5 Ideas for Frugal Vegetable Container Gardening

By Taryn K

So you want to have your very own vegetable container garden but think the start up costs are going to be too extensive to make it worth it? Here are 5 ideas to get your garden growing at minimal cost to you. Before you know it, you'll be a frugal vegetable container gardening guru!

1. Sign up for free stuff online.

Welcome to the information age where knowledge is abundant and right at your fingertips. The Internet has a wide variety of free offers such as free newsletters and free catalogues. If you are just starting out in container gardening, these types of free items will be a tremendous resource for you. Newsletters and catalogues can help you determine what types of plants will grow well in your area and climate. Some sites even offer free seed packages for signing up to receive a newsletter or catalogue, or coupons to a local nursery.

2. Raid your recycling bin for usable containers.

No one said your vegetable container garden had to start out with expensive high-end containers. You can turn many of the items in your recycle bin into containers for your garden with just a pair of scissors! Look for items with a wide mouth, like gallon ice cream or yogurt containers. Or, cut off the tops of milk jugs, juice cartons, and soda bottles. Get creative! An old set of ceramic coffee mugs or bowls can turn into containers for gardening. Even egg containers or ice cube trays can be used to start seedlings until they get too big and need to get transferred to a larger container. The only thing that all containers must have is a hole at the bottom to help provide proper drainage.

3. Check your local dollar/discount stores.

I am often surprised at the variety of things one can find in a dollar store or discount market, especially in gardening season. If you aren't really in to turning the bits and pieces you find in your recycling bin into containers, these stores are a great resource for you. Some might actually carry gardening supplies like plastic containers and terra cotta pots. If they don't though, you can purchase plastic Tupperware containers or as said above, ceramic items like mugs and bowls to start up your garden. In gardening season, some stores will carry potting soil and seed packages, so keep an eye out for that too. Finally, you might also be able to score some gardening tools as well, such as trowels and mini watering cans.

4. Look for free compost

Many cities and municipalities offer free compost as part of their recycling programs or environmental initiatives. For example, the NYC Department of Sanitation offers unlimited amounts of free compost, all you have to do is pick it up at the designated sites. I believe Starbucks also gives away free coffee grinds for compost purposes, ask your local branch(es) for details. You can also ask at your local nursery or garden club. They might be able to give you some tips on places to get free compost, or even better, they might give you some themselves!

5. Ask your friends and neighbors.

Never underestimate the power of asking others. Go to your family, friends, colleagues and neighbors for vegetable container gardening resources. It's amazing what fellow human beings will do for you if you share an interest with them. Maybe they have a stack of containers in their garage that they've been meaning to get rid of for months. Maybe they have a compost pile and will let you have some for free. Maybe they have extra seed packages. Or they might even have a garden of their own and can make some clippings for you to help get your garden started. The possibilities are endless; all you need to do is ask.

Taryn K is a container gardening enthusiast and author of the Vegetable Container Gardening blog at http://vegetablecontainergardening.wordpress.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Taryn_K

Different Styles Of Vegetable Gardening

Every gardener has his own typical characteristics, which make him suitable for some certain styles. The key to a successful upkeep of your organic vegetable garden is to recognize yourself and the style that is most suited for you. Yet there are plenty of forms of gardening, which you can select from so here are some for your consideration.

Residential Gardening

This is one of the common ways, suited for fresh starters, who are not very prepared to grow vegetables for commercial purposes. Individuals do this primarily to grow and supply their families with a stable provision of domestic vegetables and at the same time make the garden look pretty. This does not need abundant space and can be carried out on window sills and balconies, so long as the space gets sunshine - and they are simple on maintenance, keeping it free of pests, etc. One of the best parts about this variety of style is that it helps a novice gardener to develop his skills and select the next improved style, according to his individual wish.

Specialized Gardening

This style needs choosing areas, which are non-residential, yet recognized for its soil quality, and these plots of ground are sold because of this attribute. Some areas that belong to this category are parks, botanic gardens, amusement parks and other points of holidaymaker interest. These patches need additional manpower for managing the plantation, so you should have enough administrative skills over and above your gardening skills. These have a profit reason behind the activity either for a social cause or for an establishment.

Impact Gardening

If you desire to stop the weeds from developing, with nominal cost, then go for this type of gardening. This is all about employing all the potential of a comparatively reduced plot of land but this also involves plants jumbled up together.

Indoor Gardening

This is part of residential gardening and the massive range it offers. Other cases within this class include the gardens of conservatories, greenhouses and academic establishments. Heating and air conditioning facilities are also needed for some strains of plants. In case the thought of cultivating both in and off-season appeals to you, then you need to go for indoor gardening.

Water Gardening

If you like to garden but do not have a great deal of time for overseeing it, and enjoy water organisms, then water gardening should be your choice. This is somewhat of a challenge for many gardeners because it ordinarily doesn't involve the initial conditions of other conventional gardening ways. This sort of gardening attracts to those who have fine water facilities.

Community Gardening

If you like to get engaged in group activities where most community members meet and decide to improve the surroundings, then community gardening is for you. It needs concentrated efforts of the different members of the community to be able to help make a greener place.

vegetable gardening

Herb Gardening

Herbs have been around since time immemorial and served different kinds of purposes. They have been used to treat illness and flavour cooking; they were even believed to have magical powers. Do you want to have your own herb garden? Here are a few ideas on how to establish an herb garden.

Plan your garden.

Consider the herbs you want to plant. Think about their types. Would you like annuals, biennials or perennials?

How much space will they occupy in your garden? If you want, you can purchase a book that can give you the right information on what specific plants you are planning to grow.

List or draw your garden on paper first. Separate the annuals from the perennials so when the time comes that you have to pull out the annuals, you won't be disturbing the perennials. Perennials can be planted on the edge of your garden so when it is time to till your garden they won't be in danger of getting dug up.

Another thing to remember is that you have to plant the tall ones at the back and the shorter ones in front. Also, provide your plants with enough space to grow. Proper position shall help you in this area.

If you would rather keep herbs out of your garden (and some are quite invasive) you could have herb pots. These are large containers with three or more outlets for the herbs. Fill the pot up to the first outlet and plant it before continuing on with the filling and planting process. Usually, the herb that requires the most water is planted in the bottom hole, while the variety that requires the least, goes in the highest hole.

Some Design Ideas

You can consider having a square herb bed. You can have your square bed divided into four by two paths crossing at mid point measuring 3 feet. You can border it with stone or brick. A wooden ladder may also do the trick. You can lay it down on your garden and plant your herbs between its rungs. You can also choose to have a wagon wheel bed. Planting here is like planting with the wooden ladders. Plant your herbs in between the wagon wheel's wedges.

Get Your Plants Growing

Of course, different plants have different needs, but many of them require alkaline soil. This is the reason why you have to determine the herbs you want to plant in the planning stage. This can more or less help you find out how you should care for your plants. If you germinate your herbs from seeds, remember to follow the directions on the packet for soil, watering and temperature.

Herbs are some of the easiest plants to grow. You just have to provide them with an effective drainage, sunlight, enough humidity or moisture and fertile soil. Even with just minimally meeting these requirements they will be bound produce a good harvest.

Vegetable Gardening The Organic Way

Because it is cost effective and they are able to produce almost the same yield of crops, more farmers are getting into organic vegetable gardening. You must first understand the organic vegetable gardening principles before you can do this in your own garden. It is forbidden to use fertilizers, nutrients or pesticides in organic vegetable gardening. Nature is your partner here because you will be using two things to make it all work namely sunlight and water. The ideal area and adequate drainage must be provided since we don't produce these ourselves.

Using compost heap from leftover food, chipped bark, garden compost, leaf moulds and manure which you can mix together and then spread throughout your garden can encourage the crops to grow, aside from sunlight and water. Manure is sold in stores so you don't have to scoop this from the toilet so don't feel queasy, also chickens are great to have - just let them roam around in the garden. Dead animals or meat products are used by some people but you can't put these in the soil. To help fertilize your garden, leave them for a couple of weeks in the bin and maggots will soon appear which can be used.

Bringing various minerals to the surface and providing better drainage as it digs deep into the ground and aerates the soil, is what makes the earthworm is another helpful creature. Experts say that the casting this long pink colored creature leaves behind is five times as rich in nitrogen phosphorous and potassium. You will be able to buy this from almost any gardening store or garden center.

Organic gardening is a challenge because pests such as army worms, crickets, gypsy moth caterpillars, slugs and squash bugs are unwanted guests. Despite the fact that at one time people used fertilizer to kill them, the toad, which is known to eat more almost every type of insect it is the best weapon in an organic setting. It is not in the toad's diet if you have caterpillars or spiders lurking in the garden so get a bird.

As long as you set the ideal environment for them, you don't have to buy a toad or a bird from the pet store because they may come in to your home. Erecting a bird house or a small pond means you will have some new occupants protecting your garden within days. The job could be done by insect killers such as the preying mantis and the ladybug as they mark their territory and eat anything that dares enter their domain.

Rosemary, sage or thyme can be used to protect your vegetables against butterflies and marigolds protect vegetables against nematodes. But, despite all the flowers and creatures that nature has to offer, crop rotation is seen as the best way to keep the soil fertile. Alternate between the kind of vegetable planted for this season and another then return to the first after this one is harvested. with some practice you can harvest the vegetables you have planted weeks ago.

Home made recipes to deal with garden pests

Garden Pests

Home made recipes to help you to deal with unwanted 'critters'!

Horticultural oil sprays have been commercially available for a long time, they work by smothering the insects and mites they come in contact with, preventing disease-causing pests from destroying your favorite plants. I hate to walk out in my garden in the morning, and find my roses with great holes in their leaves. It can be quite soul destroying.

Aphids, scale insects, and other insects that stay on a plant, are particularly susceptible to oil sprays. Unfortunately, grasshoppers and insects that take a bite and fly away, are not usually affected.

When using any spray, remember that it will kill beneficial insects as well as pests, and make sure you only spray when you know that insects are present on your plants. Oils can also burn plant leaves especially in hot summer months, so before spraying an entire plant, always spray a few leaves and then check back the next day for burning.

For best results, remember to spray the underside of leaves as well as the topside.

Here are recipes for 2 oil sprays to make from your own ingredients:

Basic Oil Spray.

1 cup of vegetable oil ( safflower, corn, soybean, or canola)

1 tablespoon dishwashing liquid.

Place oil and water in a jar or empty plastic bottle .

( Squeezable bottles make for easy pouring and measuring.)

Take one tablespoon of oil mixture as above, then add

2 cups of water.

Place the solution in a spray bottle, and spray your plants. As you know, oil and water do not mix well, so shake the spray bottle as you are using it, to keep the solution well mixed. Repeat the treatment in seven to ten days, if necessary.

Alcohol oil spray.

To increase the effectiveness of the basic oil spray addsome isopropyl alcohol to the mixture.

An alcohol and water solution is lethal to many insects.

1 cup alcohol

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 quart water.

Mix ingredients together and place in spray bottle, spray as necessary.

DO NOT DRINK!!!

Flour Spray.

My grandmother used to use a flour spray as she said it was a good way to kill many pest insects. There wasn't any chemical sprays available to her in those days.

Flour dust turns into a sticky substance that can hold a pest like a sticky trap.

Many insects will eat it, and the flour stops up their digestive tracts. To get more flour onto your plants try spraying it on:

2-4 tablespoons wheat or potato flour

½ teaspoon dishwashing liquid

1 quart water.

Mix well and place in spray bottle, spray on plant and leaves.

Ena Clewes is an author of short stories and is an avid Organic Gardener.Visit Ena's websites at: http://organicgardengardening.com and http://gothicandvictoriangardening.com

Ena has just written an Organic Gardening book available at http://www.lulu.com/content/1725463or on her website.

Garden pests