Are you looking for options about how to grow your vegetables on a budget? Do you need to save money to feed your family? Are you tired of most blogs telling you to “just” buy the newest shiny gardening fad product at the big box store or garden center? I am too! So, let me do my best to share some ideas with you on how to save money growing vegetables and how to do it without a huge amount of money.

Growing your own produce has a lot of benefits. It is a great way to get nutrient dense foods and promotes healthy eating. It can help people lower their stress, connect to nature and participate in a healthy activity that includes being outdoors. As if that isn’t great enough, gardening also helps you learn and connect with your ecosystem and if you have children in your life, it can help them develop healthy habits from an early age. Fresh vegetables are delicious and growing them ourselves can make it a lot of fun. But can we do this when we are strapped for cash?

The Basics of What You Need to Grow Vegetables

To grow most vegetables, you will need some soil (we won’t be going into hydroponics here, that is another conversation and we go in that some in Level Two of our course), you will need plants or seeds, soil, sunshine and water. You will also need a bit of time, how much depends on what you grow and how much.  I won’t speak to sunshine since there isn’t a whole ton you can do about it other than use what you have, we are in Western Washington, afterall.

Soil

If you aren’t blessed with amazing soil, be creative. If you can’t buy soil and have a bit of time, you can grow soil but build your own compost, even in small amounts, one bucket at a time.

You may also be able to ask a friend who has good soil in their yard or on their land to share a bucket or two. Even if it is just a little soil, the microbes will likely be beneficial to the soil you already have or are “growing”. I go pretty deep into soil science in Level one of the homestead School course. It is a lengthy subject and I won’t go into all of it here but I will say that the most important thing to keep in mind is to build organic matter. The organic matter in the soil is magic in that it supports the microbials, holds nutrients and absorbs water. All of these are crucial to plant and human life. A rich black soil is ideal that you should strive for. Black and brown are carbon ingredients and green are nitrogen ingredients. Find a balance of both that lands you with a chocolate cake consistency. Yes, this is greatly and grossly oversimplified. The bottom line is you do not have to go buy any soil if you have time to make it or access to good soil. However, if neither of these are the case, the cheapest way to buy soil is in bulk. This can be by the truck load or in huge nursery sized bags. If you are able, see if you can share with a friend or neighbor to lower both of your costs.

If your soil is contaminated, houses built before the late 70’ sometimes have lead in the pain that has shed into the surrounding soil.  Other times, as with what happened in the greater Seattle, Tacoma and Everett areas, certain industries have left their legacy by leaving arsenic in the soil. If you have concerns about these sort of things, have your soil tested if you are able. Kind County is currently offering free soil testing. Some of the universities, like WSU also assist with soil testing services. If you are concerned about soil contamination, grow your food in raised beds or other containers and do not use soil that did not come from the area you are concerned about. There is a lot more to think about and you should reach out to your county to ask for more specific assistance to your situation and location.

Water

Even here in Western Washington where the rain can feel like it will never stop, water can be really expensive and scarce. Water bills in some areas are astronomical and in other areas, where they depend on wells, the aquifers are low. Either way, conserving water is not a bad thing so I will share a few tips with you here.

Growing varieties and species that require less water is obviously a good choice if you have concerns about water. Another great option is to mulch your plants, whether they are in the ground or in containers, will provide more nutrients and retain more moisture so you don’t have to water as much. This can save a lot of water. I have planted dwarf blueberry bushes in 5-gallon buckets full of compost and they stayed moist and well fed all season. Blueberries tend to like moist soil so this is a pretty strong testimony.

Reusing water works great. In the past, I used a bucket that I kept in the kitchen to save the water that I rinsed vegetables and rice in so I could bring it outside to the patio to water things in containers. Currently, we have a grey-water system so that isn’t necessary anymore. You might be surprised how much water can be saved this way. The same goes for bath and shower water. If you use only safe soaps like castile soap, you can let your fruit trees benefit from it.

Water from fish tanks, ponds give a bonus since they also have fish poo nutrients that feed the plants.

Containers

There are lots and lots of choices with containers. I have used five-gallon buckets extensively. They are the perfect size for tomato plants, dahlias and all sorts of things. I prefer the square ones when I have had them because they can snug up next to each other and take less space. Drill holes in the bottom for drainage. I like to tie rope around the tops to make handles rather than relying on the ones they come with since I sometimes hang mine and I don’t want the handles to break. Food grade buckets are important. I got most of mine from a Burger Master that would toss them out after having their tartar sauce and mayonnaise delivered in them. They were nice enough to give them a good rinse with their commercial sprayers. I would give them a good scrub with soap once I got them home. Do this right away since spoiled mayo is nasty.

I have also used children’s swimming pools that had cracks, box shaped recycle bins, utility sinks, bathtubs, 55-gallon drums that had soda syrup in them and all sorts of things. I have also used industrial shipping crates as raised beds and salvaged scrap wood to make my own raised beds. I have also used larger nursery pots. There are tons of choices, many of which don’t cost any money. Use your imagination and maybe join your local “Buy-nothing” group. You can read more about container gardening in this article.

Seeds and Plants

An entire industry has been built on selling plants and seeds. While it is great to see all of the varieties and the seed racks out there, buying seed can add up super fast. If you save your own seeds, this can save you a lot of money, There are other reasons too but right now we are specifically talking about how to grow vegetables on a shoestring budget. You may also be able to join in on seed swaps, plant swaps, local garden groups and pea patch gardens that have resources to share.

Thinking Out of the Box

Sometimes people are able to share gardens with neighbors or plan what to grow in each other’s yard so as to best utilize the growing conditions in the neighborhood. This requires a cooperative community and conversations which I believe helps t o make the experience all the better and can yield even larger harvests.

Have you used any of these methods or have you used others I didn’t mention? Join in the conversation and share your ideas and photos in the comments below so others can benefit from your experiences and ideas too. We discuss these type of topics and more in our homestead school courses. 

To learn more about Marilene, Songcroft, and permaculture ethics, visit www.songcroft.com. Oh, and if you like this article, you will love our courses.

Thanks for being “us”.