Frugal gardening

Thought I'd begin a thread on frugal gardening, so feel free to add your ideas/tips.

What brought this on? Well, I was advised by GC members to try Freecycle for gardening goodies and I've been watching, waiting, watching, waiting ...

.... last November someone had 7 stones pots up for grabs, but they were gone by the time I got in contact

At the beginning of this month, the lady emailed me to say she had some "flint" type stones which a person failed to collect and offered me first dibs because I'd shown an interest in the pots.

Mr Mum finally got to collect them just now (I couldn't go, got a chest infection so would have been neither use nor ornament) and they are not the "pebble" type stones I'd imagined. But chunky monkey stones (the sort used to build city walls back in days of yore!) And all for the price of petrol there and back

I'll post a pic later (too brr! at the moment).

No idea what I'll do with them, but I'll think of something

 

I could write an essay on frugal gardening - but I won't.

I like to think I'm quite experienced in this field, but I'm always ready to learn more.

My frugal gardening means that everything must pay its way. I made the mistake of not factoring in petrol costs when collecting free stuff and also how long something was expected to last for the amount of cost that the job entailed - that includes consumables such as compost and ferts but not my time. I'd like to think that I've got it about right, but I'm not going to be writing up spreadsheets to capture the exact details. I also make a mental note of which produce is getting more expensive to buy in the shops, tomatoes, broccoli, cukes, lettuce, etc.

I'm at the point where I can apply the 80/20 rule. 20% of my work/sowings must yield 80% of my harvests, etc. If a plant becomes too much work then it will come out and be replaced by something more productive and less work.

I'm also working out how to overwinter very successful plants like tomatoes so that I can be up to speed in no time. My plan for a polytunnel will see my hobby turn into quite a serious home mini-frugal-farm!

 

Some other frugal tips in posts:-

Free Coffee Grounds (compost)

Used wine bottles (garden edging)

 

I used Google maps to get the route directions and it also gives you an estimate of how much the journey will cost (unlike AA route planner); according to that, the trip cost £1.90 x 2 = £3.80 return trip. These stones are more than worth the petrol in this instance But, yes, that is a good point and does need factoring.

 

I stupidly spent around £20 in petrol to get a pile of rubbish - the freecycle ad really talked up this plastic greenhouse and in reality it was fit for the bin. I got the idea the owner wanted rid and thought of a quick way to get shot of it. This year the same plastic greenhouse costs £19 in a local shop. Hard lesson learned!

 

Buy only the tools you need, buy good quality, look after them and they will last forever.

 

...and don't lend them out.

e2a: other tips: (Sorry)
Join, or make friends with, the allotment or gardening societies and swap/barter/beg for seeds or cuttings
Buy out of season equipment cheap
Do winter gardening with herbs and lettuce, sprouts etc make your garden pay all through the year.
Grow green manure in unused spaces
Sell excess produce - be careful of any laws - maybe just sell to your friends.
Rabbit poo/litter is a great fertiliser - ask your neighbours if they have rabbits, they'll be glad to pass it on.
Start a worm bin.
Use stored rain water if you have a tap meter.
Grow window-sill herbs.
Take it slowly, or at a pace that's not going to knock you out.
Join a landshare scheme.
Take on a (free) apprentice for a share of the produce.
Learn how to store excess produce (clamping, freezing, preserving, etc)
Make your own bug-spray.

That's just for now, I'll pop some others up later.

 

Most of my pieces of wood for various projects are collected from the beach.

I also won myself a load of fishing net which I used to grow peas up last year. The way I see it, I was not only saving myself some money, but I was potentially saving the lives of countless creatures that could have been snagged in this net, which was busted and washed ashore.

A lot of odd and useful stuff washes ashore on our local beach. Some of it washes a couple of hundred yards further in land and seems to accumulate in my back garden.

 

Unfortunately, the biggest "harvest" at my nearest beach is ... doggy doo-doo's

I'm at GC for the first reason; second item .... I'm a bargain hunter by nature I told Mr Mum when he does his impression: "Ask *not* what I have spent ( ); ask what I have *saved* ( ) - and do think long term, dear!"

 

You should have no end of seaweed - lucky devil!

 

Seaweed was more prolific where I lived before here. Hmm, it's not so far away that an annual "harvest" wouldn't be in order

 

I've never yet collected any sea weed. Its a shame because I need a load of good bulky organic matter to improve my poor soil, but I just never seem to get round to collecting any.

I think its because it has to be an intentional thing. Bits of wood and other stuff get collected if I chance upon them while out for a walk, but for seaweed you need to take sacks and a fork to collect it, which means you have to plan it in advance.

I must go and get some. I commit to collecting a load before spring

 

It does take a little forethought, cl1; but, overall, the harvest is worth it.

Think of it on par with having to remember to take bags when you go shopping these days

 

I'm lucky to get the following for free:

- Cattle manure.
from my wife's hairdresser's mum's farm. Lovely stuff.

- Hay.
for temporary paths over mud and mulching. I stick it on top of leaf mulch to stop the leaves blowing away (hay doesn't blow away so easily while leaves do). It's great for sticking around the strawberry plants to keep the fruit dry), creating aerating layers in the compost heap and for digging into the ground - this comes from the meadow over the road. It's harvested for hay every year by people who pay the owner but they leave tons. I just take a wheelbarrow along when they're done. I'm always finding new ways to use it.

- Leaf mould.
for mulching. There's a village leaf dump the other side of the stream. I take a couple of banana boxes and a fork along in the car. Means no need to have a leaf pile in my own garden.

- Tree Saplings.
Which have to be the greatest money-saver of all when you're starting a garden that was a field. They're from our local wood which is thinned by conservators anyway to encourage the deer. I've got a small oak already and have my eye on a silver birch.

- Cuttings.
From my neighbours, people who live locally, and some willow from the park.

- Thistle poles
When I first was able to do something with my garden it was covered in weeds which got cut and stacked while I thought about what to do with them. When they dried out I discovered that thistle stems are virtually as good as bamboo poles: for supporting new plantings and so on. There's enough on the verge for what I need now. They're also good for layers in the compost heap.

- Banana Boxes
The best cardboard boxes you can get because they're really tough, don't fall apart when wet and stack well. Great for storing garden stuff in, as well as for the loft. I just asked at the supermarket. If you have enough, keep the top on and cut out one end you can make a free-standing cupboard with them for the shed. The mother of invention discovered them when I moved flat and was astounded how much packing cases are to buy.

- Closhes
Under the title, 'frugal' as opposed to 'free' I'd include closhes, which I make out of a piece of persex corrigated sheet from the DIY shop, kept in a roof shape by string, held down by wire pegs. I think they look neater than the ones you buy.

- Sand pit
Under the title, 'Attempt to be frugal', there is this:

As you can see, I made it before I dealt with the weeds!

I was a little surprised to see the cost of complete sand pits in the garden shops
so I made one myself. Like most DIY, I'm very glad I made it anyway 'cos I think it looks much better. And I could make a hardboard top for it to keep the cats out.


Little Cacadore would live in it if she could.

- Water Butt

This used to contain formaldehyde. Cut a hole in the top, swing the gutter drainpipe over and Bob's your uncle. Neat thing is it comes with a tap at bucket height. I got it from the neighbour who wanted something bigger and he spotted it being thrown away from a factory.

- Free advice how to care for my garden better.
Oh yes. From my other neighbour. The one who mows his summer lawn three times a week. 'You should get a blowtorch on those weeds.....' Always fun to listen to.

 

Pardon the thread resurrection, but today I finally got round to collecting some seaweed. I took the lad down the beach, with no intention of collecting anything, but I had my rucksack with me because that's how we transport all his buckets and spades and assorted tools. Turns out I also had two large sacks in there from a few days ago when I'd gone out on a failed mission to collect seaweed. Stroke of luck, I parked next to the slipway (just because that's where there was a space), and discovered that the whole ramp was a foot thick with seaweed, so I filled the two sacks chock full and put them in the car.

I was a bit self conscious about it to be honest, especially when a chap with his good lady stopped as I approached and looked at me, and waited. As soon as I was in range of what he obviously considered earshot though, he struck up conversation. "Are you collecting seaweed for t'garden?" he asked. Instant relief, he doesn't think I'm a total weirdo. We then had a lengthy chat about gardening. Turns out he and his lady live just across the road from that stretch of beach, and he's been wanting to collect seaweed for their garden but hasn't plucked up the courage to do so. I bet when I go back now he'll have lifted it all