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Growing Vegetables to Save Money: Important Tips to Consider for First Time Gardeners
Jane Thomas asked:
Saving money is one of the biggest benefits to growing a vegetable garden in the mind of many first time gardeners. While this may be a good enough reason to start a vegetable garden, let’s not forget that there are others as well. Growing your own vegetables would increase your confidence in food safety and security. You would know where your food is coming from and all the history of plants grown in your own gardens. You would know what chemicals you used (if any), would learn what pests could impose problems and would essentially eliminate the whole resource-gobbling transportation chain to get the food to your plate. And all that gardening is good for you, because it‘s a great form of physical exercise!
For all you first time gardeners, here are several useful tips to consider when growing a vegetable garden in order to save your money:
Select vegetables that you and your family like to eat. Many fist time gardeners don’t know where to start and which vegetables to grow in their gardens. This is quite simple – you’re not likely to take care of vegetables you don’t like to eat. So don’t waste your time or money planting them in the garden, but choose the ones you like (and that grow well in your gardening zone).
Select vegetables that are expensive to buy. To save money, think of growing more expensive items, like tomatoes, or growing large quantities of vegetables that you purchase regularly. You could save money by growing herbs if you use a lot and they’re expensive to buy; mixed salad leaves are also cheaper to grow than to buy. Consider vegetables like broccoli, beans, beets, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, peas, peppers, potatoes, summer squash, spinach, tomatoes and Swiss chard. All these vegetables will provide the biggest returns on your investment of space and time you spend in your vegetable garden.
Select vegetables that can be easily stored or preserved. A lot of vegetables that you can grow in your garden you can store, freeze, or can so you are saving that money year round, not just during the growing season. Selecting vegetables that have a long storage life or that can easily be canned or frozen is a great way to save money on your grocery bills. Potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, and winter squash can be stored for several months if stored at the appropriate temperature. Other vegetables, like tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and beets, can be preserved by canning or freezing. Preserving vegetables is a great way to enjoy the surplus produce later in the year.
Do some research and start with a plan. Planning the garden on paper could help you decide what you want to grow and determine what will be necessary to be successful. If you need help, ask family members, neighbors, or friends that can help you. There are many gardening forums and sites on the Internet where you can search for information that you’re looking for.
Start small. Even a relatively small garden, say 20′ x 20′, will give you enough room for variety, without being overwhelmed. Plants will require regular maintenance, watering and harvesting. Growing too many different vegetables your first year in a large garden could become overwhelming for you and can ultimately lead to failure. It’s better to limit yourself to just a few types of vegetables the first year. Later, when you become confident in your abilities, you can gradually increase the size of your vegetable garden and grow a more and more variety of crops!
Saving money is one of the biggest benefits to growing a vegetable garden in the mind of many first time gardeners. While this may be a good enough reason to start a vegetable garden, let’s not forget that there are others as well. Growing your own vegetables would increase your confidence in food safety and security. You would know where your food is coming from and all the history of plants grown in your own gardens. You would know what chemicals you used (if any), would learn what pests could impose problems and would essentially eliminate the whole resource-gobbling transportation chain to get the food to your plate. And all that gardening is good for you, because it‘s a great form of physical exercise!
For all you first time gardeners, here are several useful tips to consider when growing a vegetable garden in order to save your money:
Select vegetables that you and your family like to eat. Many fist time gardeners don’t know where to start and which vegetables to grow in their gardens. This is quite simple – you’re not likely to take care of vegetables you don’t like to eat. So don’t waste your time or money planting them in the garden, but choose the ones you like (and that grow well in your gardening zone).
Select vegetables that are expensive to buy. To save money, think of growing more expensive items, like tomatoes, or growing large quantities of vegetables that you purchase regularly. You could save money by growing herbs if you use a lot and they’re expensive to buy; mixed salad leaves are also cheaper to grow than to buy. Consider vegetables like broccoli, beans, beets, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, peas, peppers, potatoes, summer squash, spinach, tomatoes and Swiss chard. All these vegetables will provide the biggest returns on your investment of space and time you spend in your vegetable garden.
Select vegetables that can be easily stored or preserved. A lot of vegetables that you can grow in your garden you can store, freeze, or can so you are saving that money year round, not just during the growing season. Selecting vegetables that have a long storage life or that can easily be canned or frozen is a great way to save money on your grocery bills. Potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, and winter squash can be stored for several months if stored at the appropriate temperature. Other vegetables, like tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and beets, can be preserved by canning or freezing. Preserving vegetables is a great way to enjoy the surplus produce later in the year.
Do some research and start with a plan. Planning the garden on paper could help you decide what you want to grow and determine what will be necessary to be successful. If you need help, ask family members, neighbors, or friends that can help you. There are many gardening forums and sites on the Internet where you can search for information that you’re looking for.
Start small. Even a relatively small garden, say 20′ x 20′, will give you enough room for variety, without being overwhelmed. Plants will require regular maintenance, watering and harvesting. Growing too many different vegetables your first year in a large garden could become overwhelming for you and can ultimately lead to failure. It’s better to limit yourself to just a few types of vegetables the first year. Later, when you become confident in your abilities, you can gradually increase the size of your vegetable garden and grow a more and more variety of crops!
Vegetable Gardening – 5 Tips For A Perfect Vegetable Garden!
Abhishek Agarwal asked:
There are no second opinions about the fact that vegetable gardening is a much more satisfying experience than any other form of gardening. This is more so because one gets the opportunity to relish the dishes made out of ones own produce. However, vegetable gardening is also not as easy as other types of gardening and one needs to plan well in advance, even before starting tilling the ground for the seeding purpose.
1. One important factor that needs consideration while planning is the climatic conditions. There are some vegetables that can be cultivated only in a certain type of climate and season. For example, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and broccoli can only be grown in cold areas, whereas, peppers, eggplants and tomatoes grow better in hot and sunny weather.
2. Another gardening tip that can be effectively used is that there are certain kinds of vegetables that do very well if exposed partially to sunlight. For example, lettuce is a plant that grows fantastically when exposed to sunlight for half a day and then kept in shade for the remaining half. One should plan the placement of ones vegetables in the garden keeping such factors in mind. Other vegetables that grow very well under partial exposure to sunlight are carrots, spinach, cauliflower, cucumbers, Swiss chard, radishes and beets.
3. Is your garden located in a region that either has a very long growth season or a very short one. Based on its weather conditions, a garden can be cultivated with the help of the following gardening tip. Gardens with long growth season are apt for growing vegetables like tomatoes, beans (lima, soy and dry), artichokes, celery, peppers, potatoes, asparagus, rhubarb, eggplant, onions, kale and leeks. Whereas, the gardens located in short growth areas must have vegetables like beets, cabbage, carrots, turnips, beans, peas, radishes, peas, mustard greens, onions and lettuce.
4. The next significant gardening tip is based on your level of expertise as a gardener. If you are a beginner, you will do much better by growing vegetables like beans (dry and green), potatoes, squash (summer and winter), radishes, tomatoes, beets, salad greens, beets, sunflowers, lettuce, Swiss chard and any other root crop, that don’t offer great challenges and put you off in no time. In case you are a seasoned gardener and wish to take on the challenges, you can try your hand at celery, watermelon, parsnips, leeks, cantaloupe, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, peas and corns.
5. At the time of planning for your vegetable garden, you must also include the space constraints that certain vegetable plants may impose. Some vegetables can do with minimum space while others may require yards and yards to come good. This gardening tip will help you classify the vegetables by the space that they require to grow. Vegetables that consume maximum space are artichokes (globe), cauliflower, cucumbers, peas, potatoes, winter squash, broccoli, corn, melons and sweet potatoes. Least space consuming vegetable plants are beets, Chinese cabbage, tomatoes, eggplant, lettuce, radishes, mustard greens, parsnips, beans (bush and pole), carrots, turnips, Swiss chard, leeks, sunflowers, peppers and onions. You must take care while planting these vegetables that you leave enough space for you to move around in the garden.
It is strictly advisable to not to use any chemicals in your vegetable gardens to get rid of weeds and insects. There are several organic methods that can be used without employing chemical herbicides and pesticides. Use of such chemicals kills both the good and harmful bugs in the vegetable garden. Moreover, the chemically exposed vegetables can have severe impact on the consumer health in the long run. You can always make use of a good naturally prepared mulch to get rod of weeds in your garden.
There are no second opinions about the fact that vegetable gardening is a much more satisfying experience than any other form of gardening. This is more so because one gets the opportunity to relish the dishes made out of ones own produce. However, vegetable gardening is also not as easy as other types of gardening and one needs to plan well in advance, even before starting tilling the ground for the seeding purpose.
1. One important factor that needs consideration while planning is the climatic conditions. There are some vegetables that can be cultivated only in a certain type of climate and season. For example, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and broccoli can only be grown in cold areas, whereas, peppers, eggplants and tomatoes grow better in hot and sunny weather.
2. Another gardening tip that can be effectively used is that there are certain kinds of vegetables that do very well if exposed partially to sunlight. For example, lettuce is a plant that grows fantastically when exposed to sunlight for half a day and then kept in shade for the remaining half. One should plan the placement of ones vegetables in the garden keeping such factors in mind. Other vegetables that grow very well under partial exposure to sunlight are carrots, spinach, cauliflower, cucumbers, Swiss chard, radishes and beets.
3. Is your garden located in a region that either has a very long growth season or a very short one. Based on its weather conditions, a garden can be cultivated with the help of the following gardening tip. Gardens with long growth season are apt for growing vegetables like tomatoes, beans (lima, soy and dry), artichokes, celery, peppers, potatoes, asparagus, rhubarb, eggplant, onions, kale and leeks. Whereas, the gardens located in short growth areas must have vegetables like beets, cabbage, carrots, turnips, beans, peas, radishes, peas, mustard greens, onions and lettuce.
4. The next significant gardening tip is based on your level of expertise as a gardener. If you are a beginner, you will do much better by growing vegetables like beans (dry and green), potatoes, squash (summer and winter), radishes, tomatoes, beets, salad greens, beets, sunflowers, lettuce, Swiss chard and any other root crop, that don’t offer great challenges and put you off in no time. In case you are a seasoned gardener and wish to take on the challenges, you can try your hand at celery, watermelon, parsnips, leeks, cantaloupe, Chinese cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, peas and corns.
5. At the time of planning for your vegetable garden, you must also include the space constraints that certain vegetable plants may impose. Some vegetables can do with minimum space while others may require yards and yards to come good. This gardening tip will help you classify the vegetables by the space that they require to grow. Vegetables that consume maximum space are artichokes (globe), cauliflower, cucumbers, peas, potatoes, winter squash, broccoli, corn, melons and sweet potatoes. Least space consuming vegetable plants are beets, Chinese cabbage, tomatoes, eggplant, lettuce, radishes, mustard greens, parsnips, beans (bush and pole), carrots, turnips, Swiss chard, leeks, sunflowers, peppers and onions. You must take care while planting these vegetables that you leave enough space for you to move around in the garden.
It is strictly advisable to not to use any chemicals in your vegetable gardens to get rid of weeds and insects. There are several organic methods that can be used without employing chemical herbicides and pesticides. Use of such chemicals kills both the good and harmful bugs in the vegetable garden. Moreover, the chemically exposed vegetables can have severe impact on the consumer health in the long run. You can always make use of a good naturally prepared mulch to get rod of weeds in your garden.
