Garbage and Recycling Company offers Green Frugal Gardening Tips.
A visit to the market may be gloomier than usual these days with the hike in food cost. However, simply going back to the basics and using a gardening green thumb provides an abundance of nutritious food on the dinner table. A bountiful garden not only saves on food cost, it is also a therapeutic opportunity to provide peace of mind knowing where your food is coming from and how it is grown.
Recycled materials in the garden add a splash of creativity and saves money and resources. While it may be considered frugal gardening, the results are bountiful.
Seed Starting
Rather than purchasing seed pots, reuse egg cartons, cereal boxes or yogurt containers to start seeds.
Mulch
Don't buy bags of mulch, reuse and shred paper and old newspapers. Fill beds and flowerpots with the homemade mulch and cover with dirt.
Compost Bin
Compost bins can be easily made with supplies found within your own home or shed. Old garbage cans, large plastic garbage bags, cinderblocks, or chicken wire substitute for compost bins that are cheap and beneficial.
Vinegar
Rather than purchasing harmful chemical substances to treat gardens, use vinegar. Vinegar may be used in a variety of ways: eliminating pests such as ants and slugs, preventing rabbits from snacking in the garden, increasing acidity in the soil, and eventually as a vegetable wash.
Kitchen Ingredients
Believe it or not, there are some food and spices that can be used to assist in the heath of your garden. Cinnamon and chili pepper keep bugs at bay while eggshells may be crushed and placed at the base of plants and edge of the garden to deter snails and slugs.
Raised Garden Beds
Raised garden beds can be spendy. However, there is a frugal and green alternative. Use wood pallets to build a handy garden bed. Call local stores and find out if they have pallets they are planning to discard. Be sure to check if the wood pallet has not been pressure treated. Insect and fungus treated wood will have a green or yellow hue.
Tumbled Glass Mulch
Old dishes, wine bottles, jars, and glasses can be used to add a colorful landscape. Colorful glass may be used as a substitute for gravel or rock in a desert landscape.
Cork
Cork is a clever way to mark plants. Remove the cork from an old wine bottle, place a stick into the bottom and root it into the garden. The cork is waterproof and the plants will be easily recognizable.
Bird Feeders
Use old plastic containers, such as peanut butter jars, as a bird feeder. All it takes is two easy steps. Poke a hole into the bottom and insert a stick so the bird may perch. Make a larger hole allowing birds to eat. It’s simple and frugal.
Gardening is a wonderful way to incorporate nutritious food while saving money. Frugal gardening is fun, easy, and resourceful. Everyday items that would otherwise be tossed aside provide endless benefits for a bountiful garden.
Garbage and recycling company, Millennium Waste, provides recycling for those items that cannot be re-used or upcycled.
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