably the only tip I would add: find some like-minded people and swap seeds, my seed collection has grown through swapping and its all free.

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    1. Thanks Liz - nice to meet you to. I am a great seed-saver and often do plant/seedling-swaps with a friend.

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  18. Great post with so many useful ideas, i use some of them too, not only because i garden on a budget, but mostly because i garden on a balcony :) Happy gardening!

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    1. Ah gardening on a balcony must produce a whole new set of challenges.

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  19. Gardening is one of the best hobbies because one doesn't need to be rich or to spend money to do it. We can do this hobby just by utilizing the usual things we can find in our backyards. I love the tips you shared on Tanya's blog. You truly are the person to go to for gardening tips.

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    1. Thanks Jane. Glad you enjoyed the post.

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  20. I really like your approach to gardening - spending as little as possible and reusing as much as possible was something I learned from other allotment holders when I had one.

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    1. I love walking round allotments and seeing the hotch-potch of things that get used - we Brits are ever resourceful.

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  21. Good advice, Elaine. The only problem I have with all this is producing enough compost for all my containers - I just don't have enough. I used to buy a big batch of 25 bags at a time from a local producer, but they went out of business, so now I buy from a Garden Centre at a much higher price. :(

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    1. I can relate to this Mark - I have two huge compost bins which is enough to provide me with a 50/50 mix with bought compost - this does help eke it out further.

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  22. Hi Elaine I follow your other blog Ramblings from Rosebank and I love it, I didn't know you had another blog. I can't wait to have a good read of it :-) I have started growing a whole lot of stuff in pots because I haven't managed to sort out my raised beds this year, what with a knee injury and a back injury so for now, it's just pots, planters and anything I can get my hands on to fill with compost.
    Kindest Regards
    Kay

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    1. Hi Kay - Thanks for coming over for a chat - I'm sure we have spoken before on the Henderson's Relish availability conundrum - maybe it wasn't you!. Anyhoo, nice to hear from you. I'll pop over to your blog and see what you're up to.

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  23. What a great post Elaine and its given me lots of ideas. Your garden and veg patch is always so inspiring. I think my biggest expenditure is definitely compost and seed compost. I'm definitely going to try saving more veg seed this year.

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  24. Thank you for such a great post. I am new to gardening and found your suggestions very helpful.

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  25. Excellent resource! Thanks for sharing all these great facts. Very informative.
    garden pots

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