Container Vegetable Gardening on a Balcony or Patio
No yard? No problem. Container vegetable gardening on a patio or balcony can actually outperform in-ground beds for the right crops. Here’s how to set it up cheap and keep things alive all season.
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Cheap Raised Beds from Scrap for Under $50
You don’t need a trip to the lumber yard to build raised beds. Scrap wood, cull boards, cinder blocks, and a little scrounging can get you a solid 4×8 bed for well under $50. Here’s how I’ve done it, including the mistakes.
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Hugelkultur: The PNW Gardener’s Secret Weapon
The Pacific Northwest practically builds hugelkultur beds for you every winter. Fallen branches, soggy leaves, free organic material everywhere. Here’s how to bury it all under your raised bed and let it work for you all summer long.
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Pollinator-Friendly Plants That Actually Show Up
Tomatoes that don’t set fruit, squash flowers that drop off, zucchini that just gives up. Often the problem isn’t your plants, it’s the lack of pollinators. Here are the easiest, cheapest plants to grow that will actually bring bees and butterflies to your garden.
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Cheap Potato Planting: Scraps, Seed Spuds, and No Regrets
You can start potatoes from kitchen scraps or cheap seed potatoes and get a solid harvest either way. April is the right time in the Pacific Northwest, and the whole operation can cost almost nothing if you know what to cut.
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Cheap Cut Flowers: Sunflowers, Cosmos, and Zinnias
Sunflowers, cosmos, and zinnias are three of the cheapest, easiest cut flowers you can grow from seed. One packet of each is all it takes to have fresh bouquets from July through October. Here’s how to get them started in April.
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Vertical Gardening: Big Yields in a Tiny Space
If your raised beds are packed and you’re out of ground space, look up. Vertical gardening lets you squeeze serious production out of a tiny footprint, and most of the best trellis setups cost almost nothing to build.
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Victory Gardens: Growing Food for Self-Sufficiency
Growing food for self-sufficiency doesn’t require a farm or a big budget. Here’s how to start a practical victory garden this April in the Pacific Northwest, with crops that actually feed your family.
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Spring Watering and Mulching Before It Gets Hot
April in the PNW feels too wet to think about watering schedules. But every year, the dry heat sneaks up fast and I’m scrambling. Here’s how I get my spring watering and mulching sorted before it actually matters.
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Cheap Spring Pest Control for Slugs and Aphids
April in the Pacific Northwest means slugs, aphids, and something chewing your seedlings overnight. Here’s how to handle the most common spring garden pests without spending much money.
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Free Herb Plants from Kitchen Cuttings
Grocery store basil roots in about a week if you just stick it in a glass of water. Same with mint and oregano. Here’s how to turn kitchen herb scraps into free plants before the growing season kicks in.
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Lettuce Succession Plant Your Way to All-Season Harvests
Planting all your lettuce at once is a mistake I made for three years running. Succession planting fixes the feast-or-famine cycle with nothing but a calendar and two feet of row space every couple weeks. Here’s how to set it up for continuous harvests all season long.
