You forgot something important. The community. I got all my tools from rummage sales, except for the ones people gave me. A couple of dollars here and there will get you what you need. Old tools have lasted because they are good. My friend has an old barn he was wanting to clean out after quitting dairy farming. There was a couple of feet of very old hay on the floor of the barn that he wanted to get rid of. He gave it all to me. I had enough for years. I found a dumpster that the city uses. There are old t-stakes of all sizes and garden wire in there regularly. I have so many stakes now, I give them to my friends. A few blocks away someone is making some kind of food commercially. They set out food-grade buckets every once in a while. I have a lot more buckets than I need. I bury wood I get from where the tree pruners throw their trimmings away. Another friend has a manure pile I can take from. He grows beef cattle, so he has an endless supply. My seeds come from the Amish, and are much cheaper than in the big-box store. I collect rain water in a big tote behind the garage. I run the down spouts into it. I don't spend much money, but I do have plenty of work yet. But I enjoy it.
I chose raised beds because my garden area sat low and flooded all spring. I often couldn't get in until May when it began to dry up. They are made of my own soil and leaf mold. In my garden raised beds, I add a 12 inch layer of leaves and grass clippings (with mower bagger attachment) in the fall. It's great for smothering existing weeds and lasts as mulch for most of the growing season the following year. It has also improved the structure and texture of my clay-heavy soil. I am very happy with my layout. I have a video on my channel if you're interested. I make my own compost and leaf mold and start everything from seed, most of which I save from heirloom varieties.
I much prefer growing better food, rather than cheaper. As for the hours spent; I treat growing my own fruit & vegetables as a hobby more than anything, so don't count them as a cost. Heck, I spend less time growing food than I do fishing, woodworking or hunting/shooting.
Two comments- This time of year the Dollar Tree is selling vegetable and flower seeds four packets for $1.25. They have the basics and there are less seeds per packet than ones you buy elsewhere. Which is fine because I typically need closer to 10 broccoli seeds than 200. LOL. So that’s a good way to save money on seeds. Also we need to make sure beginner gardeners are aware of the pervasive problem with grazon in manure, hay and grass clippings. Nasty herbicides that can destroy a garden for years. Thank you for your content and for helping to bring everyone back down to earth.
I spent thousands in my backyard over the years. Now it is established with 2 salvaged greenhouses and fruit trees my descendants won't have to spend anything except their labour ! Long term investment .
Thank you for another great video! I’ve been gardening since I was a child helping my parents with ours big gardens on our home farm, and then having my own gardens for the past 40+ years and, until 2023, I had never been involved in growing anything in a raised bed. Even after adding many cubic yards of good quality compost, every year or two, there were a number of things that our clay did not grow well & some things I/we wanted to grow, we could not grow at all, despite efforts to do so. To your list of tools, I’d probably recommend adding a good garden fork and a good hoe. I use my good trowel(s) in the raised beds but not in the ground, which is simply too hard.🤷♂️ I could not agree with you more about gardening not saving any money but, throughout my 40 year career in high stress sedentary roles, in addition to the freshness and taste of what I grew, gardening provided me physical exercise and some much needed mental therapy.
Who's going to buy from you though? The cost for health code certification, setting up logistics and distribution... no way you sell 10 grand of herbs without being out competed by all the big chain stores.
@@VICARI0S You might need to work on your sense of humor. I'm not selling my herbs, I'm simply commenting on the high price the grocery charges for herbs.
You're so right about spending a fortune on gardens. I always like it when these RUclipsrs have these gardens that cost thousands of dollars to develop. Most people don't have that kind of money. Growing up, we grew most of our food. Never spent the kind of money people spend trying to raise vegetables. We always had a huge harvest, everything was grown on the ground and was the best quality you could buy. I sell at the farmers market and don't spend the kind of money some of those RUclipsrs do.
This video has lots of good advice. I'd add: contact your local Master Gardener chapter. For those of you with longer growing seasons, I would add: plant in succession. For instance most cucumbers are very productive for a few months. If you plant 'round 2' when you start harvesting your first cucumbers, the second round will start providing cucumbers as the first vines start getting tired, or get powdery mildew, or you missed a cuc and it got old (it tells the plant the work is done, you can die now). Radishes are great for planting every 4-6 weeks or so too, until warm weather arrives; restart in Fall. Read the back of the seed packets for great ideas on how to eat excellent veggies for most of the year. Have a great gardening year!
I totally agree with you as there is nothing better than the minerals and goodies in garden soil, esp my clay which requires a lot of work. Using a raised bed requires tons of shop bought compost which is not half as good as garden soil itself. Also, it is so costly and you can't get away with 1 bag of shop bought compost.
Thank you for this video, it made me chuckle quite a few times. Ie. The seed starting expenses, the canning expenses, the raised bed expenses. I am your poster child. I do have to say I love your videos. Thank you for making them. They've taught me a lot. Happy Planting.😊
I plant potatoes every year from last years crop and spend literally no time until harvest. 30 lbs of potatoes for free seems like it's saving me money. Same with Garlic, onions, Kale... I wholeheartedly disagree with the sentiment that one cannot save money through gardening. And Mushrooms while not grown in my garden are another excellent example.
A lot of seeds I got are though a "seed exchange" on Facebook. Usually you just pay the postage, and you get heirloom seeds, that you can then collect from a very ripe fruit, and keep for the next year. Also, when people work their strawberry or raspberry, they have to remove a lot of plants, and my neighbors gave them to us for free. So yeah, get to know your neighbors, give them a few eggs or house plants, or whatever you happen to have, and you could get back some other stuff.
I guess I could drive to a 2nd job, putting wear and tear on my car, make someone else money while collecting a paycheck to fund a goverment that takes more than it's fair share just to give it away to other countries AND be away from my home in which I again pay way too much taxes on OR I can take that same time, grow food that is not taxed, get good exercise, save wear and tear on my vehicle by not driving to said 2nd job, get some sunshine, support good mental health, grow food that is not chemically laiden all the while helping my property work for me. 🤷♀️ Yes, the initial input was considerable but the return is priceless and as a second year gardener in gardening season 2024 I harvested over 650 pounds of food from 180 sq. ft. of garden space. I am hoping my investment does pay off in the long run.
Amen, brother! My purpose here is not to be wealthy. Camel through the eye of a needle and all. If they want to misuse my taxes, I can make less money and pay less taxes. They will be shocked and dismayed at the simplicity of my life.
So you think your government gives money away to other countries? Your government pillages and loots other countries. Don't talk nonsense if you don't know about politics.
One way to save money on equipment is winter sowing stuff like tomatoes. I used 2L pop bottles and some potting mix and put them outside in late march. My seedlings were a bit smaller than the indoor raised ones my friend gave me, but by the end of the season I couldn't tell the difference and they produced just as many tomatoes.
Get free cow or horse manure. Don't waste money on fertilizer. Start from seed. Don't spend money on plants. You can start a plant in something as small as a tea cup. Don't waste money on fancy flats or containers. Use tin cans or plastic containers you are throwing out. Soooo many ways to save money on gardening.
Unraised beds also don't dry out as fast! If you cannot kneel down to get down on a knee pad then you need to do more flexibility exercises on your knees and back to fix this - with ground level beds.
Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge! You are a blessing! (I’m not real religious so take that very bigly😂!) One point I’d like to bring up is no one survives on tomatoes alone. I’ve tried to overwhelm myself for the last 10 years in that quest for knowledge you spoke of learning new veggies. The “idea of food security” is beyond priceless! Especially these days down here in the USA as we may be seeing huge tariffs on a lot of our produce.For example, I chose to grow potatoes this year because of projected insecurities. Hopefully a good staple that will keep. At first I thought you crusty, but now I can’t wait to see your new videos.😂✌️👀 Thanks again sir!
Came across your channel and website a couple of months ago and love them! I used to do a lot of gardening just west of Orangeville, ON - short growing season there as we could have frost and even snow after the May long weekend. About three years, I started gardening in Greece, and in a way, am learning all over again... I do get to garden 12 months of the year, but still - deal with temperatures that can go below 0C a few times in winter and even get some snow, to the extremes of above 40C in mid July through August. I've tried some experiments - started tomato seeds in August and everyone thought I was nuts, but am now enjoying tomatoes in January, although they do grow and ripen more slowly. But here in Greece, tomatoes tend to just burn up in the hot sun in July so on a hunch, I'd thought to try growing them cooler.
The biggest single thing I would have done different when I started gardening, No Go for the raised beds. All the money in their construction, then the cost of filling them, when my raised beds disintegrate, I will have plenty of soil for pots and grow bags. The overall value of a garden goes way beyond the money spent in the production of food, to me it is the nature a garden creates and the good will of passing along the abundance of produce most gardens generate. Stay Well !!!!
I limit my costs for fancy fertilizers by using our compost pile to its max. I even collect and use the compost pile leachate as a replacement for high nitrogen fish emulsion fertilizer. It also helps me keep the pile watered during dry times. The pleasure of picking fresh veg from the garden to eat that day and knowing what has been used to grow it and get it to my plate is worth every penny I spend, but we do try and limit cost were we can. But most of all we try and make our gardening experience a pleasure. We grow all the standard garden items like radish, beets, lettuce, . . etc. in raised beds. I started out using the old fashioned dig the path style raised beds without formal sides. In fact I still grow our tomatoes in that style raised bed because I don't want to use a ladder to pick tomatoes. I now grow the other, shorter, garden standards in 20" high fir sided hugelmound style raised beds. I find the large decaying logs in the bottom act like sponges and helps maintain moisture in the soil during dry spells. The height helps limit rodent damage to things like carrots (I still have to deal with the deer) and it keeps weed pressure to a minimum. That gives us a chance to grow our preferred spare lettuce "weeds" to cover the soil. Despite what Robert claims, I know my knees very much appreciate the added height during yearly bed prep, planting, and harvest of short crops like lettuce. I also find my wife more willing to help do garden work when she can easily reach it at knee height. We use special growing situations for some plants like 4 zucchini planted 2 per big 2 foot pots each with a single pole in the middle. I tie the lead stems loosely to the center pole to guide the plants upward rather than let them droop over the sides to risk breaking stems and it also limits soil contact and pathogens. We grow cucumber and pole beans that share opposite sides of 16 foot cattle panels bent into a tunnel that doubles as a walkway. If the growing season is good, they can eventually touch in the middle, and I can pick both beans and cukes from overhead. And a couple of oddball garden plants we always grow. Our chickens love kale and other brassicas and I love their eggs so I grow a few of those huge plants for them. We can even eat what leaves we will during the year and get a cabbage or two at the end of the year as a bonus. We love peppers so we take extra efforts for them, like picking just the right cultivars of each kind for our area and starting them indoors with our tomatoes. We grow 4 pepper plants per 2 foot pot with 6 pots total, some hot some not. Our first pepper is usually around the 4th of July and we pick until frost. My garlic patch was started as saved bulbils (Italian red heirloom hardneck) growing wild from our yard and grown out in a bed for two years. After they split at the end of the second year into cloves I could, and currently do, use the same method as Robert. The biggest cloves in this years harvest will be next years plants and bulbs. I planted 119 cloves this year. We try and plant between Oct.15th and Nov.1st. I have been using the same garlic for over 10 years and haven't bought any at the store in over four years.
Truth. I am also so tired of people who pick horrible vegetables and still say they taste better than anything else they've ever had anywhere else. And then you have to explain to them what "mother's love" means, as in, you will never see a mother say their children are ugly/dumb/slow.
I grow food from seeds that come from produce I get from the grocery store (especially tomatoes and squash) and bulk seeds from Amazon etc. Ive also invested in various perennials. The only other thing I buy for my garden is tulle. I source everything else for free including manure. This year I added raised beds because they were on sale for a great price and my yard floods so it helps a lot. Zone 9
I put the money into my chickens. Their excrement + some free woodchips + $50 worth of 5 gal buckets and a few waterings a year has gotten around half the potatoes my household has eaten for the last 3 years. I start them from the grocery store potatoes we don't eat in time. I'm nearly certain I've saved money in the long term, though I never saved all my receipts to find out for sure. I also plant onion roots and use them for the greens they produce. I don't spend anything on those, except buying onions from the store
Totally agree with you on the expense, but a little research, and ingenuity goes a long way to defray costs. Seeds need not break the bank, if as you say- limit your selection to favourites, and look for the givers: chives, kale, many herbs, some tomatoes, etc. that want to grow like self-seeded weeds in the soil you have. More likely to happen if you purchase your seed from local growers. Preferring multilevel polycultures works better for me, but any style of garden has value far beyond expense of time, or money if it gives you joy.
the largest cost in the long run is one home gardeners never count, your time. if you dont value your time working in the garden--eventhough it is a hobby--you wont bother making the biggest savings, which is gardening efficiently/effectively. instead you'll take the next organic wonder thing, and spend a tonne of time on it, only to find out it makes little if any real difference. that's why real farming knowledge is valuable, and organic fads are a waste of money.
If there are 25% tariffs and trade wars with Mexico and Canada and with California in flames, it may be hard to get some foods if they can be had at all. Cost effectiveness is not the point in my case.
Unfortunately, a lot of what grows in Mexico or Canada won’t grow as well or at all in backyards in the U.S. Which is why tariffs and trade wars that apply even to food crops are SUCH a bad idea. But I do agree that it seems like a good time to grow what we can in our own yards or fire escapes or wherever!
Most of my dinner just came out of the veggie garden - potatoes, beetroot, herbs, carrots, onions (stored from last year).. I just save seed and water automatically, weed now and then.. It's a cornucopia! And yes, raised beds are no good. They just end up housing hundreds of snails. Also, you have no soil structure. Don't do them!
I grow my garden. I sow the seeds directly in the ground . All my seeds go directly in the ground so i don't have to transplant and I make a lot of food,
I have raised beds with recycled boards but once they rot I plan to go with nothing on the sides. I have raised beds only because the original soil is heavy clay so when I started I did not want to deal with that stuff.
Speaking of seed saving - you touched on squash cross-polinating with the result not being as tasty (which would apply to tomatoes as well). I read (...) that some vegetables (was is squash? Some brassicas maybe? I forgot) could cross-polinate into toxic versions, is that true?
As a blanket statement - no - it is not true. Healthy plants also have high levels of sugars and minerals - the things pests like to eat. However, healthy plants are better able to produce natural pesticides, which help keep pest from eating them.
There is a myth going around that pests will not eat high Brix plants - that is a myth. www.gardenmyths.com/brix-molasses-pests-new-science-or-fantasy/
Is it true that use of Urea instead of organic nitrogen source makes plant more prone to pest attack? Most of the internet says so even some AI chatbots mention this. Could you please shed some light on this topic in future videos? Thank you.
So funny my son hated squash untill I grew my own Zucchinni and put it in a stir fry . He could not stop eating it , it tasted nothing like the ones in the store.
@@Gardenfundamentals1 I add an annual 3cm layer of compost every year & have done for 8 years. Still get weeds from blown in or transported seeds. Adding a different mulch is just adding expense IMO.
It's like hand loading your own ammo, if you're doing it specifically to save money, don't. You're better off buying it from the store. If you want higher quality, a good hobby, and the ability to have stuff when it cant be bought, then it might be for you.
I agree with most of this except for me I jumped off the porch and grew multiple veggies my first time well actually I only maintained them Jesus Christ gave the increase so for me I would tell some grow whatever you want to try if you have the space
Can you save money? Yes. In actuality no. Even if you grow $1,000 worth of food, you have to be able to preserve and use all the stuff you grow. Or you have to be able to sell/trade you grow. Friends and family of gardeners will save the most. Garden is a great hobby though and provides me with the freshest and harder to find fruits, herbs and vegetables.
This video is riddled with misinformation. Raised beds for instance help reduce pest pressures and that's valuable so to suggest otherwise is really an insult to those who choose to grow in open spaces. When's the last time you questioned yourself? It seems long overdue.
You could just as well mulch the soil, or use the millennia old practice of digging and turning your soil. In my country raised beds aren't a thing, I've never seen them, except on RUclips.
You forgot something important. The community. I got all my tools from rummage sales, except for the ones people gave me. A couple of dollars here and there will get you what you need. Old tools have lasted because they are good. My friend has an old barn he was wanting to clean out after quitting dairy farming. There was a couple of feet of very old hay on the floor of the barn that he wanted to get rid of. He gave it all to me. I had enough for years. I found a dumpster that the city uses. There are old t-stakes of all sizes and garden wire in there regularly. I have so many stakes now, I give them to my friends. A few blocks away someone is making some kind of food commercially. They set out food-grade buckets every once in a while. I have a lot more buckets than I need. I bury wood I get from where the tree pruners throw their trimmings away. Another friend has a manure pile I can take from. He grows beef cattle, so he has an endless supply. My seeds come from the Amish, and are much cheaper than in the big-box store. I collect rain water in a big tote behind the garage. I run the down spouts into it. I don't spend much money, but I do have plenty of work yet. But I enjoy it.
You can grow heritage type seeds and collect your own seeds each year. Instead of growing hybrids that won’t grow true.
I chose raised beds because my garden area sat low and flooded all spring. I often couldn't get in until May when it began to dry up. They are made of my own soil and leaf mold. In my garden raised beds, I add a 12 inch layer of leaves and grass clippings (with mower bagger attachment) in the fall. It's great for smothering existing weeds and lasts as mulch for most of the growing season the following year. It has also improved the structure and texture of my clay-heavy soil. I am very happy with my layout. I have a video on my channel if you're interested. I make my own compost and leaf mold and start everything from seed, most of which I save from heirloom varieties.
I much prefer growing better food, rather than cheaper.
As for the hours spent; I treat growing my own fruit & vegetables as a hobby more than anything, so don't count them as a cost.
Heck, I spend less time growing food than I do fishing, woodworking or hunting/shooting.
Two comments- This time of year the Dollar Tree is selling vegetable and flower seeds four packets for $1.25. They have the basics and there are less seeds per packet than ones you buy elsewhere. Which is fine because I typically need closer to 10 broccoli seeds than 200. LOL. So that’s a good way to save money on seeds. Also we need to make sure beginner gardeners are aware of the pervasive problem with grazon in manure, hay and grass clippings. Nasty herbicides that can destroy a garden for years. Thank you for your content and for helping to bring everyone back down to earth.
The best home gardener u-tube video I've ever seen. Lessons we all learn if we have had a home garden for any length of time.
Thank you so much - please share the link to the video.
Some of us are finally retired and don't want to work for anyone -- but also have more time than money.
I resemble that remark.😉
Time is far more important than money
I always grow a few potatoes for new potatoes. Digging these and making creamed new potatoes and peas is a yearly religious observance for me.
I spent thousands in my backyard over the years. Now it is established with 2 salvaged greenhouses and fruit trees my descendants won't have to spend anything except their labour ! Long term investment .
Thank you for another great video!
I’ve been gardening since I was a child helping my parents with ours big gardens on our home farm, and then having my own gardens for the past 40+ years and, until 2023, I had never been involved in growing anything in a raised bed.
Even after adding many cubic yards of good quality compost, every year or two, there were a number of things that our clay did not grow well & some things I/we wanted to grow, we could not grow at all, despite efforts to do so.
To your list of tools, I’d probably recommend adding a good garden fork and a good hoe. I use my good trowel(s) in the raised beds but not in the ground, which is simply too hard.🤷♂️
I could not agree with you more about gardening not saving any money but, throughout my 40 year career in high stress sedentary roles, in addition to the freshness and taste of what I grew, gardening provided me physical exercise and some much needed mental therapy.
❤
Fresh Parsley, Basil, Oregano, Chives - at grocery store prices you can grow about $10,000 worth in your garden.
Who's going to buy from you though?
The cost for health code certification, setting up logistics and distribution... no way you sell 10 grand of herbs without being out competed by all the big chain stores.
@@VICARI0S You might need to work on your sense of humor.
I'm not selling my herbs, I'm simply commenting on the high price the grocery charges for herbs.
@@VICARI0S Bruh.. it's a joke bc the grocery charges $5 per stem of Basil.
You're so right about spending a fortune on gardens. I always like it when these RUclipsrs have these gardens that cost thousands of dollars to develop. Most people don't have that kind of money. Growing up, we grew most of our food. Never spent the kind of money people spend trying to raise vegetables. We always had a huge harvest, everything was grown on the ground and was the best quality you could buy. I sell at the farmers market and don't spend the kind of money some of those RUclipsrs do.
This video has lots of good advice. I'd add: contact your local Master Gardener chapter. For those of you with longer growing seasons, I would add: plant in succession. For instance most cucumbers are very productive for a few months. If you plant 'round 2' when you start harvesting your first cucumbers, the second round will start providing cucumbers as the first vines start getting tired, or get powdery mildew, or you missed a cuc and it got old (it tells the plant the work is done, you can die now). Radishes are great for planting every 4-6 weeks or so too, until warm weather arrives; restart in Fall. Read the back of the seed packets for great ideas on how to eat excellent veggies for most of the year. Have a great gardening year!
I get peace and satisfaction from my garden
I totally agree with you as there is nothing better than the minerals and goodies in garden soil, esp my clay which requires a lot of work. Using a raised bed requires tons of shop bought compost which is not half as good as garden soil itself. Also, it is so costly and you can't get away with 1 bag of shop bought compost.
I agree with everything. I do raised bed to spot bugs like pill bugs from eating the veggie seed as it germinates.
I just planted fruit trees, it's cheaper and you get more for your space and you also can plant herbs under the tree.
Thank you for this video, it made me chuckle quite a few times. Ie. The seed starting expenses, the canning expenses, the raised bed expenses. I am your poster child. I do have to say I love your videos. Thank you for making them. They've taught me a lot. Happy Planting.😊
"Can we grow food in our own garden and save money?" I Thumbed this up right there. Good answer.
I plant potatoes every year from last years crop and spend literally no time until harvest. 30 lbs of potatoes for free seems like it's saving me money. Same with Garlic, onions, Kale... I wholeheartedly disagree with the sentiment that one cannot save money through gardening. And Mushrooms while not grown in my garden are another excellent example.
Have you ever tried alfalfa pellets as fertilizer?
A lot of seeds I got are though a "seed exchange" on Facebook. Usually you just pay the postage, and you get heirloom seeds, that you can then collect from a very ripe fruit, and keep for the next year. Also, when people work their strawberry or raspberry, they have to remove a lot of plants, and my neighbors gave them to us for free. So yeah, get to know your neighbors, give them a few eggs or house plants, or whatever you happen to have, and you could get back some other stuff.
I guess I could drive to a 2nd job, putting wear and tear on my car, make someone else money while collecting a paycheck to fund a goverment that takes more than it's fair share just to give it away to other countries AND be away from my home in which I again pay way too much taxes on OR I can take that same time, grow food that is not taxed, get good exercise, save wear and tear on my vehicle by not driving to said 2nd job, get some sunshine, support good mental health, grow food that is not chemically laiden all the while helping my property work for me. 🤷♀️ Yes, the initial input was considerable but the return is priceless and as a second year gardener in gardening season 2024 I harvested over 650 pounds of food from 180 sq. ft. of garden space. I am hoping my investment does pay off in the long run.
Amen, brother! My purpose here is not to be wealthy. Camel through the eye of a needle and all. If they want to misuse my taxes, I can make less money and pay less taxes. They will be shocked and dismayed at the simplicity of my life.
So you think your government gives money away to other countries? Your government pillages and loots other countries. Don't talk nonsense if you don't know about politics.
You loot and pillage fron other countries.
👋🏽🥳Happy New Year! 🎉
One way to save money on equipment is winter sowing stuff like tomatoes. I used 2L pop bottles and some potting mix and put them outside in late march. My seedlings were a bit smaller than the indoor raised ones my friend gave me, but by the end of the season I couldn't tell the difference and they produced just as many tomatoes.
Get free cow or horse manure. Don't waste money on fertilizer. Start from seed. Don't spend money on plants. You can start a plant in something as small as a tea cup. Don't waste money on fancy flats or containers. Use tin cans or plastic containers you are throwing out. Soooo many ways to save money on gardening.
Unraised beds also don't dry out as fast! If you cannot kneel down to get down on a knee pad then you need to do more flexibility exercises on your knees and back to fix this - with ground level beds.
Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge! You are a blessing! (I’m not real religious so take that very bigly😂!)
One point I’d like to bring up is no one survives on tomatoes alone.
I’ve tried to overwhelm myself for the last 10 years in that quest for knowledge you spoke of learning new veggies. The “idea of food security” is beyond priceless! Especially these days down here in the USA as we may be seeing huge tariffs on a lot of our produce.For example, I chose to grow potatoes this year because of projected insecurities. Hopefully a good staple that will keep.
At first I thought you crusty, but now I can’t wait to see your new videos.😂✌️👀
Thanks again sir!
Came across your channel and website a couple of months ago and love them! I used to do a lot of gardening just west of Orangeville, ON - short growing season there as we could have frost and even snow after the May long weekend. About three years, I started gardening in Greece, and in a way, am learning all over again... I do get to garden 12 months of the year, but still - deal with temperatures that can go below 0C a few times in winter and even get some snow, to the extremes of above 40C in mid July through August. I've tried some experiments - started tomato seeds in August and everyone thought I was nuts, but am now enjoying tomatoes in January, although they do grow and ripen more slowly. But here in Greece, tomatoes tend to just burn up in the hot sun in July so on a hunch, I'd thought to try growing them cooler.
only thing I might disagree on is the heating mat. For starting seed, is something very essential for good growing rate.
This video is loaded with good tips.
The biggest single thing I would have done different when I started gardening, No Go for the raised beds. All the money in their construction, then the cost of filling them, when my raised beds disintegrate, I will have plenty of soil for pots and grow bags.
The overall value of a garden goes way beyond the money spent in the production of food, to me it is the nature a garden creates and the good will of passing along the abundance of produce most gardens generate.
Stay Well !!!!
I limit my costs for fancy fertilizers by using our compost pile to its max. I even collect and use the compost pile leachate as a replacement for high nitrogen fish emulsion fertilizer. It also helps me keep the pile watered during dry times.
The pleasure of picking fresh veg from the garden to eat that day and knowing what has been used to grow it and get it to my plate is worth every penny I spend, but we do try and limit cost were we can. But most of all we try and make our gardening experience a pleasure.
We grow all the standard garden items like radish, beets, lettuce, . . etc. in raised beds. I started out using the old fashioned dig the path style raised beds without formal sides. In fact I still grow our tomatoes in that style raised bed because I don't want to use a ladder to pick tomatoes. I now grow the other, shorter, garden standards in 20" high fir sided hugelmound style raised beds. I find the large decaying logs in the bottom act like sponges and helps maintain moisture in the soil during dry spells. The height helps limit rodent damage to things like carrots (I still have to deal with the deer) and it keeps weed pressure to a minimum. That gives us a chance to grow our preferred spare lettuce "weeds" to cover the soil. Despite what Robert claims, I know my knees very much appreciate the added height during yearly bed prep, planting, and harvest of short crops like lettuce. I also find my wife more willing to help do garden work when she can easily reach it at knee height.
We use special growing situations for some plants like 4 zucchini planted 2 per big 2 foot pots each with a single pole in the middle. I tie the lead stems loosely to the center pole to guide the plants upward rather than let them droop over the sides to risk breaking stems and it also limits soil contact and pathogens. We grow cucumber and pole beans that share opposite sides of 16 foot cattle panels bent into a tunnel that doubles as a walkway. If the growing season is good, they can eventually touch in the middle, and I can pick both beans and cukes from overhead.
And a couple of oddball garden plants we always grow.
Our chickens love kale and other brassicas and I love their eggs so I grow a few of those huge plants for them. We can even eat what leaves we will during the year and get a cabbage or two at the end of the year as a bonus.
We love peppers so we take extra efforts for them, like picking just the right cultivars of each kind for our area and starting them indoors with our tomatoes. We grow 4 pepper plants per 2 foot pot with 6 pots total, some hot some not. Our first pepper is usually around the 4th of July and we pick until frost.
My garlic patch was started as saved bulbils (Italian red heirloom hardneck) growing wild from our yard and grown out in a bed for two years. After they split at the end of the second year into cloves I could, and currently do, use the same method as Robert. The biggest cloves in this years harvest will be next years plants and bulbs. I planted 119 cloves this year. We try and plant between Oct.15th and Nov.1st. I have been using the same garlic for over 10 years and haven't bought any at the store in over four years.
Truth. I am also so tired of people who pick horrible vegetables and still say they taste better than anything else they've ever had anywhere else. And then you have to explain to them what "mother's love" means, as in, you will never see a mother say their children are ugly/dumb/slow.
Hahaha! Well put.
Very informative. Thank you 😊
I use raised beds because I have heavy clay soil
I grow food from seeds that come from produce I get from the grocery store (especially tomatoes and squash) and bulk seeds from Amazon etc. Ive also invested in various perennials. The only other thing I buy for my garden is tulle. I source everything else for free including manure. This year I added raised beds because they were on sale for a great price and my yard floods so it helps a lot. Zone 9
I put the money into my chickens. Their excrement + some free woodchips + $50 worth of 5 gal buckets and a few waterings a year has gotten around half the potatoes my household has eaten for the last 3 years. I start them from the grocery store potatoes we don't eat in time. I'm nearly certain I've saved money in the long term, though I never saved all my receipts to find out for sure. I also plant onion roots and use them for the greens they produce. I don't spend anything on those, except buying onions from the store
Totally agree with you on the expense, but a little research, and ingenuity goes a long way to defray costs. Seeds need not break the bank, if as you say- limit your selection to favourites, and look for the givers: chives, kale, many herbs, some tomatoes, etc. that want to grow like self-seeded weeds in the soil you have. More likely to happen if you purchase your seed from local growers. Preferring multilevel polycultures works better for me, but any style of garden has value far beyond expense of time, or money if it gives you joy.
Please do a video on criter prevention at this point im growing extra to feed the wildlife.
Very true, however what I can't grow I buy in the farmer's market
the largest cost in the long run is one home gardeners never count, your time. if you dont value your time working in the garden--eventhough it is a hobby--you wont bother making the biggest savings, which is gardening efficiently/effectively. instead you'll take the next organic wonder thing, and spend a tonne of time on it, only to find out it makes little if any real difference.
that's why real farming knowledge is valuable, and organic fads are a waste of money.
Is there a particular brand of straw you use to much your vegetable garden?
If there are 25% tariffs and trade wars with Mexico and Canada and with California in flames, it may be hard to get some foods if they can be had at all. Cost effectiveness is not the point in my case.
Pasadena isn't known for its vegetable harvest
Unfortunately, a lot of what grows in Mexico or Canada won’t grow as well or at all in backyards in the U.S. Which is why tariffs and trade wars that apply even to food crops are SUCH a bad idea. But I do agree that it seems like a good time to grow what we can in our own yards or fire escapes or wherever!
Moisture meter is good for house plants.
It is not reliable - hefting pots is.
ruclips.net/video/NpouGYLHseE/видео.html
The 40 lb ceramic planters that contains larger plants are too heavy to heft. smaller plants in plastic pots, for sure ,I can tell by the weight.
Most of my dinner just came out of the veggie garden - potatoes, beetroot, herbs, carrots, onions (stored from last year).. I just save seed and water automatically, weed now and then.. It's a cornucopia! And yes, raised beds are no good. They just end up housing hundreds of snails. Also, you have no soil structure. Don't do them!
I grow my garden. I sow the seeds directly in the ground . All my seeds go directly in the ground so i don't have to transplant and I make a lot of food,
Can you do a video on lactobacillus or watering plants with yeast. There's allot of RUclips videos on this, not sure if they work or not.
I have raised beds with recycled boards but once they rot I plan to go with nothing on the sides. I have raised beds only because the original soil is heavy clay so when I started I did not want to deal with that stuff.
With the cost of tomatoes these days I would say that my garden more than paid what I spent on it in tomatoes alone.
Speaking of seed saving - you touched on squash cross-polinating with the result not being as tasty (which would apply to tomatoes as well). I read (...) that some vegetables (was is squash? Some brassicas maybe? I forgot) could cross-polinate into toxic versions, is that true?
That is potentially true of any cross pollinated plant, but it is very rare.
Is it true that healthy crops discourage bugs?
As a blanket statement - no - it is not true. Healthy plants also have high levels of sugars and minerals - the things pests like to eat. However, healthy plants are better able to produce natural pesticides, which help keep pest from eating them.
There is a myth going around that pests will not eat high Brix plants - that is a myth.
www.gardenmyths.com/brix-molasses-pests-new-science-or-fantasy/
Well, but sometimes yes. Within 12 hours of my broccoli being hard hit with hail, the flea beetles came out of nowhere and attacked it.
Is it true that use of Urea instead of organic nitrogen source makes plant more prone to pest attack? Most of the internet says so even some AI chatbots mention this. Could you please shed some light on this topic in future videos? Thank you.
So funny my son hated squash untill I grew my own Zucchinni and put it in a stir fry . He could not stop eating it , it tasted nothing like the ones in the store.
Does anyone else have problems with mice eating their vegetables when using thick mulch?
You're not going to buy a bushel of tomatoes for next to nothing up north.
A few hours a day of growing food is far less expensive than a visit to a psychiatrist.
I'd add a hoe to the tools list, plus a dibber for planting out.
If you mulch you never have to hoe. I have not hoed my veg garden in over 40 years.
@@Gardenfundamentals1 I add an annual 3cm layer of compost every year & have done for 8 years. Still get weeds from blown in or transported seeds.
Adding a different mulch is just adding expense IMO.
It's like hand loading your own ammo, if you're doing it specifically to save money, don't. You're better off buying it from the store. If you want higher quality, a good hobby, and the ability to have stuff when it cant be bought, then it might be for you.
if gardening cost you, your doing it wrong
I agree with most of this except for me I jumped off the porch and grew multiple veggies my first time well actually I only maintained them Jesus Christ gave the increase so for me I would tell some grow whatever you want to try if you have the space
Can you save money? Yes. In actuality no. Even if you grow $1,000 worth of food, you have to be able to preserve and use all the stuff you grow. Or you have to be able to sell/trade you grow. Friends and family of gardeners will save the most. Garden is a great hobby though and provides me with the freshest and harder to find fruits, herbs and vegetables.
This video is riddled with misinformation. Raised beds for instance help reduce pest pressures and that's valuable so to suggest otherwise is really an insult to those who choose to grow in open spaces. When's the last time you questioned yourself? It seems long overdue.
You could just as well mulch the soil, or use the millennia old practice of digging and turning your soil. In my country raised beds aren't a thing, I've never seen them, except on RUclips.
"Raised beds for instance help reduce pest pressures" - rabbits maybe - but most insect pests fly! Maybe you have never gardened before?