Thriftism

  There are plenty of reasons to have a garden, from saving money on groceries, enjoying fresh produce, or simply having a hobby that will keep you active. While we have already been through upkeep and produce specific posts, we want to now provide a few tips to get your garden ready for winter.   Why do you need to do anything?   Clean up plants before frost to make your yard clean up easier (prevent the green sludge). Fall garden care will make spring planting much easier. Get the most from your plants by harvesting all remaining vegetables and fruits before the frost. Add nutrients, soil additives, other good things to your soil for better garden growth next summer!     Getting Started   Being your fall garden care by picking any remaining vegetables or fruit. When I say any remaining, I do mean any and all . Tomatoes will ripen on your counter or in the garage, small cucumbers have many uses, and small peppers are still quit...

Spring has sprung and that means gardening season is just around the corner. Gardening has quite a few benefits. To start with, you have a steady supply of fresh food all summer and a garden promotes healthy eating by having vegetables readily available. Vegetables make great additions to any meal or can be eaten plain for a yummy, healthy snack.  You also have more control over your food if you are growing it. You will know whether or not pesticides/herbicides have been used. Gardening can also save you quite a bit of money. For example: Tomatoes 1 LB at Store: $3.99/pound Plant (yields ~  20 pounds Tomatoes): ~$5 or $0.25/pound Seeds (Lots of plants that yield ~ 20-30 pounds Tomatoes): $3.95 for 125 seeds If you only grow 3 plants, that comes out to $0.07/pound and goes down with every plant grown. **This used a conservative number for costs and # of tomatoes. You may be able to get cheaper seeds and often times plants will ...