No sooner had I made the first post announcing my plans for my twenty-five dollar victory garden, when Daniel left a comment, questioning my word choice. Her concern was valid; “First you say you're starting from scratch to meet the $25 challenge; you're not using gear you've acquired in past seasons. Then you mention amending soil with compost… which can only have come from past years. Compost is a long-term investment that newbie gardeners aren't likely to have made”.
Ouch. She’s right though. As much as I’d like to use all that compost I’ve been making, a new gardener is not going to have compost bins loaded with two years worth of ‘black gold’. I also have plenty of seed-starting trays, heat mats and lots of leftover seeds. But, using them and spending twenty-five bucks on new stuff would be unfair to the person that doesn’t have any of this. So, all that avid gardener stuff is off limits.
So that got me thinking, what can I use and what’s taboo? In the spirit of fair play and a level playing field, let’s assume we are starting with nothing related to gardening stuff. Up to this point, none of the proposed rules have been broken but it would be good to hear what you all think about this before I make them official.
Rule #1: You can buy and use whatever you want with your twenty-five dollars. But, once it’s gone, it’s gone! That includes items listed below in the “can’t use” list.
What can be used from existing inventory (Anything that would reasonably be expected to already be on hand if you lived in a house with a yard, including equipment to maintain it)
- Tools (hose, shovel, rake, etc)
- pots & containers
- Fertilizer used to maintain landscape
- shop light, tables or shelves, etc.
What can’t be used from existing inventory (but you can buy with your $25):
- Compost (I hate this one the most)
- Seeds (personally owned from previous seasons)
- Seed starting trays and kits including heat mats
- Specialized tools specific to seed starting or veggie gardening, not commonly owned
What is fair game: Everything. This is the best part. Anything and everything you need can come from outside sources as long as you don’t spend past your limit. Just get creative and barter, go online, beg or borrow, just don’t steal!
So that’s my list as of today. Next post I'll include some of the places I've found so far that are going to be great free or cheap sources for much of what we'll need. What do you think? Any thoughts you have as I finalize the details are appreciated.
About Joe Lamp'l
Joe Lamp'l is the Host and Executive Producer of the award winning PBS television series Growing A Greener World. Off camera, Joe dedicates his time to promoting sustainability through his popular books, blog, podcast series, and nationally syndicated newspaper columns. Follow Joe on Twitter
Heating pad is great to use after you hurt your back gardening! lol
Despite my alleged black thumb, I’m going to try a garden this year! I’ll be following this blog for ideas because I don’t want to spend a lot (in case I suck at yard plants and not just houseplants). Thanks for the help! And wish me luck!
Wow, and I thought our challenge was hard enough. Good luck to you. PS Recently did a post on recycling in the garden.
Welcome Rachel and thanks for your comment. Yes, I agree, anytime you can find a free source of compost, get and use as much as you can. I hope you stay with me through this project and keep me posted on your efforts as well. It’s nice to have a few colleagues in this game.
JL
Campbell’s is giving away packets of tomato seeds for free. Here’s the ,link- http://www.helpgrowyoursoup.com/
Just a thought- in my area, our local dump has a reduce reuse recycle program, and through that program, they offer FREE compost. It’s what I use in my garden. So not all compost
A: costs money
B: has to be from a “already have” source.
New to your blog, and I think I’ll be trying it!
Well Joe, one idea we figured was a “no brainer” was to pool resources with others doing the same project. Each of you buy different seeds and share the rest (Like the left-over seeds I am sending you). Also, you could share tools, exchange pots, etc. If you work with a group of people the costs go way down.
You can also barter or trade what you have with others for what you need. (Even if what you give away is not garden related such as trading fresh eggs or fresh baked bread for compost.)
And (as others have suggested) do a seed exchange either locally or on the internet.
All the gardeners in my group are big garage sale shoppers, so that is another source for pots, tools, etc.
Hmmm…I can’t remember any more at the moment. I will let you know if we come up with more ideas.
Just a thought…and I confess to not having read all the comments today so forgive me if this is a repeat, but a lot of neighborhoods host community-wide garage sales. That might be a good time to pick up some tools.
What about arranging a “garden goodies swap” via community or faith groups? Farmers markets and other sustainability-oriented programs might be game to collaborate on something like this, too. I’ve got some extra soaker hoses (long story), spare gloves, old pots, etc. that I’d be happy to take donate to an event like that in my community. Maybe seeds and cuttings, too?
There are ways to still get items like tools and hoses for free, even. I’ve given some away myself. Some communities also have tool shares, from what I have heard.
“…until someone gives me good reason not to.”
I think someone just did: Maya.
About the PMT, such a strategy would be considered anachronistic today. ;~P
LOL yourself Theresa! I think the “no stealing” may be the hardest part! Anyway, no one can take away your enviable advantage of being blessed with great weather. No penalty for you or anyone else in that position! You’re just in a geographically desirable place and we can’t take away for that. However…now that we know, we’ll be expecting greater results from you and your other southern California peers! LOL and thanks for the comment. Also, please share with us your ideas for free stuff. I’m sure our friends following this thread will want to know as do I!
JL
No stealing?!!! Oh man…I’m out.
LOL. Just kidding. This is a great project Joe. It has started a whole new line of conversations among my gardening friends. We are having fun figuring out where people can get free stuff.
Here in Southern California, we just start the seeds outdoors, in the ground (now) so that saves us a lot of money. I hope that doesn’t mean we get docked points and have to work with only $20!
Hi Maya. Wow, you are the perfect person for this example. You are exactly who I am particularly interested in reaching. I’m glad you found me and even more glad I found you! Will you please keep us all posted on your progress? I should have lots of information here as we get closer to summer but if you need to know anything along the way, just let me know. Thanks for commenting and we’ll all look forward to your updates!
JL
hi! i have just now found you through twitter. yay! we are buying our first house on friday and moving in on saturday. i want to have my very first garden this summer, but know very very little about gardening. looking forward to this VG series – i’ve got $25, but i don’t have the ‘normal’ things people living in a house would have yet (hose, tools, etc.). so i’m happy to have found this blog! now i’m going to follow you on twitter…
TC, you remember the “Prudent Man Theory” from college? That was always the fallback when it wasn’t so black and white. I’m defaulting to the PMT here and saying, would it be reasonable to assume that the prudent, non-gardening person would have these things on hand. If the answer is yes, then its o.k to use. I’ll stick with that for now until someone gives me good reason not to. It worked in college and courtrooms, so that’s good enough for me. Thanks as always TC for your great insights.
J
Herb, we should all be learning from you, but I can tell you one thing, now that I know you learned frugal gardening with a capital “F”, your my new best friend for the next few months. Thanks for sharing and I appreciate knowing about what you’ve shared here. I’m hoping you check back in periodically and give us some more of that good stuff.
Thanks.
JL
I’ve seen yards with no pots or containers. Does that make it unreasonable? Would these items be needed to “maintain a yard?” I don’t think so. Yards don’t need pots or containers. I also know folks (me) who don’t use fertilizer to maintain their landscape.
A new gardener might not have pots, containers, fertilizer, or even a garden hoe.
What a wonderful idea and great way to help us all stretch our food budget! I am sure it can be done. Local stores in my area sell really nice quality seeds for a nickel a packet, and they have germinated well for me, even when packaged for the previous year. I belong to a free local online gardening group, and the members love to share their plant starts and extra seeds with each other. I don’t think I even spent $25 on my garden last year. Slow Food groups will give you free seeds to plant, such as Slow Food Ark heirloom Christmas Lima Beans and “Sheboygan” tomato seeds, and my favorite– “Moon and Stars” watermelon that Merle Van Doren saved from extinction! (Merle was a farm neighbor friend of mine, and he knew and taught me how to practice “Frugal,” with a capital “F,” wise old German farmer that he was!) Have fun using your ingenuity!!!
Thanks Sue, Pamela, Amanda and Vanessa. You all make it even more fun to find ways to share great information. I’m getting great ideas from you and I really appreciate the encouragement.
I am so excited for this series. I happen to run my local Freecycle, so I am a big proponent of reusing and repurposing.
Sometime in the next week, we’ll be planting upside down tomatoes. While the commercial products are nice, they certainly would eat up the whole $25 budget 🙂 Instead, we’ll be using 5 gallon buckets and cut out a hole.
I have seen my Freecycle give away a lot of gardening supplies such as tools, seeds, plants, soil, and manure.
Many cities also give out free compost and more.
Yes, this is a great way to show people that they can have fresh organic veggies on a mac and cheese budget.
Rock on, Joe!
You know, Joe, this little series of yours just keeps getting better. =)
What we now call “adaptive reuse” was a big part of earlier VG movements, so it’s great to see you nudge that idea along as part of your $25 idea.
Then again, borrowing/sharing, etc. are about the only ways anyone would succeed on a shoestring, right?
What a great opportunity to recycle, reuse or redefine. Egg cardtons, coffee cups, coffee grounds(some). Reassign tools from the kitchen. dig some worms. Sounds like a great challenge.
Ya know James, I thought about this a lot. My only concern was that those heating pads are likely not “approved” for contact with potential water…I have some too, and I’d really like to use them. I guess I should add that into the list with the obligatory disclaimer, “USE AT YOUR OWN RISK”.
Thanks for your suggestion!
First of all, I think this is great… I just wanted to state that for the record. haha
Ok – one thing you might think about too, is we use heating pads we already had (not heating pads bought specificaly for planting), but heating pads used for sore muscles or whatever medical use. We had one laying around the house and used it during germination.
Might want to add that as an option under things you could use. It might fall under that… just a thought.
Anyhow – anxious to see how this goes. Thanks for all the info you provide regardless.