Growing Vegetables Saves Money

Spring is a great time to get outside and get your garden in order before the Summer heat arrives. Spring is also the time to plant lettuce, tomato, corn, beans, zucchini, cuccumber, silverbeet and a variety of other vegetable seeds.

When starting a vegetable garden for the first time, it's best to start off small. Pick two or three vegetables for the first year and see how you go. Then for the following years add an extra one or two as your confidence and knowledge improves. By doing it this way you're not shelling out a small fortune.

Many vegetables can be grown in pots as well as a garden bed. Growing vegetables in pots can be a great option for those who are renting or who are elderly. You can place the pots on a plant stand or an old table. When the Summer heat arrives, the plants can be moved out of the searing heat. Just make sure the pots are reasonably deep and you feed and water the plants regulary as they can dry out quickly

Growing your own vegetables is an easy way to reduce your grocery budget. For example, lettuce can be grown all year round for just a couple of dollars. The salad mix variety looks pretty with all it's different colors. It's good for you and you can pick as much or as little as you need for each meal. Lettuce prices in the supermarkets vary for $1 - $3 so growing you own could save you a small fortune.

For the last few years we've been able to grow enough tomatoes to pick for our Summer salads as well as cooking and freezing about 30 tins worth.  All for about $4 for a punnet of seedlings.

Silverbeet can be grown all year round and makes a wonderful addition to chop suey,  spag bol,  lasagne and dishes that need a green.  When broccoli and cauliflower are too expensive to buy,  I just pick a few leaves from the veggie garden and lightly cook.  This becomes our ' green ' on the dinner plate.

Cos lettuce

Mixed lettuce

From our backyard

Silverbeet

Will you be growing vegetables for the first time this year ?

Have you planted your seeds or seedlings this Spring ?

Our Backyard

Growing some of your own food doesn't have to take up too much space.  I guess you could say we have a reasonably sized backyard but it certainly isn't on the large side.  Our home was built in the mid to late 80's when house sizes were anywhere from 12 -  25 + squares.  Our is 15.5 on an average sized block for the time.

I've taken some photos of our backyard to give you an idea of how our fruit trees and veggie garden are laid out.  I hope you enjoy the tour.

This photo is taken from our back gate that separates the front yard from the back.  On the left is the feijoa tree.  Just before that ( not in the photo ) is a strawberry guava bush and the loganberry bush.  The small tree closest to the bottom of the photo is the peach tree.  Directly above that is the pear tree  Across from there is the apricot tree.  Behind the apricot tree is the mandarin and cherry trees.  The two strawberry patches are on the left just before the shed.

Looking slightly right from the previous photo  You can see the mango plants in the terracotta looking  pots under the pergola.  Each side of the sliding door are two pots of raspberry plants.  They haven't done as well as expected and we'll pull them out at the end of the season.  Right behind the mango plants you can just get a glimpse of the veggie beds.

This is almost at the top end of our pergola looking out at the strawberry patches and the cherry tree.  Behind the cherry tree is the worm farm and two compost bins.  On the right of the photo is our plum tree.  The green shed is " mine ' and stores the Christmas decos and tree,  and my excess grocery stockpile like toilet paper etc.

The plum tree is on the left,  veggie beds in the middle and our lemon tree on the right.  Darren's garden shed is just behind the lemon tree.  The raspberry bushes grow on the left side of Darren's shed.

This is looking towards the chicken coop and run in the far right corner of the yard.  We had an area set up for a sick chicken to rest in during the day. The other chickens were pecking her and she wasn't getting enough food.  Just near the clothesline is a very small avocado plant.

Looking from my garden shed towards the start of our backyard.  Cherry tree on the right.

Our pergola with assorted pot plants,  fruit tree cuttings / plants.

Rosemary bush just below the hose reel.  Chicken feed in the bin.

Taken from the right side of our backyard.  I'm standing up against our fence.  You can't see it but the chicken coop is to the right of Darren's shed ( silver ).

The back of our house and garden.  Clothesline included.