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

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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