Top money saving tips if you are just beginning gardening

Growing your own food can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. And it shouldn’t stop anyone from starting to grow their own foods. Here are our top money saving tips if you are just beginning gardening.

Weight the pros and cons of raised beds before build.

Raised beds are very popular among gardeners and we love them. But if you are just starting gardening and building several raised beds with store buy items, that’ll be quite expensive. If you are building a raised bed with the materials you find around you, That’ll be great and save lots of money. If not weigh the pros and cons before making an investment.

Pros of Raised Garden Beds

• Gets you growing faster if native soil is poor.
• More accessible.
• Less compaction & erosion.
• Better drainage & aeration.
• Can correct slope.

Cons of Raised Garden Beds

• Expensive.
• Have to water more.
• Soil temperature is less stable.

So think about it, don’t use raised beds if you don’t have to, it will save lots of money.

Test your soil

Another major expense for most gardeners is fertilizers and soil amendments. There are lots of products out there with conflicting advice. It really confuses beginner gardeners to understand what their garden really needs. Fortunately there is a way to eliminate the guesswork and know what really best for your garden.Before spend lots of money on fertilizers and amendments test your garden soil from a professional lab.
In the United States low cost lab tests can be conducted via your agricultural extension which you can find easily online. Lab will tell you all about the garden soil condition and they will provide recommendations on how to improve your garden soil, how to correct any issues with your garden soil.
With a very little cost you can find out what your garden soil really needs and it doesn’t need. By learning what your soil doesn’t need you can save hundreds of dollars on fertilizers and amendments in the long run.
You don’t have to test your soil every year, testing soil for every 4~5 years is pretty enough.

Grow edible perennials

When you are planning your garden plants, make sure to include some edible perennials. Of course we love our annual crops, but they require new investments every year (new seeds etc...). You don’t have to water most of your perennials if you get a good amount of rain. And mulch holds the moisture of the soil. Also you don’t need to fertilize perennials every year, instead use free organic mulch like wood chips.

Make your own compost

Make your own composts using only free inputs, like kitchen scraps, autumn leaves, wood chips, garden waste. Making compost is pretty simple. Just pile the free organic materials in a bin and wait till de-composed. Don’t worry about the Carbon to Nitrogen ratio, don’t need to turn it, even don’t need to water it. We just wait. The compost is usually ready in one to two years.
To have a steady supply, create three,four compost piles at the same time. When you start your first garden, you probably don’t need to wait a year or more for the finish compost. In that case you want to make hot compost. We’ll post a detailed article about “how to make hot compost” soon.
When you start to add compost to the garden annually, you probably don’t need to add additional fertilizers as well.

Keep the soil covered with free organic mulch

We can use chop and drop garden waste, untreated grass clippings, autumn leaves, wood chips. Organic mulch saves money by saving water and providing slow releasing nutrients into the soil which reduce the fertilizer requirements. Mulch also helps to reduce diseases, improve soil structure and increase the population of beneficial soil organisms.
People sometimes think organic mulch will attract unwanted pests. It happens at the beginning and starts to decrease. Because mulch provides habitats not only to pests, but their predators as well. Of course you can see different results in different gardens in different climates. If you are concerned mulch attracts pests, try adding a layer of compost to cover the soil instead.

Verdict:
 Starting your own vegetable garden can be expensive. Here are our Top Money Saving Tips if you are just beginning gardening.

• Weight pros & cons of raised beds before investing.
• Test soil before fertilizing. 
• Grow edible perennials.
•  Make your own compost.
•  Cover soil with organic mulch.

Image Credits: pixabay.com