Home Grown -- Frugal Gardening for Fun

Anyone can grow plants easily and inexpensively if they choose to. You may want to grow indoors or outdoors, in sun or in shade, flowers or vegetables, trees or shrubs, or all of the above. Even if you think you have a black thumb, all you need to grow plants is a bit of room, patience, and a little loving care. Now, let's roll up our sleeves and grow.

The first thing to do is decide what you want to grow and where you will grow it. Obviously you cannot grow a corn field on the front porch, but with careful planning, you can grow many plants in a small area. On the other hand, if you do have the space and you love corn, why not plant a corn field? The trick is not to be intimidated by lack of experience, but to enjoy what you are able to grow.

Once you have decided what you want to grow and the best place to grow it, you can begin.

If you are growing from seeds, whether inside or outside plants, your best bet is to start them indoors, as this is the healthiest way to begin your plant's life. When buying seeds, carefully read the packet. The packet will usually tell you how much sunlight you need, when is the best time to plant the seeds, and how tall you can expect your plants to grow. Once you have picked your seeds, you need only read the instructions on the package to learn how to care for them.

The next step is to get some potting soil and a seed tray. You can purchase a plant starter kit if you wish. Being a frugal gardener myself, I like to use egg cartons. I simply put the potting soil in the carton and plant my seeds in them. You can even save the egg shells, put them through your food processor, and use them for fertilizer.

You will need to prepare an area to grow your outside plants, and again the packet the seeds came in will usually tell you what kind of soil and light is needed for the best results. Once your plants have started and are big enough to plant outside, you can gently transfer them into the area where you want them to grow. If you have started indoor plants, you can transfer them into pots when they are ready.

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To garden in a limited space you have to be creative. Fortunately this can be fun because the only real limits are your imagination. I once had a small back yard but a huge upstairs patio. The obvious solution to my space problem was to use the patio. What I did was purchase several plastic window boxes and lined them up along the perimiter of the patio. I also bought two huge flower pots and planted small night blooming jasmine trees in them. The results were wonderful. I had roses, herbs, petunias, and cherry tomatoes growing on my patio. I had partial sun in the morning until just before eleven o'clock, and full sun until about six. I hooked a very long hose up to the side of the house and pulled it through the railngs of the patio so I could water my plants when I needed to. This is just a sample of how creative you can get. The point is to have fun and not get discouraged by a limited amount of space.

As I mentioned earlier, you just need a little imagination. I have seen gardens growing in some very unusual places. An easy and ideal way to grow a small garden, be it flowering or vegetable, is to use a small childrens wading pool, round for flowers and rectangular to plant rows of vegetables that don't need a lot of root space.

You can grow small flowers on windowsills in almost anything. Coffee cups that have lost their handles make pretty pots. Even plastic glasses can be used as starting pots. I have two trailing plants growing in styrofoam cups that are not even in soil. I've been growing them in water and using leaf cuttings as starters for friends.

If you really have your heart set on planting, you can definately find a way. Pick an area that gets at least some sunlight, find some plant seeds for flowers or veggies that don't grow too tall, and get that imagination going.

I confess, I really enjoy frugal gardening. Somehow, it always seems like more fun to start not just with seeds, but with seeds I didn't exactly pay for. Don't worry, you don't have to steal seeds. What I'm talking about is starting plants from fruit or vegetables you already have. I am currently growing an orange tree from the seeds I got from an orange that was bought at a fruit stand.

The best way to start plants or vegetables is to make sure they have never been in a refrigerator. The cold can stop the growing process. A plant's only job in life is to grow and propagate. Once you have eaten most fruit, you can grow a new plant from the seed. The easiest fruit to grow would be things like avocados, oranges, and tomatoes. The easiest vegetables to start from the plants would be onions, green peppers, and potatoes.

Let's say that you have just bit into the best tomato that you have ever tasted. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could grow tomatoes just like the one you're eating? You can and it's very simple to do. First of all, pull or cut the seeds out of the center of the tomato. Fold about six or eight paper towels into a pile. Put the seeds on the paper towel and place the paper towels in a dry open area. Let the pulp dry out enough so it can be separated from the seeds. For best results, put the seeds back on some paper towels and let them dry completely. When they are dried out, they are ready to be planted or stored if you want to grow them outside when it's warm enough to. Next, plant the seeds about a quarter of an inch down and half an inch apart in a container large enough to grow them inside if you want to. If you plan to grow them outside, put them in starter trays to be replanted when they are ready. Keep the seeds in a warm well lit area and be sure to keep them moist by watering them once a week with about an inch of water. In two to three weeks, you should start seeing seedlings. In about two more months, you'll be picking your home grown tomatoes off of the vine. You can use this method to grow plants from fruit and vegetables with small seeds.

In our next module, we will learn how to plant tubers.

Potatoes are easy and fun to grow and only need a surprisingly small area to get a good sized crop. The bonus is that you can eat them at various growth stages. If the potatoes you want to grow are small, plant the whole potato. If you want to plant larger ones, cut them in half or quarters and let the cut section callus or dry out before you plant.
To start your potato plants, you'll need about a foot or so of soil to plant them, but the good news is that they're hardy plants and not very fussy about what they're planted in. For best results however, mix a little 5-10-10 fertilizer in with your soil andlet it set about four days prior to planting.

Potatoes can be grown in many different ways. You can use anything from five gallon containers, or used tires, to old garbage cans. Just remember if you are using containers that plants tend to dry out more easily and will need to be checked often to see if they need to be watered. If you are planting your potatoes in your garden, they should be placed about 12 inches apart in rows that are spaced 2 to 3 feet apart.

The main thing is to make sure that they are watered properly and have good drainage. The one thing potatoes are fussy about is watering. Over watering can turn your potatoes black, but inadequate watering will make them misshapen. Make sure to to check your soil first for moisture quality, and water them more often when the weather is hot.

If you want new potatoes they can be harvested when the peas are ripe or as the potato plants begin to flower. If you are waiting for full sized potatoes harvest them when the vines turn yellow or have died-back.

Avocados are quick and easy to grow. Best of all, they make wonderful and very colorful house plants. To get one to sprout, simply remove the large seed from the center of the fruit and wash it in water. Make sure you use the broad end of the seed, that's were it will send out the sprout. Push three toothpicks evenly into the sides of the seed. They should be placed about halfway up the pit. Then suspend the seed in a glass of water. The bottom one fourth of the seed should be sitting in the water.

The seed should sprout within a few weeks. Keep adding water to it, just make sure that it remains one fourth covered. If it doesn't sprout within 2 to 3 months, throw it out and try it again with another avocado. The roots are usually the first to emerge from the seed. The stem appears later. Pot the seedling when the root system has become well developed; the roots should be at least 2 to 3 inches long.

Remove the toothpicks and plant into a 6 to 8 inch pot using a commercial potting mix. Position the seed in the center of the pot. The top of the seed should be level with the soil surface. After potting, water thoroughly, then place the plant in a brightly lit location. A location near an east or west window is ideal. Water the plant regularly. Keep the soil moist, but not wet. Fertilize once or twice a month during the spring and summer with a houseplant fertilizer.

Just remember, Avocado plants grow rapidly, and they are actually trees. Within 2 or 3 years they will become too large to keep indoors. They really do make lovely house plants. Once you get your avocado growing, the new stem will be a reddish color, and the leaves will be almond shaped and a deep kelly green. The only drawback is that you won't be able to grow fruit from it indoors because it may take 20 or more years to bear fruit, but then again if you have cathedral ceilings and a lot of patience, you'll be able to produce some really great avocados.

Growing your own pinapple plant at home is relatively easy. First you need to cut the crown off. Next trim off any fleshy parts by the base, to avoid rotting. After trimming, cut the bottom of the crown or stem until you see root buds, which are the small round structures visible around the base of the stem. Remove as little tissue as possible to avoid cutting into young stem tissue. To make planting easier, you can also strip off some of the lower leaves, exposing up to about three-fourths of an inch of the base of the crown. After trimming and stripping, place the crown upside down in a dry, shaded place for about a week before planting. This allows the cut end and the leaf scars to heal.

The easiest way to grow a pineapple is in soil. . A commercial potting soil works fine. Start your pineapple in an 8-inch pot that can drain off excess water. When your plant grows too large for this pot, transplant it to a 12-inch pot, the largest size you will need. Be sure there is good drainage since pineapples do not like "wet feet."
Tamp the soil firmly around the base of the crown at planting. Avoid getting soil into the central leaves of the crown. Fertilize at planting and every two or three months thereafter with plant food.

Remember that pineapples are tropical plants so while it's best to keep them outside in the summer, you'll need to bring them inside if you live in an area that drops below 55F. In a warm climate the crown usually takes about 20 months to produce ripe fruit. It may take your plant a bit longer if you live in a cooler climate.

When your plant is at least 24 inches tall and 12 to 14 months old a bud will begin to form in the center of the leaves. You will not be able to see the developing fruit until about two months later when a bright red cone emerges. Later, flowers -- light blue in color -open row by row over a period of about two weeks, starting from the bottom. When the petals of the last flower have dried, the fruit will begin to develop. All in all, it really is an unusual, beautiful, and rewarding plant to grow.

Do you have any questions or problems about gardening that you'd like help with? Do you have some cool new way to grow plants in a small area? If so, please write to me. I'll be happy to help you or to share your ideas. Naturally, I will give you credit for being ingenious. If you prefer that I don't mention your name, please let me know when you write to me and I'll omit it. Just go to the your opinion counts section of this lens and click on "drop me a line". I'll get back to you ASAP.
Thanks,
Sarah