sj3339sta
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Post by sj3339sta on Feb 9, 2011 16:13:38 GMT -5
This year I'm going to be expanding my garden. In addition to having about an 80 square foot patch of yard, I'm going to be adding a 4'x8' raised garden.
I have never done it before, but I plan to track very closely this year how much I grow and how much I save because of it in grocery spending. Has anyone else done that? How much have you saved in your budget by growing and preserving your own food?
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merryheart
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Post by merryheart on Feb 9, 2011 16:45:53 GMT -5
I seriously doubt that I save anything with my garden but I'm ok with that as I garden for mental reasons - it helps me get centered and just generally feel better. And home grown tomatoes taste better than candy!
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oreo
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Post by oreo on Feb 9, 2011 19:50:22 GMT -5
I would love to grow all of my own food too. I always start my seeds indoors but somehow they rarely make it outside and die which is a shame. I have basil, tomatoes and corn started so far. I hope to get them in the ground this year but we'll see how it goes.
How do you keep the weeds down??? With the bermuda grass, I just can't keep it out of anywhere. I have redwood to do a raised bed and I bought organic planters mix a while ago when they had a really good rebate at Ace Hardware.
I know that I save $3 every time I need some basil because that is the price fairly consistently around here and then I end up wasting a lot of it. I don't have to buy sun dried tomatoes or other tomatoes but I don't use a lot so overall I probably don't save much. I do it more to not eat pesticides so technically I'm saving a little more because the organic produce is more expensive.
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gailbon
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Post by gailbon on Feb 9, 2011 20:57:09 GMT -5
Hi Oreo! The best way to prevent weeds is to spread a few layers of newspapers over your garden soil before planting season. After you lay the newspapers on the ground, wet them, and put a layer of hay or mulch on top. When it is time to plant, you don't have to remove the newspaper because it is biodegradable. It works like a charm! And totally frugal and environmentally friendly, too!
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Post by angel007 on Feb 10, 2011 12:06:30 GMT -5
We planted an acre of our 3 acre (2nd property; small farm) that we plan on retiring to in the next 5 yrs. or so. We planted corn, tomatoes, onions, peppers, cukes, green beans, cantelope, strawberries, raspberries, asparagus (takes 3 yrs. to come in) pumpkins for the first time last year. We canned/froze six month's worth green beans and corn, and about a year's worth of potatoes and onions.
We decided to turn a guest bedroom into a walk-in pantry...between the 2 houses we had soo much food, we needed to get it all organized. It's wonderful. I've spent maybe $400. since last fall on food from a grocery store.
In addition to the savings, more importantly for us is being as independent as possible. Dh is an avid hunter, and we fish as well.
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Post by bobbysgirl on Feb 10, 2011 13:20:58 GMT -5
Last year is the first time I grew a garden. before that DH did it. He has a green thumb and his food was always bumper crops and so dang good. Mine was OK, especially for a first try. Since then I have been amending the soil with organic matter and will put down the lime I bought in the fall. (to sweeten the soil)
I had very good luck with lettuce, spinach and radishes. And good luck with cukes and tomatoes. I have garlic planted for the spring, but I hope the plow over my SIL did when he did the driveway didn't hurt them. Time will tell.
This year I will plant the same things, but rotate the areas I plant them in. My garden is small, but I get a lot of food from it. I keep costs down by using seeds and organic matter. I covered the soil with sheets to stop weeds, so we'll see if that works.
Almost time to start seeds indoors. Last year I planted 26 tomato plant seeds and only 3 lived. But I got lots of tomatoes from the 3 plants.
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coffeegrl
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Post by coffeegrl on Feb 10, 2011 14:37:34 GMT -5
I don't have a garden but my mom always had one when I was growing up. I don't know if it really saved us money, but she enjoyed it and the food just tastes SO MUCH better from your own garden and you know what's been used on it. Someday, I hope to have enough space to have a small garden. I've thought about giving strawberries in one of those strawberry pots a whirl and seeing how that works on my apartment patio, but I'm a little afraid of how that'll turn out.
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oreo
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Post by oreo on Feb 10, 2011 14:48:38 GMT -5
So the ink in newspapers isn't toxic or anything, right? My parents get the newspaper so I'm sure I can get a bunch from them. The redwood is only 10" or so, do I need to dig down much deeper to put the newspaper down (how much deeper)? I assume the roots of the plants will eventually go through the newspaper.
I start the corn indoors because I don't currently have a place to put it outdoors. I was planning to start some ever few weeks so that hopefully the corn will mature at staggered times. I'm no expert on gardening obviously! Everything that actually makes it outside ends up in pots right now. I've never tried but I suspect corn might not grow too well in a pot. How deep are corn roots??
We use the weed barrier around the perimeter of our house (used to be all weeds) and it has worked so-so. The bermuda grass can get between the seems of weed cloth and still finds its way out. Also, during the summer when we didn't get any water, we didn't have a lot of weeds but after the winter, I have TONS of weeds in my mulch. We get it free from the which is probably why there are weeds (seeds in the mulch). I keep wondering if the problem is seeds in the non-sterile mulch or seeds getting blown from our weeds in our yard (green, grass-like area). If it is the latter, buying better mulch won't solve the problem.
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Post by bobbysgirl on Feb 10, 2011 15:29:25 GMT -5
I am under the impression that the ink is now vegetable based. So newsprint won't hurt the environment or you.
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Post by bobbysgirl on Feb 10, 2011 15:31:42 GMT -5
OREO: DH used to get the mulch from the county and we never had a problem with weed seeds coming from it. So maybe the wind is blowing the seeds around.
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oreo
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Post by oreo on Feb 10, 2011 15:48:15 GMT -5
That is sort of what I figured (about the seeds being blown around) so I need to reduce the weeds in other areas of my yard I guess. We have the Santa Ana winds pretty frequently. Adding that darn rain water just made every weed grow! On the plus side next summer they'll all die back and I won't have to weed constantly so at least that will be good. I'll try spraying them with the vinegar and see how that goes. I've had mixed results with it in the past but having to pick every weed is a pain!
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achelois
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Post by achelois on Feb 10, 2011 16:38:37 GMT -5
The black/white pages of newspaper are ok to use. Dont use the slick colored paper with the ads.
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oreo
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Post by oreo on Feb 10, 2011 17:20:07 GMT -5
So what kind of thickness of newspaper do you recommend? Maybe 10 pages thick or more/fewer?
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gailbon
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Post by gailbon on Feb 10, 2011 20:20:27 GMT -5
Hi Oreo, The newsprint is no longer toxic, and very safe to use. We put about 5 or 6 sheets of newspaper down, but there is no "rule" as to how thick or thin to layer it. When you go to plant, just cut a hole right into the newspaper, and put your plant in. The greatest thing about the newspaper is that it will compost right into the soil. We put ours down about three years ago, and no weeds have sprouted up yet.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2011 17:23:00 GMT -5
Wish I could help you with the artichokes but have never tried them. We grow eggplant, squash, tomatos, peppers, beans, peas, radishes, lettuce. I would have to read up on artichokes.
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❤ mollymouser ❤
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Post by ❤ mollymouser ❤ on Feb 11, 2011 17:26:15 GMT -5
We just grow sunflowers and tomatoes! Pretty and yummy!
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rileyoday
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Post by rileyoday on Feb 11, 2011 17:31:32 GMT -5
I would use newspaper to keep down weeds. sounds good.
I was in 2 different plants that make blue ink and there was not any vegetable base in the plant. Besides everything being blue its a pretty clean process.
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rileyoday
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Post by rileyoday on Feb 11, 2011 17:35:34 GMT -5
As a kid my parents tried to raise all the food for canning. One and a half acres for seven people. We spent alot of time with a hoe and all the other work also.
I like buying corn in season 10 ears for dollar. That works for me.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2011 17:39:51 GMT -5
To plant and forget is kind of tough. Everything needs a little attention. Onions are easy though. Peppers, tomatoes, beans. Squash is really easy and many varieties--they take up alot of space though.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2011 18:01:03 GMT -5
So there's a guy who's been laid off three times in three years, and he's just plain tired of it. He decides he's gonna become a chicken farmer and hauls his skinny little butt down to the Feed & Seed store to order some chicks.
He orders 100 chicks and they are delivered in short order. He asks the clerk if there's anything special that he needs to know and is told that no, he's good to go and to remember that the chicks are 100% guaranteed. Fine.
A few weeks later he marches himself back to the Feed & Seed and announces that all 100 of the chicks died. Well! That's the first time that has ever happened, but they stand behind their guarantee and supply another 100 chicks.
Lo and behold! Just a week later, the customer is back at the store saying that all of the new chicks died, too. Yup. He was supplied with another 100 chicks. When the chicks arrived, the fellow from the store asked him exactly what he was doing, as losing all the chicks twice had never happened before.
"Well," says the wannabe chicken farmer, "I really don't know what could be wrong. Maybe I'm planting them too deep."
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Post by bobbysgirl on Feb 11, 2011 18:11:57 GMT -5
The black/white pages of newspaper are ok to use. Dont use the slick colored paper with the ads. I should have said that. Thank you for amending it for me.
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Post by bobbysgirl on Feb 11, 2011 18:17:33 GMT -5
what do you know of that I can plant and forget? So far the only things I can figure out are jerusalem artichokes, garlic, maybe onions, mint and horseradish. not counting trees HORATIO: I am by no means a grand gardener, but how about asparagus? It's a grass, so it makes sense there is little work associated with it. Garlic and onions have to be dried on top of the soil for a few days after they are harvested. If you can get back to them they would be easy. We have onion fields here and it's beautiful when all of the onions are laying on top of the ground.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2011 18:23:36 GMT -5
Yes, asparagus is an easy one. A couple of years before you can harvest it though. What about fruit trees or blueberry bushes.
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Post by bobbysgirl on Feb 11, 2011 18:32:19 GMT -5
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Post by bobbysgirl on Feb 11, 2011 18:36:26 GMT -5
Blueberries sound good too. Now that I think of it how about blackberry bushes? They grow like weeds and need little care.
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olderburgher
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Post by olderburgher on Feb 12, 2011 10:05:24 GMT -5
One of our gardens is only herbs. We eat from April to late October using fresh herbs and bring several herbs inside for use during winter. Right now inside are marjoram, thyme, Italian parsley and a couple others. Fresh sage is available outside and basil and more parsley have just been started as seeds in the garden window. We will have 8-10 herbs there all through the mild weather including different types of the same species such as basil. Consider when gardening the use of succession planting to increase your yield. With some veggies you can easily get two separate crops to grow in the same space but one after the other. For example leaf lettuce or onions planted early and used in salads are frequently gone by earl;y July leaving plenty of time to plant and harvest things like yellow (bush) beans. if you are far enough south you might even get a third crop of cold hardy veggies too but don't count on saving huge amounts of money just enjoy how much better your food tastes.
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Post by bobbysgirl on Feb 12, 2011 14:28:20 GMT -5
One thing I have tried to remember is we either have time or money. Seldom both until, maybe, retirement. I did a small garden last year with very little money invested. I was lucky to find seeds for 4/1.00 and used coffee grounds and egg shells to amend the soil. My success, for a first timer, was exciting. Since then I have learned so much more and will use the newspaper trick to prevent weeds and amend the soil. I did buy lime to sweeten the soil this year at a cost of around 5.00. Grounds and shells still go on top of the snow for the spring soil to suck in and I began adding celery and carrot peelings.
Can anyone add to the frugal use of things to improve my garden soil and crops?
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Agatha
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Post by Agatha on Feb 12, 2011 16:43:53 GMT -5
One thing I have tried to remember is we either have time or money. Seldom both until, maybe, retirement. I did a small garden last year with very little money invested. I was lucky to find seeds for 4/1.00 and used coffee grounds and egg shells to amend the soil. My success, for a first timer, was exciting. Since then I have learned so much more and will use the newspaper trick to prevent weeds and amend the soil. I did buy lime to sweeten the soil this year at a cost of around 5.00. Grounds and shells still go on top of the snow for the spring soil to suck in and I began adding celery and carrot peelings. Can anyone add to the frugal use of things to improve my garden soil and crops? What do you do with the leaves you rake up in the fall? My brother raked his all up, put them in black lawn/leaf bags, and then threw them behind his shed. . .for two or three years. I asked him, "What are those?". "Oh, just bags of leaves." The bags were falling apart so I reached in and found black gold! We must have had two pick-up loads of it for the garden he was putting in. I have a six or eight (no sense of distance) foot square of chicken wire in the back I throw my leaves in and get out "black gold" for my beds. You can mulch them and turn them to speed up the process. I don't have the time or knees for that so I just throw them into the top and dig what I want out of the bottom. A handful of bone meal from time to time seems to help. I love lazy composting!
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Post by bobbysgirl on Feb 12, 2011 17:01:07 GMT -5
AGATHAS I forgot I did the leaves in the fall. I piled them high, but I like what your brother did. thanks for the tip.
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gooddecisions
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Post by gooddecisions on Feb 12, 2011 17:14:28 GMT -5
Oreo, if you're having trouble with the seeds- you can try what I did the first year. I started a very small garden (30' x 3') in my backyard where I used to plant flowers. I bought 2 tomato plants, 2 cherry tomato plants, 2 squash plants, 2 zuchini plants, 2 cucumber plants, 3 jalepeno plants, 3 banana pepper plants, basil and a package of sunflower seeds. I bought all young plants in April and managed to fit them all in the small plot. Everything was very successful and I had to do very little with it. Toward the end of the summer, my tomatos got attacked by horn worms because I didn't want to use a pesticide. Regardless, that summer I had plenty of everything. I spent about $20 on the project.
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