Save Money – Grow a Garden!

I love gardening.  I am a FREAK about gardening.  Seriously.

Every January, I start getting this glazed-over look in my eyes, and I have to really control the urge to pull out all of my seeds and start planting them.

Gardening can save you money on your grocery bill.  If you have no idea about gardening, then you want to keep it simple and small.  This will make it fun, educational, and keep things cheap.

If you are just starting out, I recommend the following plants for some sure-fire, tried and true producers.

  • Zucchini – You will feel like an expert gardener with this plant.  It will EXPLODE with fruit and you can't really mess this up.
  • Yellow Squash – Same as zucchini on ease of growing!
  • Tomato – Home-grown is WAY different than store-bought.
  • Bell Pepper – These plants love hot weather.
  • Cucumber – Great snacks and very easy to grow.
  • Green Beans – Yummy!
  • Snow Peas – These things are prolific producers and twenty vines will produce handfuls of peas every two days or so.  Great for stir-fry!
  • Sunflowers – Try the mammoth sunflowers that have flowers over 16" wide and stalks over eight feet tall.  The kids will have a blast watching these plants grow.
  • Radishes – From seed to harvest in about forty days.

I love my garden.  The great veggies PLUS the awesome flowers that are grown in it make it a very cheap hobby and a way to supplement the groceries budget in the summer.

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7 Comments

  1. Saving Freak on April 19, 2008 at 5:11 am

    Joe, you don’t love your garden, you are in love with your garden. Seriously, once you have gotten to the point that you are throwing the freshly tilled soil in the air and dancing underneath it you need to get some help.



  2. Tina Harkey on April 19, 2008 at 10:28 am

    My dad tried to convince me of this as a child…now his garden is under my house. And it cost me $6,000 extra dollars in dirt because the soil had no compression (I’m sure he was in Heaven laughing).

    When I was pregnant with Brooklyn I could not wait to get one of my dad’s tomatos. He was so excited that I wanted produce that he planted 63 tomato plants that year. I only wanted one tomato and the craving was over. He was heart broken.

    I tried to grow a tomato plant here a year or so ago and the hugest worm I have ever seen ate it. Oh well, there is always the farmer’s market.



  3. Mark on April 19, 2008 at 7:19 pm

    How about spending Earth Day getting your young gardeners (and those young at heart), excited about plants and nature? I thought your young gardeners would enjoy an indoor gardening adventure, growing the TickleMe Plant (Mimosa pudica). Recently featured by the National Gardening Associations Kids Store, http://www.kidsgardeningstore.com/14-1030.html
    If you want to give your young gardeners an experience they will never forget, consider having them grow a TickleMe Plant. This is the plant that will close its leaves and lower its branches when you tickle it. They sprout in days and can be grown indoors any time of year. Just Google TickleMe Plants or go to http://www.TickleMePlant.com for seeds and growing kits. This plant has turned many kids into plant and nature lovers. I know, because I grow TickleMe Plants in my classroom. Your children may never look at plants in the same way and neither will you!
    Happy Growing,
    Mark



  4. Jaime on April 20, 2008 at 1:58 pm

    I have always wanted to have a garden, but I really know nothing about how to even start! When do you start planting? I have a 4 year old and a 6 year old and I know they would enjoy helping me, but I don’t even know what to do! Any tips?



  5. Jean on April 21, 2008 at 6:14 am

    Mark – I checked out the site – I remember seeing the Tickleme Plant at a friends house when I was a child.
    I just ordered the grow kit. At first I was very skeptical but after seeing the video well how could I not want my kids to grow and learn about the Tickleme Plant. I am so anxious to grow one. Thanks for
    your posting.



  6. Andrew K on May 5, 2008 at 7:03 am

    Just included this post as a link in a new list of easy ways that consumers can GO GREEN, and SAVE MONEY. http://www.greenmywallet.com

    I really like your post, and I hope everyone who reads it is motivated to grow a garden… Cheers!



  7. Go Green, Save Money on October 4, 2008 at 1:12 pm

    […] Plant.your. own.garden If you have the room to do it, there are many free resources that can help you plan tyour own veggie garden. This can save you money on groceries, but it also great for the planet. Less gas to get to the store for that tomato or cuke. [Plant a garden] […]



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