Try these tips for simple gardening on a tight budget to help you save money on groceries and still feed your family fresh, healthy vegetables!
By Shannon, Contributing Writer
When my husband and I were working on getting out of debt, we knew a garden would be a valuable way to save money on groceries. However, we didn’t have any extra money to spend on gardening supplies. With two kids two and under, we also didn’t have any extra time or energy to spare. We needed to do some very simple gardening on a tight budget!
Even given our constraints our garden was extra-specially blessed that year. For four full months that summer in the relatively short growing season of Eastern Washington, we did not have to purchase one single vegetable. Everything came right out of our back yard!
Plus, we harvested even more in spring and late fall and were able to do some preserving as well.
It was amazing to see how the Lord multiplied our efforts in getting out of debt that year, so much faster than we could ever have imagined. Our simple garden was one piece in the puzzle that helped us become debt free, even on a low income.
If you have tried gardening before, though, you might know how quickly expenses can add up. I love the book title The $64 Tomato. It so perfectly describes how quickly garden costs can get out of control!
Tips for Simple Gardening on a Tight Budget
For this post, I teamed up with my husband (the real green thumb in the family) to bring you all our best budget-friendly tips for creating a simple thriving garden even on a tight budget.
1. Sunshine
The first thing you’ll need for your garden is sunshine, which thankfully is a free commodity. Just be sure to consider the location of your garden in relation to where the sun will shine during the growing season.
We have used a grow light and greenhouse in the past to start our plants from seeds. It can save money to start your own seeds rather than buying starts or larger plants from a nursery. It’s easier to start from a plant rather than seeds, especially for tomatoes, peppers, and melons.
However, none of this is absolutely necessary if you’re sticking to a tight budget. You can simply wait until the weather is warm enough, and plant your seeds right in the ground for most plants.
2. Seeds
Another important thing you’ll need for your garden is, of course, seeds. This year, we found a 20 pack of organic seeds for about $20 at Costco. We include a sinking fund in our family budget all year long so that we’ll be able to make purchases for our garden when it comes time.
If you’re planning to garden on a small scale or just don’t have the money to buy a big pack, you can get organic seeds and starts locally, online on Azure Standard, or even Amazon. Don’t be afraid to just try a few. It’s amazing to see how those tiny dry seeds can transform into pounds and pounds of produce!
For a great resource on gardening in small spaces, check out Apartment Gardening by Jami Balmet!
When gardening within the constraints of limited space, time, or funds, focus on choosing the seeds that are easy to grow in your area and the things your family will be most likely to eat.
In our area, zucchini and other summer squash grow pretty much like weeds. Radishes are also easy to grow and have an early harvest. A few other easily grown garden vegetables include snap peas, beans, lettuces, and greens.
Before long, you’ll be able to grab a fast and frugal snack right from your garden!
3. Soil
In our garden, we were blessed to have good soil already available for growing just about everything we could imagine. If you happen to live in a place that doesn’t have good soil or is very rocky, you may need to bring in dirt.
Many people build raised beds, but this does add to the cost of your garden. Instead, try buying a few bags of soil, lay them out in your yard still in the bag. Then simply punch a hole in the top of the bag and plant your seeds or seedlings. Be sure to put some drainage holes in the bottom as well.
You can often find free fill dirt available on Craigslist. If you love the idea of raised beds, contact local businesses and see if they’ll give you their used palettes to use for your garden.
Composting your kitchen scraps can also save money on soil and fertilizer. It does take a few months for compost to be ready to use, but it’s a great practice to start now and could reduce your garbage or sewer bill in the mean time!
There are limitless garden tools available to work the soil, but really very few are needed.
At a minimum all you really need is a hand spade and kitchen shears or an old paring knife for harvesting. A hoe is helpful for larger gardens.
We found these to be surprisingly affordable on Amazon. You might be able to find these at garage sales, estate sales, on Craigslist or at a thrift store for even less. You might even have these at home already.
4. Water
To make sure your garden gets enough water, especially in the summer months, you’ll need a watering can, or a hose for larger areas.
Watering can be one of the more time consuming parts of gardening, so a sprinkler and timer on your hose is a great upgrade to make if possible.
Simple Gardening on a Tight Budget
Gardening is a fantastic way to save money on healthy, natural produce. If you’ve never tasted a sun-warmed tomato ripe off the vine, then I hope you’ll try your hand at a simple budget-friendly garden this year.
Don’t be afraid to keep it simple. Gather up a few seeds, a hand spade, and a watering pail, and you’re all set to witness a miracle in action!
What’s your best tip for simple gardening on a tight budget? Share yours in the comments!
Here are more gardening posts on The Humbled Homemaker:
5 Reasons to Grow Your Own Herbs
Gardening Tips for People Who Can’t Garden
Sarah Koontz {Grounded & Surrounded}
This is an excellent resource for anyone who is considering growing their own food. I was just mentioning to Erin that I would love to see more gardening articles on her blog…..so I was super excited to read this. I agree with you that SUNSHINE is the very most important thing. My first garden didn’t get enough sun and it was a terrible disappointment. If you can’t find a nice patch of dirt with good sun, container gardening is a fabulous option.
Shannon @ GrowingSlower
Thanks Sarah! I think we’ll be doing some container gardening this year, especially for plants that like it warm like tomatoes and peppers, since we have a much smaller yard now. Luckily we have awesome solar access at our new place.
Hannah
How big was your first garden? Did you have a problem with weeds? I’ve heard a traditional garden is harder to keep up because of weeds whereas a raised bed isn’t as bad. Did you buy fertilizer? I want to start a garden as cheap as possible with as few supplies as possible, but have a good turn out
Shannon @ GrowingSlower
Our first garden was about 30 feet by 40 feet, and then we doubled it the next year. We did buy some organic fertilizer that included some fish meal for tomatoes and potatoes. It was less than $20 for a smallish bag. We did have weeds, but we had sandy soil, so it was easy to hoe the walkways and pull as needed and we just let them go where they weren’t too bothersome. It’s not as pretty, but totally functional. 🙂
sandra
My tip is to learn how to harvest seeds from your plants when the season finishes for the following grow season that way your not always buying seeds, also there are some plants you simply have to grow like herbs, easy to grow and harvest, dry them out and grind them up for winter use, any seeds that come out of food you have bought from the shop always save them and put them in a pot or dirt in the ground somewhere, my neighbour threw seeds off her balcony and she had capsicums pop up everywhere she produced enough to feed the whole street with them and it didnt cost her anything more, than the produce she brought and ate from the shop, Brilliant
Shannon @ GrowingSlower
Great tip Sandra! We saved our radish seeds but definitely need to learn to do more!
kim
Two tips I would share with beginning gardeners:
#1 If you decide to do raised beds, make sure you get untreated lumber! You don’t want the chemicals from treated lumber leaching into your soil. Look for boards stamped with KD-HT, meaning “kiln dried, heat treated.”
#2 Keep weeds under control by mulching your garden. We use the grass clippings when we mow our lawn – doesn’t cost a cent! A neighbor of mine uses shredded newspaper. Straw is another cheap option (my area abounds with farmers, so we can typically find a bale of straw for no more than $4). Spreading mulch throughout the garden keeps weeds at bay, helps keep the plants’ roots warm, AND helps seal in the moisture of the soil!
BB
I wonder if shredded copy paper would work for mulch as well as newspaper would?
Dave
I like the idea of framing gardening as a budget friendly activity. As you’ve outlined, with a little planning you can grow food items you’d normally purchase for less money. Peppers and tomatoes are our go-to favorites but we’ve expanded to apples, blueberries, and strawberries this year.
Gardening can also be a shared family activity that can provide unique and free/cheap bonding opportunities. One of my favorite activities last summer was checking the garden for ripe veggies every day when I returned from work with my daughter. More days than not there was nothing to find but the ritual of spending those moments of learning and adventure with my girl were priceless and I look forward to recreating them this season.
Thanks for sharing.
Lucy M. Clark
Excellent idea! I like this idea ,and thanks for sharing this nice information. It`s really true that gardening is a fantastic way to save money on healthy, natural produce. This article is very important for how to create a gardening. If you interested for gardening you can see this article.
Heather
Great tips! I especially like the piece of advice about using a bag of soil instead of palettes – very clever! This is so useful for anyone looking to harvest their own veggies and save money at the store.
Jolene Draper
Even though raised beds can be costly all mine are made from old boards or bricks I already had laying around. They save lots of time in pulling weeds and for me time is money. There is no need to go overboard and get overwhelmed. I add one more bed each year. Grass clippings can be an amazing way to save money on soil. As long as your grass hasn’t went to seed it won’t add weeds to your soil. I layer grass in the soil and save a ton. It also feeds nutrients into your soil. One final tip is save a few seeds back from each fruit or vegetable type and you will never have to buy that one again.
Jonathan
Great tips . My best hobby is gardening.
Linda
Great low budget garden tips