After
getting rid of so much in order to make our "great move" we pretty
much had nothing to start with as far as gardening is concerned. Not so much as a hand trowel or a pair of
gardening gloves. But thanks to a couple
trips to the dollar store and a stop at Walmart we have carefully acquired
enough things to get started.
The
dollar store provided us with garden gloves, a hand trowel and a half dozen
packets of seeds for 25¢ each. We also
picked up various bowls, buckets and containers we felt would make great pots
for container gardening.
A stop
at Walmart provided us with a large bag of potting soil for $2.96, a cute
greenhouse seed starter and the rest of the seeds we needed for 20¢ and 50¢
each. I wanted to plant a specific type
of pumpkin that I love for cooking and baking so I had to splurge and pay $1.88
for a packet of sugar pumpkin seeds. The
girls were quick to point out that the seeds were still less than one large can
of pumpkin puree. Exactly!
We came
home and the girls were excited to get started.
We filled the seed starter with soil and carefully planted the seeds so
as not to waste any. While they planted
I cut the cardboard sleeve that had been wrapped out the starter into strips to
use as plant markers and labeled each one with a Sharpie marker.
We also
got out all the containers we'd collected lately and filled those with soil and
planted chives in a peanut can and a can that held some of my beer brewing
ingredients. We used a punch and hammer
to put a drain hole in the bottom of the cans and the plastic lids were snapped
on to catch drips. My kids thought this
was pretty clever.
A large
margarine tub a friend gave me was put to use to house our leftover seeds and
keep them dry and protected. I planted
some Roma tomato seeds my oldest collected last week from a tomato she sliced
up for a salad in a sour cream container.
I am hopeful they will sprout.
Our
landlady lent my oldest a container so she could plant a potato she had pulled
from the pantry with eyes sprouting on it.
She is super excited to see if she can grow her own potatoes. She has a couple more potatoes left so I'll
be on the lookout for more containers she can use.
Right
now my kitchen table looks more like a shelf in a greenhouse but I'm totally
okay with that. The thought of growing
our own food is exciting and we are hopeful that we'll be successful this year.
Do you
plant a garden?
My daughter wants to do a vegetable garden this summer. Just a small one to see if it would work. I am so not a gardener of any kind. I guess, we could pick up a few packs of seeds and give it a go.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your garden. Roma tomatoes are the yummiest...hope you get lots of those.
Romas are my favorite. Try buying her a small wading pool, fill it with dirt and let her give it a go. That's what my girls want to do. Should be fun.
DeleteBrilliant!! Thanks for the idea.
DeleteYou bet!! :)
DeleteI have been wanting to do a garden the last couple of years. We had one several years ago and we loved it- we got so much out of it, but it was a lot of work to keep up and with health issues going on we haven't gotten around to do it again. I was thinking of trying to do it this year but didn't really know how much money I would have to put into it- you did it very frugally and I feel like giving it a try even more now after reading your post. I didn't think about getting supplies at Dollar Tree. :)
ReplyDeleteI almost always start there first when I've got a big project to start. I'm always amazed that somehow they've stock a lot of what I need. :) I hope you are able to start a garden this year. I find it is a healthy way to alleviate stress. I'm just going to start out small and try not to go too crazy. ;)
DeleteI would love to have a garden, but my husband and I don't have any luck with one. I have the land, I even have a big garden tiller thing that was given to me after my grandpa died. We have tried for the past 3 years, apparently we just suck at it. It would be nice though. I think this year we are just going to forget it.
ReplyDeleteI completely suck at it too so I am hoping my girls can help me overcome it. :)
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