Frugal Gardening ;the less expensive gardeningfrugal ideas Frugal gardening does not require a lot of equipment, fancy tools or outlay of cash. In earlier days, the garden was meant to feed the family and supply a rich source of nutrition with the only expense being seed and your labor. Todays gardens donot have to be any different. Frugal gardening only requires a few tools, some seed and a lot of enthusiasm.
Tools If you donot have a tiller to turn the soil, don�t worry, get a spade, a shovel with a pointed end. The cost between the two items is huge. Some times you can pick up garden tools at estate sales for next to nothing. Check the newspapers for estate sales and auctions near you. Youwi½ll seldom find hand garden tools at garage sales unless the family is moving into a condo and no longer needs them.  Garden rakes are important too. Small hand spades for planting can be pretty convenient. There are people that improvised in this case and used large serving spoons to do the job, but the cost of these small hand tools are minimal and very affordable. Let Nothing Go to Waste Begin early and start building a compost pile. Compost is anything thats organic and not toxic, except meat products. Over the winter months collect the table scraps, lawn refuse like grass clippings and leaves, eggshells, coffee grounds and even wood shavings or sawdust from untreated wood. Mound them in a location during the winter. One interesting potential is to even throw old vitamins into the mix. If you have expired vitamins, particularly B vitamins, plants love them. It takes about three months of warm weather to break these materials down to something usable. You can speed the process by running a lawn mower over leaves to create smaller pieces that break down quicker. Once the compost turns into dirt, it is ready for the garden.
Plants and Seeds Heres another place you can save a great deal of money. If you plan ahead, you can get seeds at the end of the year for a fraction of the cost. Not all the seeds germinate if they�re too old, but if you spend 10 cents a pack instead of $2.50 per packet, you can afford to loose a few. Start some of the plants inside, like tomatoes. You will have the seeds ready and again, have a much of your garden for a fraction of the cost. Use containers from food to grow the plants. Milk cartons and plastic bottles cut lengthwise are great. Clear plastic food containers with lids provide the ideal place to start your seed. Keep the lid closed initially and in a warm dark place until the first plant appears. Use the Area To the Maximum Use techniques like French intensive gardening and square foot gardening to increase your yield for the same area. These methods use alternative planting techniques and rich soils to maximize the yield. Neither of them require mechanical gardening tools and both create a beautiful garden that produces a bumper crop. You do not even need a hose when you plant in the compacted manner. You imply use a pitcher or bucket of water with a cup to water your plants for your frugal gardening. Additional Notes Harvest your crops and do not forget to freeze some for the coming winter. You will have hundreds of dollars of rich home grown vegetables for pennies.
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