Frugal Gardening Hacks

While the initial up front cost of our garden was on the pricier side (since we garden on concrete and had to buy tons and tons of soil, build the beds, etc), my inner frugal freak has a field day with finding low-cost ways to acquire garden goodies! From saving seeds of organic produce we buy and scouring Craigslist for deals, to grabbing seed pods from neighbors’ plants and repurposing items laying around the house, there are countless ways to stretch your dollars while gardening like a baller. Here are just a handful of my go-to favorite frugal gardening hacks!

• Set up a Craigslist alert for anything you’re in the market for. I was able to snag two Envirocycle composters for $40 each this way, when they usually retail for $260.

• Save those jars! Anytime we buy jarred food, spices, or condiments, I use hot water to remove the labels and hang on to the jars. I use them for storing seed pods that I’m drying out, for displaying small cut flowers, and for propagating cuttings of various plants. Who needs to buy jars when you already bought some perfectly good ones!?

• Save those seeds! Anytime I buy organic produce, I try savings seeds and drying them out to sprout. These are from a butternut squash I got at the farmers market recently, and I tossed them in the ground hoping they’ll pop up and produce some yummy squash.

• Think outside the box. I repurposed a bunch of large IKEA storage baskets as protective covering for seedlings. They’re $2.50 a pop, which is a bargain and a half! They also double as impromptu harvest baskets in a pinch.

• I’m a plant cutting bandit and will snip small branches or leaves off of plants in the neighborhood, and also will grab seed pods of plants that I’d like to try growing. Why buy full-priced plants at the nursery when you can try growing some for free!? I mean sure, I’ve done it, but I much prefer this way. It feels like a big experiment, and I get so excited when my clippings propagate and start to grow.
• Utilize your local Buy Nothing Project, or something similar. In Santa Monica, I’m a part of an Ask, Borrow, Give community on Facebook and have gotten a beautiful watering can for free because I posted asking if anyone had an extra before I went out and purchased one. Tah-dah! $Free.99 instead of $20.
• Flea markets! Ugh, I just adore a good flea market. Occasionally, we’ll hit up Rose Bowl Flea in Pasadena, and when we went a few weeks ago I snagged a gorgeous wicker basket for harvests, an old bathing bowl for a makeshift bird bath, and a cute, nerdy sign to display on our trellis. Bonus: you get fun, unique items and aren’t lining the pockets of Jeff Bezos by just buying new stuff from Amazon.
• Ask around. I happened to be chatting with my friend Jess one day a few months ago and she found out I was a gardener, at which point she offered up her old worm bin! She had moved and wasn’t using it anymore, so she brought it over and helped me get it all set up. The model she gave me runs for around $90.

• Use what you have! The slabs of rock in the photo above were randomly buried in our yard, so I dug them up and repurposed them for a little walkway and flat surface for the worm bin. This way, I’m not walking on soil and when all of the plants in this area are growing like crazy, it will be a cool, natural little garden feature.

What are some of your favorite frugal gardening hacks?! I always love hearing new ideas!