Hello and welcome back to HuwsNursery!
Today’s edition of Tuesday tips will be all about how you can grow your own vegetables
for hardly any expenses.
Many critics say you spend more than you save and in some cases they’re because it is
all too easy to get ahead of yourself by buying all sorts from fertilizer to seedlings.
However in today’s episode I’m going to show you how you can start cutting down the
money you spend in your garden and end up saving money.
Now keep watching to get a free resource towards the end of the video!
Earlier this week I watched a video by Patrick Dolan over at OneYardRevolution.
In his video which he made last year, said that he only spent just over $100 in one year
on his frugal garden.
He says that growing food got cheaper and cheaper each growing season and from my experience
that is true because every year you improve your knowledge and know how you can make shortcuts
through making your own compost and saving seeds.
Check out Patrick’s inspiring video in the description at the end of episode.
But how can you start cutting back your costs?
Michigan state university says that you can save money as long as you grow wisely and
make the right decisions.
So what are these right decisions and how can I implement these?
Firstly choose what you like eating, there is absolutely no point growing vegetables
for the sake of it which you won’t buy from a shop anyway.
If you’re just starting to grow vegetables chose 3 of your favourite in your first year
which you can focus on and not become overwhelmed with different tasks.
If you’ve grown vegetables before simply grow what you like as long as you know you’ll
eat it.
Secondly is to select vegetables and herbs which are expensive to buy however cost little
to grow.
Herbs are especially important for any kitchen garden as well as vegetables like beetroot
and Swiss chard.
These are all expensive in the shops but require little effort to grow.
To get a better idea on what to grow look at your grocery bill and work out how much
of what you buy a month and use this as a guide on what you should be growing.
Grow plenty of leafy greens!
Leafy greens are so easy to grow and provide some of the biggest investment returns.
Kale, Swiss chard and perpetual spinach grow quickly, provide large harvests and are full
of nutrients.
Did you know kale has more Iron than beef?
It also has more calcium than milk and even 10x more Vitamin C than spinach.
To top that all off it is great for lowering cholesterol, reduces risk of heart disease
and rich in many other nutrients.
Grow one plant per square foot in a firm soil bed and feed with nitrogen such as used coffee
grounds.
Another great method is to stagger out your planting.
For things like radishes, plant a few every two weeks so you get a steady supply of them
for months during the growing season.
If you plant them all in one go you will become overrun by them – that is a lot of spicy
salad for you!
This method can be done for almost any other vegetable such as sowing early and late potatoes
to a new row of peas every week.
This will then make sure you have enough to eat but don’t end up wasting food.
My final quick tip for you would be to compost and get as much free resources as you can.
Whether it is woodchips from your local pile, leaves in the park or even used coffee grounds
from your local Starbucks each are free resources which will build up your soil and nutrient
quality.
Take advantage of the environment you’re in for example get permission to collect seaweed
if you live close to the sea.
Compost bins are a no brainer and can even be made out of old wooden pallets and in less
than a year you’ll have rich compost to apply to your soil for no cost apart from
a little work.
Now let’s get to the free resource for you.
When I passed 5,000 subscribers I decided to thank everyone by creating a mini eBook
titled ‘How to grow food on a budget’ I promoted it in a video a year ago however
with many new people joining me every day I would like to have a second promotion for
this free resource.
In the mini e-book I talk about how saving seeds saves cash, 4 low cost ideas for filling
your raised beds, should you bother with fruit, the most productive vegetable and much more!
So to get it simply look in the description for a link titles ‘Free eBook on growing
food cheaply’ and any thoughts on it comment below on this video.
Thank you very much for watching and if you have any additional tips on growing food cheaply
at home why not post a comment and if there are enough suggestions I’ll make another
video to help inspire more people to grow their own food.
Hope you found this useful and please join this community by subscribing so you can receive
updates on improving your organic gardening knowledge and also maximizing your yields.
Thank you again for watching and see you again soon and remember, don’t panic and grow
organic!