Frugal Winter Garden Dreams

While I sit by the woodstove on a bitter cold January night, my thoughts turn to the spring garden.  I can envision the bulb heads appearing, planting pea seed, buds beginning to pop on the trees and bushes, birds returning and looking for new places to nest and warmer longer days.

It is time to look at seed catalogs and make a list of what will be grown this year.  I keep a journal yearly with entries on what was grown, how well things did, what critters bothered the garden and if a way to deter them was found, what plant sets were planted and how well they did and finally what the bounty amounted to.  This year I have vowed to weigh and keep track of the harvest so that I can figure out what impact my garden has made.  I have read about people setting goal weights but since I have no reference point I must start from scratch and record a baseline this season.

This year I plan on only using heirloom seeds and plants so that at the end of the season I can harvest seed for next year.  More and more the only seeds that are readily available in garden centers are hybrid seeds.  Hybrid seed is not sustainable and will not create a good crop the following year.  There is mischief afoot amongst the seed companies and the fertilizer chemical companies and it is my opinion they do not have our best interest at heart.  I will do my best to preserve seed and maintain a garden that is not filled with genetically altered plants.

The backyard garden will be enlarged and within the next couple of years all the grass areas will be removed and turned into either raised garden boxes or open growing areas.  While I dream about what to grow I am designing the layout of the yard.  My yard has a greenbelt of pine trees behind it facing east which block the early morning sun.  I must plan for the sun path carefully to maximize the light.  I have one well established apple tree and two young fruit trees that don't produce yet (plum and pear).  It would be great to put in a grape arbor and get some grape vines going.  We will see how industrious I am this year.

Rug remnants from a rug installer have been placed on some of the areas that will be expanded so that the grass, weeds and moss will begin to die out over the winter.  It is not really sightly but the method works well.  When spring comes I will only have to cover the areas with wet black and white newspaper and then build the raised beds lined with wire mesh on top.  The newspaper will block the sun and kill whatever is left while eventually rotting and mulching.  The wire mesh is needed because my area is prone to moles.  The garden boxes will be filled with compost from my compost pile, composted leaves that have spent the winter in leaf bags, composted manure from a local organic farmer and garden soil that I will purchase.  The compost, leaf bags, manure, wood for the raised boxes and carpet remnants are all from free sources which of course is my favorite word as a Frugalista.

Each year my splurge is putting up a small blow up swimming pool.  The diameter is about 10 feet and the pool is large and deep enough for me to lay on a blow up raft and think I am the Queen of Everything floating on the Riviera.  Only my next door neighbors can see me and since I am not a bathing beauty and since they are away all day at work I feel very comfortable out there lazing away with a good book.  I always invite the kids over for a "swim" and they don't care what I look like.  This year I would like to construct a wooden platform to put the pool on.  This will stop the annual crop circle that magically appears when I take down the pool for the winter.  It really isn't very attractive.

So while I sit with my seed catalogs, my notebook with garden drawings and dream of lazy days floating on the Riviera, I know I will be creating the most beautiful garden yet.  Certainly time not wasted.

Suggested seed companies that offer heirloom seeds

Sustainable Seed Company
Territorial Seed Company
Victory Seeds
Burpee
Southern Exposure
Seedsavers

Grow Up!

This year in the garden I built some tellises to maximize my limited growing space. It was an experiment. Previous years I have grown green beans up of course but I wanted to try something else.

The biggest success is the Hubbard squash. The squash seem to love climbing up the trellis and have been able to support themselves just fine. The Hubbard squash are really getting large and show no signs of breaking off. I have some old panty hose ready to make a sling if necessary to support the squash.

The cucumbers have also been happy and productive. I planted two plants from the nursery and then planted some seeds. The seeds came right up and with a little help began to climb the chicken wire. It has been easier to find the cukes and pick them.

The beans were attacked by deer and did not do so well this year. With all the veggies I have in the garden, Bambi seemed the think the beans were the most delectable. There were three kinds planted and all three varieties never had a chance to grow more than a foot high. The little dears would jump the fence early morning and have a breakfast of champions. Since I have not found a deterrent that works with deer other than building a 10 foot electric fence I have to live with them.

I tried building a trellis with one inch pvc pipe which I supported by fitting it onto rebar that was pounded into the ground. I then cut chicken wire and secured it to the pipe with plastic ties. Easy to build but I found it was not as sturdy as I had hoped. Maybe I needed longer rebar.

The other trellis was built using 1x2's and 1x4's to make a frame. I stapled the chicken wire to the wood and nailed the trellis to the sides of the garden box. These frames have worked for the cucumbers and I would repeat this method. I am not a great carpenter but I do get a kick out of trying to create something from scraps I find or come by.

So if you have not tried growing up before, give it a try next summer! You will have more produce grown in a smaller space.

Oh, one more tip. My friend Peggy saw the topsy turvy commercials on TV and wanted to try growing tomatoes upside down. She didn't want to buy the gadgets so she acquired some plastic tubs at a local grocery store, cut a two inch hole in the bottom with an electric knife, planted tomato plants by sticking the tip of the plant through the hole and pulled out till she reached the base of the plant where the leaves began, filled the pots with garden soil and compost and hung the containers. She hung the pots in full sun and watered from the top. Behold the tomatoes flourished growing upside down reaching for the ground! What a clever way to grow produce with limited space. This method would be great on apartment patios. She didn't grow up she growed down!!!!

Do you know how to save seed?

Have you saved seed?

Are you aware that the vast majority of seed available in the stores are hybrid seeds?

Did you know that hybrid seeds will not produce fruit and vegetables that will produce viable seeds for next year?

What would you do if you were unable to buy seeds to plant a garden?


Yes, thought provoking questions and ones you should be thinking about this year. That beautiful garden you are so proud of is providing your family nutritious meals and saving you money. What if you looked out your window and the garden was not there?

Have you read about the fertilizer companies and the affect chemicals are having on plants? Have you read about the increase in the production of hybrid seeds that are sold internationally? Have you read stories of farmers who are desperately trying preserve the seed their families have grown for years only to find chemicals have damaged the genetic makeup of their crops. Who now owns the large seed companies? What kinds of seeds are they producing?
How informed are you?

Do you know how to save seed to use next year? Are the plants you have grown capable of producing seed that will be viable next year? These are questions every gardener worth their salt should be asking. I am taking seed storage seriously this year and doing something about it.

Yearly I have concienciously bought seeds at the end of the season when they are on sale and put them away for next year. One year a nationally known seed company brought a van full of seed packages to my community and we purchased the seeds at a greatly reduced cost. I used those seeds for years. Yes, each year the number of seeds that sprouted decreased but I had seeds and had purchased enough to compensate for the decline. It was a huge savings and I felt secure in the potential of what was held in those glass bottles safely stored in my garage.

Do your own research on saving seed. Am I just being an alarmist? Do you really know what is going on behind the scarecrow's back?

Please look at the link I have provided on seed storage. This is a package designed to provide enough seed to plant a full garden acre. The seeds are heirloom seeds which will produce seed for following years. I am buying this package. I am storing heirloom seeds, I am saving seed from my garden this year and I plan on expanding my garden as I have done this year in my edible garden.

Will you be able to provide for your family?

Lessons Learned from the Edible Front Lawn #2

Creating an edible garden where previously a lawn had been struggling keeps providing opportunities for learning. Once I had the entire lawn covered with cardboard and paper products and the grass and weeds were no longer visible, it was time to design a layout and build garden beds.

The house faces southwest so the sun is more prevalent in the afternoon. There is a small ornamental tree providing a shaded area. I watched the sun’s pattern and decided to create a circle surrounded by stones and two garden beds the first year. Being the Frugal Fraulein , I needed to find wood with which to build the boxes. A friend called to say she had seen some fiberglass boxes about four feet by four feet on the side of the road with a for sale sign. I checked them out but they had top and one side missing and would not have held soil. Too bad because they were a good size and would have been high and easy on my back while bending. Next I discovered reclaimed lumber. Buildings are torn down and carefully stripped of useful wood, windows, doors and fixtures. The remains are brought to a warehouse and sold to benefit the local Habitat for Humanity. All kinds of treasures were available for much less than new. I bought used 2x8’s that were 8 ft long for less than I would have paid for two boards at the local lumber store. I then rummaged around and found some L brackets and a couple of 2x2’s to use for bracing that I had purchased at a yard sale.

For years I have been collecting tools at yard sales. I got out the circular saw, power drill, square and measuring tape. The boards were not the same length so that meant having to cut them to size. It is much easier to use a circular saw when you have someone to hold the other end. Next step was to measure where the screws were going to go. I drilled in pilot holes then laid out the boards where the boxes were going to be placed. Now don’t get me wrong. I am not a carpenter and I don’t have much practice building things. I have learned along the way and every step takes me forever. Finally hours later I had the boxes together. The task was end by screwing in L brackets on the corners to hold the boxes together and cutting the 2x2’s into eight pieces which I secured to the inside corners for even more sturdiness. The final step was to dig a small hole for each 2x2 so that they would hold the boxes in one spot and not be moveable. I don’t know why I thought a 4x8 box full of dirt would move.

When I was done I was thrilled. Looking at pictures and plans of boxes had paid off. I had gleaned the best of the ideas and built something functional, inexpensive and durable. I learned that although I have limited carpentry skills I could build something durable and useful. I have to admit I was proud of myself.

Eat Your Front Lawn! #2

Why are you pursuing that idealistic quest of rolling fields of green in your front yard when you could be reaping its harvest? Why are you spending your time mowing, fertilizing, aerating, de-weeding, de-mossing, and watering when you could be feeding your family? Why do you choose to accept that the norm is a manicured lawn? Do you have the nerve to be a radical, step out of the box and join a new green movement? Good for you. You too can do it!

This is how I began my journey to an edible front yard. First step was the decision to no longer be like everyone else and to move towards a new paradigm of thought. I prepared myself for the rolling of eyes of my neighbors and friends. Since my neighbor, Mary was taking on the same project there was power in numbers. We both looked like we had gone nuts. Did we care? No!

The second step was to collect cardboard. I looked for clean cardboard at work, the grocery store and even dumpster dived at the local recycling center. The cardboard was put down layer over layer overlapping to block out the sun and kill the crab grass and weeds. This was not a pretty step by any means but a necessary one. Black and white newspaper and packing paper also works well but can blow away with the slightest breeze. Watering it and soaking it did help. The key is layers. The paper goods are going to break down eventually and decompose. I did have to use some rocks to hold down some edges when the cardboard pieces were on the small and light side. This step is free which is one of my favorite words and it also helps to recycle material.

Tune into the next entry to learn how garden boxes were built frugally.

Eat Your Front Lawn!

A few years ago, I looked at my front lawn and decided I had had enough mowing and resolved to find a better solution. The previous owner had spent thousands of dollars having the lawn sprayed with chemicals to achieve perfect grass. I could not consciously or financially continue on with this practice. Once the spraying stopped, the perfect grass died and unsightly weeds sprung up. Nothing I found remedied the situation. So there I was spending my energy mowing weeds. I knew I had to find or do something else.

I spoke with my neighbor, Mary, who had the same lawn experience and we decided to take a radical step and replace the lawns. While it might stir up the neighborhood, we decided since two homes would be moving out of the traditional lawn box to a more unlimited vision there would be strength in numbers.

My neighbor decided to put in flower garden complete with curving walkway. I chose to create an edible front yard. I built garden boxes and filled them with local mushroom compost and topsoil. Slowly vegetables were planted. Butterflies, dragon flies and birds came to visit along with rabbits, raccoons, possum and deer. All were welcome. It was a sign that I had made the right decision.

Mary's Garden

By then end of the season, I had bright red tomatoes, peas, zucchini, yellow summer squash, herbs, brussel sprouts, green and red hot peppers, onions, leeks and a variety of salad greens. There was enough bounty to share with neighbors who had been watching my shenanigans with doubt. Funny, how a bag of tomatoes grown with love can bring so much more joy than a lawn of grass.

Catch the next blog to read about the steps to an edible front lawn.