Go Greener Tips

pI hate reality shows. However there’s one that’s just kicking off out in San Francisco that I’m looking forward to watching. You might call it The Frugal Farmers or Gardeners Gone Wild./ppThe challenge: Raise half the food you eat this year in a garden that costs absolutely nothing to maintain. /pdiv style=float:right;img alt=gardening class=img height=300 hspace=10 src=http://l.yimg.com/a/feeds/us/grn/green_cheapstake/edible-garden-switch-tp-med.jpg vspace=10 width=230//divpAnneli Rufus and Kristan Lawson are the authors of ema href=http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Scavengers-Manifesto/Anneli-Rufus/e/9781585427178/?itm=1 target=_blankThe Scavengers’ Manifesto/a/em, and are the brain-trust behind what they call a href=http://scavenging.wordpress.com/2009/04/24/the-2009-no-cost-garden/ target=_blankNo-Cost Gardening./a They’re taking the challenge themselves and have thrown down the gardener’s gauntlet for you to do the same. They’ll be reporting their progress — the good, the bad, and the arugula — on their website, and I plan to check back in with them periodically here at a href=http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/save-money/ target=_blankThe Green Cheapskate/a to see how their garden grows. /ppAnneli and Kristan describe themselves as full-time scavengers. We’ve made a lifestyle out of getting stuff (legally) without spending a cent, they say. My Inner Miser applauds them for helping to show people that gardening need not be expensive. Sadly, what started out as a way to save money (i.e. growing your own food) has, in our uber consumer society, morphed into a $40 billion annual industry of specialized gardening tools, overpriced seeds and nursery stock, and even stylish garden apparel. Do you really need a special wardrobe to dig in the dirt? /ppHere are some of the tips from Anneli’s and Kristan’s website for getting plant seeds for little or no cost: /pullistrongSaving the seeds from store-bought produce. /strong It’s amazing how often this works and yet how few people do it./lilistrongSeed swaps. /strong Various clubs and cliques of gardening enthusiasts hold a href=http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/exchind/ target=_blankseed exchanges/a or seed swaps, in which a group of like-minded individuals get together to trade seeds. /lilistrongSaving the seeds from the plants we planted last year. /strong We always try to let at least one plant of each type bolt and go to seed, so we can save its seeds and start the cycle all over again the following year./lilistrongGet old packets of seeds for free or cheap, then plant more than you need, taking into account the fact that only half of the seeds at most will ever sprout. /strong/lilistrongSeed sales at discount stores. /strong If you’re lucky, you can catch the right moment when some discount supermarkets drastically lower the prices of already-cheap seed packets as they approach their expiration date./lilistrongBuying expired and old seed packets at garage sales for very little money./strong Old seed packets don’t crop up too often at sales, but when they do, you can often get them for ten cents or twenty-five cents a packet./li/ulpCheck out their website for the details, more tips, and info on the a href=http://scavenging.wordpress.com/2009/04/24/the-2009-no-cost-garden/ target=_blankNo-Cost Gardening challenge/a, and stay tuned for regular rutabaga reports here at a href=http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/save-money/ target=_blankThe Green Cheapskate/a./ppemLearn more about a href=http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/blogs/organic-gardening/organic-seeds-organic-gardening-460227starting a garden from seeds/a./em/ppemJeff Yeager is the author of the book a href=http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Ultimate-Cheapskates-Road-Map-to-True-Riches/Jeff-Yeager/e/9780767926959/?itm=1 target=_newThe Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches/a. His Website is a href=http://www.ultimatecheapskate.com/ target=_newwww.UltimateCheapskate.com/a./em/ppstrongMore from The Daily Green/strong/ppa href=http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/organic-gardening-tips-460309?link=reldom=yah_greensrc=syncon=artmag=tdgHow to Start an Organic Garden in 9 Easy Steps/a/ppa href=http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/super-foods-44030408?link=reldom=yah_greensrc=syncon=artmag=tdg7 Superfoods You Should Be Eating/a/ppa href=http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/Dirty-Dozen-Foods?link=reldom=yah_greensrc=syncon=artmag=tdgThe Dirty Dozen: Top 12 Foods to Eat Organic/a/ppa href=http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/vodka-uses-460424?link=reldom=yah_greensrc=syncon=artmag=tdgThe Vodka Poison Ivy Cure … and 9 Other Weird Uses for Vodka/a/ppa href=http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/earth-day-money-savers?link=reldom=yah_greensrc=syncon=artmag=tdg7 Easy Green Money Savers/a/pp /ppReprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc/pp /p