If you’ve seen any of my previous posts on gardening, you’ll know that this is our first year of really going all in on planting. The goal was to save money on groceries and to learn a new skill. However, saving money during your first year (or really any year) gardening, takes a lot of thought. I mean, everything costs money. The raised beds, the gardening tools, the potting soil, top soil, mulch, fertilizer, seeds… the list goes on.
One of the biggest ways we tried to save money was by starting almost all of our plants from seed. A seed packet costs maybe $2 depending on what it is, and could potentially produce dozens of plants. But, even seeds need somewhere to sit. Mark dug out a new in-ground bed for us on the edge of the yard, and we utilized some unused space in the front yard and to the side of the driveway. We also invested in two cedar raised beds for a couple hundred dollars, but those will hopefully last for years.
Despite all that, we still had so many more seeds and seedlings, and nowhere to put them. In comes container gardening (at least if you live in the city or suburbs). I just did a count, and I think we have a total of 42 containers with plants growing in them. That does not include the in-ground beds or the two cedar raised beds. If we spent full price on all of those, that’s hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, and would really not be a money-saving endeavor. Time to get creative!
The picture above includes 2 fiberglass planters that were here when I moved in. We amended the soil and now have hollyhocks and carnations in them. The 2 larger containers and the 2 small brown planters directly in front of them were buys from a bidding site in our area called Mac Discount. If you’re willing to take a risk or maybe deal with a very slightly damaged product, you can save a lot of money using that site.
Above, we have the 3rd fiberglass planter that was here when I moved in. The 4 black ones in front are just garbage cans with holes drilled in them. I got the 4-pack for $6 dollars from that bidding site. The x-shaped white planters are stacking pots, which were donated from my mom (there’s a 3rd one not pictured). The brown pot in the middle is donated from my brother and sister-in-law (when you tell people all about your gardening efforts, some of them might start to off-load unused items!). The aqua-colored one in the top right is also from the bidding site.
The 4 colorful hanging planters were a gift from my parents for my birthday. The green grow bag was from Shein (check it out if you haven’t. Lots of cheap stuff. I think it used to be mostly clothing, but they’ve expanded into home, garden, crafts, tons of stuff). The blue planter and gray garbage can were both from the bidding site.
I’m realizing I can go on and on. The planters above and below are a combination of donated, found, and discount purchases. We’re also reusing containers that had our berry bushes in them when we bought them. Sometimes, garden centers will give you old plastic containers too, if they have them.
Bottom line I guess, is let people know you’re gardening, explore sites other than just the home improvement stores, and get creative with trash cans and anything else that can hold dirt and roots! Happy planting!
Mark & Beth's Homegrown Adventure 