tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post6659430511883916259..comments2023-10-05T06:00:35.495-07:00Comments on Cindy's Tips and Hints<br>: Poll Question/GARDENINGCindy Lovenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00047247606620149416noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post-33506240935577661292012-04-30T04:17:08.948-07:002012-04-30T04:17:08.948-07:00Well, sometimes MY gardening is frugal...didn'...Well, sometimes MY gardening is frugal...didn't get ANY tomatoes last year. But lettuce? Yum.<br /><br />PattyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post-58977498654009724852012-04-30T03:37:07.256-07:002012-04-30T03:37:07.256-07:00Gardening like anything else can be as frugal as y...Gardening like anything else can be as frugal as you want it to be or as expensive as you want it to be. If you need the fancy tiller, then it is expensive. A shovel and dirt fork are much less expensive. Also equipment is a one time cost and that cost is divided among the many years of use. Saving seeds year after year is the same thing. You might pay 2.00 for a pack of seeds but after many Kathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09932224189710732528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post-80129208283573909812012-04-29T19:51:22.425-07:002012-04-29T19:51:22.425-07:00Gardening is a frugal as you make it. And no, you ...Gardening is a frugal as you make it. And no, you do not have to till the soil to be effective, nor do you need plastic mulches. If you are fortunate to raise animals, straw and crops, mulching is more effective than wrecking your soil by continually tilling it and wrecking the soils natural structure. Tillage begets more tillage. after a few years the soil finds a new, productive equillibrium. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post-1173946798286505722012-04-29T18:33:05.635-07:002012-04-29T18:33:05.635-07:00Gardening can be frugal..... or it can be an expen...Gardening can be frugal..... or it can be an expensive hobby. It all depends upon "management" and resources available. If you have to rent a garden plot, pay to have someone till it, buy all your seed and fertilizer, then only eat the produce "in season"... you will come up a bit short. However, if you have the land, do all the work yourself, save your own seeds, use Cindy Lovenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00047247606620149416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post-71452274728140421652012-04-29T18:31:04.767-07:002012-04-29T18:31:04.767-07:00it depends on "how" you garden, as other...it depends on "how" you garden, as others had pointed out. I'm in a community garden, and start most of my plants at home or direct seed. While there is an annual fee for the garden space, I have true abundance there, and the dollar value of the produce grown is large. I could never buy at the store the amount that I grow in this garden! <br />ldcAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post-35445380106699125502012-04-29T15:03:38.527-07:002012-04-29T15:03:38.527-07:00For me gardening is therapeutic and gives me peace...For me gardening is therapeutic and gives me peace of mind that the food we raise is safe and healthy, not chemically treated nor tainted by salmonella. As each year passes I become more frugal about gardening by lessons and experience learned. It is trial and error, not to mention, Mother Nature IS in control. Need to go with the flow. Some years are so bountiful and others, not so much. If I RubyRedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14407687004840079447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post-90570323832009806382012-04-29T14:27:25.214-07:002012-04-29T14:27:25.214-07:00Gardening is my choice of entertainment. Initial i...Gardening is my choice of entertainment. Initial investment of heirloom seeds were my greatest expense, sharing my bounty with family and friends are my greatest pleasures.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post-69839383028197874922012-04-29T09:51:07.099-07:002012-04-29T09:51:07.099-07:00initial costs are high, yes... but over time, you ...initial costs are high, yes... but over time, you save far more than you put in. Initial canning/drying/freezing costs might also be high as you aquire the things needed to do that, but then, you save yourself a ton of food costs in subsequent years. Caveat: You have to know what you are doing. Invest in good books, and time with good gardeners! Also, you have to be willing to invest time inAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post-22313442453302726652012-04-29T06:40:41.934-07:002012-04-29T06:40:41.934-07:00Gardening is most definitely frugal if you know wh...Gardening is most definitely frugal if you know what your doing. If you are smart you will invest one time in heirloom seeds. For a 100.00 investment you can feed your family for YEARS. Save the seeds year to year and you will never have to invest again. You have to realize you do not need weed fabric, or all those new fangle gardening tools. Our pioneer ancestors did not have those things. A Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post-39061467610376348252012-04-29T06:25:06.525-07:002012-04-29T06:25:06.525-07:00As with just about anything, Gardening can be frug...As with just about anything, Gardening can be frugal, or it can be a costly way to get food. I do it frugally. I work my own dirt, make my own compost and save and grow my own seeds. Some folks may not have the luxury of doing all this where they live. <br /><br /> With canning, the inatial cost may be a deterent to some, but like a car or a house, I look at the long picture and how long thatAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post-75878052871220908902012-04-29T06:00:23.197-07:002012-04-29T06:00:23.197-07:00Gardening for yourself is frugal. Paying someone ...Gardening for yourself is frugal. Paying someone to garden for you, be it doing the work at your home or on their farm and buying outright is more often than not less frugal. <br /><br />Paying anyone to do any work that you could do yourself is rarely a frugal choice. If you start by hand digging, you could have a rather large bed in short order. People often overestimate how laborious the Stephi Bnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post-87005013476262035312012-04-29T05:27:15.812-07:002012-04-29T05:27:15.812-07:00This would be an interesting challenge for next ye...This would be an interesting challenge for next year - how frugal can you go? Ground prep is what gets me because I have screws in my ankle and can't shovel very well, which is cheaper than buying a tiller or renting a kid, lol. I'm working towards raise beds, which is expensive because I have to buy dirt (Georgia red clay.) So I'm working towards a compost bin which takes time Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post-25783314273475881862012-04-28T19:46:22.977-07:002012-04-28T19:46:22.977-07:00It can be somewhat frugal or it can be a huge mone...It can be somewhat frugal or it can be a huge money pit. Plants are much more expensive up here than they were in the south, and the growing season is shorter. I don't till -- the first year I put down weed fabric and just dug holes. Each year, I'm growing more and more things from seed (and slowly becoming more successful at this) and then I'm going to plant seeds for a living mulchMooslerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06312707954305417684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post-70585033167745052902012-04-28T18:29:58.177-07:002012-04-28T18:29:58.177-07:00Gardening can be quite inexpensive and frugal if y...Gardening can be quite inexpensive and frugal if you save seeds. I grow pie pumpkins and save seed every year. They are easy to grow, quite prolific, and this year I have several volunteer plants as well. I will never have to buy pumpkins or pumpkin seed for planting again, and I can trade extra seeds with fellow gardeners.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post-90059384891720987922012-04-28T16:36:12.511-07:002012-04-28T16:36:12.511-07:00I think gardening CAN be frugal. Too many get cau...I think gardening CAN be frugal. Too many get caught up in gardening methods without considering the entire cost. There is always learning curve with a new skill that will run costs up in the beginning. For the price of 4 movie tickets or a month of satelite TV, you can have a garden tilled. For popcorn and drinks, you can buy seeds. It's all in making priorities. I can't think of Calliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12070436018553585714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post-41362055381635676362012-04-28T16:28:20.604-07:002012-04-28T16:28:20.604-07:00If you have the time to save seeds and start your ...If you have the time to save seeds and start your own plants, and then time to weed/tend to the plants, then I think that YES, it can be an inexpensive or frugal way to feed your family.<br />But, if you purchase all the plants, purchase plastic or fabric for weed control, etc. Well that's changing things quite a bit. The health benefits will still be there but I wouldn't call the effortsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10164050.post-76271704976388089902012-04-28T16:11:27.544-07:002012-04-28T16:11:27.544-07:00It is frugal for some people and not for others.Yo...It is frugal for some people and not for others.You do not have to spend money on gardening if you use your head.I would say for most people it is not frugal.The way I do it, it is frugal.Can only produce and methods that do not take money and that is frugal also.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com