Save time & money in your garden with these simple & thrifty gardening hacks!

Growing a garden is quite simple on one hand: you plant seeds, give them water, food, and sunlight, and watch them grow, right? But there are more challenges to gardening than may meet the eye at first glance – from pests and diseases to unexpected weather events, to wildlife that enjoys snacking on your ripe fruits and veggies – there are many things that can threaten to derail your gardening efforts, or at least create a lot more work than you had expected.  This is where having some tried-and-true gardening hacks can come in handy!

From making your own organic plant food to protecting your tender plants from the elements, there are plenty of ways to save yourself both time and money in the garden, while still enjoying a bountiful harvest.

Whether you are making your own pots out of recycled or throw-away materials for sowing seeds, making creative use of cheap or “upcycled” items to organize your potting shed and maintain your tools, or finding clever ways to get rid of tough weeds without using chemicals, there are many sustainable shortcuts to garden success.

Even better, you can reduce the waste sent to landfills – AND save money at the same time – by redirecting some of it to your garden. For example, eggshells can be used to start seedlings (see video below for a demonstration), or crushed and added to your compost or garden soil to help provide food for your plants.

Kitchen scraps such as banana peels, coffee grounds, or veggies that are past their prime can be mixed into your soil, composted, or blended and mixed with water as a foliar feed or “tea” to provide a valuable source of nutrients for your garden.

Cardboard and brown paper or plain newspaper can be repurposed to keep weeds down, or shredded and added to your compost bin or pile.

You can also protect young seedlings from cool weather with homemade “cloches” made from old bottles or jugs, giving them a head start on getting established in the garden even if the weather is still a bit chilly, while putting those old containers to good use. (Be sure to push a stick down through the top to keep them covered in windy weather.)

This short video shares several handy garden hacks to save you money, effort, and time, and make your life a little easier so that you can enjoy your time in the garden rather than feeling like a slave to it!