Saving money by saving seeds
Jan 31, 2008 seed saving, seed storing
Many people do not know that given the right care you can save a package of seeds for 3 years and depending on the variety possibly even longer. When you want seeds to germinate you provide heat, moisture, and light. To prevent them from germinating you want to do the opposite by storing them in a cool, dry, and dark environment.
I happen to live in the humid Pacific Northwest so finding a dry location can be difficult, but I happen to have the perfect environment in my kitchen in my refrigerator. Just thoroughly clean and dry a glass jar and drop in your seed packets and close the lid. If you happen to one or two of those silica packets lying around (those things you find in the toe when you put on new pair of sneakers) drop that in the bottom it will help soak up any moisture that may exist in the jar. If moisture seems to appear inside your jar simply open the top and the dry environment will suck all the moisture out.
| Empty glass jar | $ 0.00 |
| Silica packet | $ 0.00 |
| Packets of seeds | $ 15.00 |
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| Total | $ 15.00 |
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| Savings over 3 years | $ 30.00 |
Tags: garden seeds
Vegetable gardening may not be "financially" profitable during your first season
Jan 27, 2008 kids
I was thinking back to my first vegetable gardening experience in suburbia a few years ago. After many trips to the local home and garden store I accumulated the following:
| Soil amendments (compost/peat moss/perlite) | $ 33.00 |
| Garden tools (rake/fork) | $ 16.00 |
| Organic fertilizer | $ 3.00 |
| Seeds and seed starter kit | $ 24.00 |
| Kid garden tools (shovel/watering can) | $ 5.00 |
| Miscellaneous | $ 10.00 |
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| Total | $ 91.00 |
In the end of the season we probably grew about $5 worth of tomatoes and fresh flowers but doesn’t even compare to the quality time spent with my daughter watering and as she would say “picking food” which made that season especially profitable.
Tags: compost, garden seeds, organic vegetables, tomato plants, vegetables
Starting my first seeds of the season
Jan 10, 2008 germination, indoor seed starting
My two daughters and I could not take it anymore and had to get our hands dirty and start some seeds indoors. Cute to hear my 3 year old say in the dead of winter “Can we garden now?” when it is 20 degrees outside and 4 inches of snow.
Given that our last frost date is March 15th and I don’t have a good southern facing window I might regret the early start but I always have my grow box if the steps start to get leggy. I was also thinking that my grow box would be a decent way to start hardening off young seedlings with wind and temperature a little more in my control.
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Tags: cheap, garden seeds, growbox, led, outdoor plants, strawberry plants, tomato plants, vegetables
Cheap PC grow box for less than $20
Jan 7, 2008 indoor growbox
I enjoy when I can be rewarded by overcoming mother nature, so when my 6 year old mentioned she wanted to figure out why strawberries will not grow in the winter for her science project I couldn’t have been prouder. Once she determined the reason was because it was colder and the sun wasn’t up as much, she suggested using lights to help them get more light and warmth.
Tags: cheap, grow lights, growbox, led, outdoor plants, strawberry plants, vegetables
