Guest post from Laura of Green Legacy Farm
One of the easiest ways to save money on groceries is to avoid the grocery store! Historically, grocery stores didn’t exist until the 1940s. Families raised much of their own food, bought it locally, or even traded with friends and neighbors.
Although I appreciate the convenience the grocery store offers, I’ve discovered the financial and health benefits of stocking my pantry from either my yard or local farmers.
Knowing where our food comes from can help reduce sickness, as food that is heavily processed or travels long distances is often void of essential nutrients. In addition, buying locally what you can’t grow or raise at home stimulates local economies. For example, The Virginia Department of Agriculture states that if every household spent $10 per week on local food, 1.65 billion dollars would be generated annually into the local economy!
I often hear many excuses as to why people can’t raise some of their own food, but there are solutions to almost all of those excuses!
Not Enough Space:
Container gardening, square foot gardening, and community gardening are all possibilities for those with limited space.
Not Enough Sun:
Is your lot wooded, or partially wooded? Consider planting edibles in your front yard, replacing ornamentals with fruit-bearing trees or bushes, or looking into shade-tolerant edibles. EdibleLandscaping.com is a great resource, or you can find many edible plants at your local nursery.
I have one friend who plants her garden along her driveway because it’s the only place that gets sun. Again, Square Foot Gardening gives some great suggestions for working with small spaces.
Not Enough Time:
Start small! Were you turned off by the mealy tomato at the grocery store? Try growing tomatoes this year. Next year, add in something else. Gardens are great projects for kids, too; they will learn much and take some of the responsibility off your hands.
Not Enough Money:
Prices of local meats and eggs are often more than their conventionally-raised counterparts at the store, though still often less than organics. Personally, we live on a teacher’s salary, so this hits close to home for us. Consider getting egg-laying hens (female chickens). This was a common backyard animal up until the 1940s. Chickens are easy to care for and relatively quiet.
In addition, buy in bulk. We got an extra freezer on Craigslist that can easily hold a quarter of a cow and several whole chickens.
Not in the Country:
Got an HOA, or a city that restrains how you can use your yard? Could you help change that? Our local city has a petition circulating right now to allow hens and honey bees within city limits!
Not a Good Cook:
Eating in season and simple recipes can make this task less daunting. Simply in Season is a wonderful cookbook to help you get started!
Laura is a wife and homeschooling mom to two children. She enjoys writing, reading, art, photography, gardening, and farming and blogs about it at Green Legacy Farm.
Betsy says
I am a complete amateur at gardening, so let this be an encouragement to any of you who are just starting off. But, I will say I am hooked on growing just a few things. It is so true that the best thing to do is to start off small with only a couple of things. I love growing herbs- rosemary and basil are my absolute favorites b/c they are incredibly flavorful, inexpensive to grow and will revolutionize chicken or spaghetti sauce! I bought a red pepper plant last year for $3 at Walmart (small) and wasn’t sure what would happen– it yielded over 20 red peppers! Considering a red pepper is around $2 at the store, growing your own is a tremendous savings. And they freeze well. This year we are trying growing tomatoes in containers.
Robin in New Jersey says
I would love a garden. I have had them in the past when I lived up in NY state. Where I am now, we have deer, woodchucks, bear, red fox, and chipmunks. It sounds like I live in the woods, I don’t! Right in the suburbs. We were told we would have to build an 8 foot high, chainlink fence complete with underground wire fencing to keep out all the critters. We do not have the finances to do that. It really makes me sad.
Happy gardening to all those who can do it!
Andrea says
Do you have anywhere that you can hang planters? I am growing oregano in a hanging basket. I am also able to grow pole beans in the bed closest to the house, which is right beside our heavily used front walk. The animals won’t come that close to our house.
Andrea says
Great article!
For all those new to gardening, my biggest recommendation is to expect failure some of the time. Every yard/climate/method has unique challenges. What grows very well for a friend may not grow at all for you 😉
Lea Stormhammer says
I bought 4 round 18″ pots a few years ago on clearance in October (I live in MN). I plant herbs in one, lettuce in one, 4 pole beans on stakes in one, and 2 strawberry plants in another. The lettuce and herbs reseed themselves (let them go to seed at the end of the season), and yes, I do have to replant the others, but it’s so worth it! We also have rhubarb and grapes. We had raspberries but they were so invasive we took them out – as did our neighbors. We also have a 4’x6′ space that we use to grow tomatoes, peppers and peas. It’s really only enough for daily use through the summer growing season but it works well for us.
Since we don’t have the gardening time or free space in the yard right now for more, we’re investing in a share of a CSA. A friend owns it, so we know who and what and where and we’ll have enough veggies for the year (yes, I’ll blanch and freeze the extras to eat through the winter) for $27/month or $325/yr for our family of 4. Love that too!
I grew up on a 1 acre lot in the “country” with a 1/4 acre garden – I didn’t eat a store-bought vegetable until I was in college (and still think most are yucky). We had 5 apple trees, 2 pear trees, and 2 peach trees, wild asparagus, blueberries and strawberries, and domesticated rhubarb, raspberries and strawberries besides. I feel so fortunate now – and I have a taste for veggies and fruit that my “city” husband had to acquire as an adult. He even likes things like beets and zucchini now, but it took a while!
Great post!
Lea
laura says
“Historically, grocery stores didn’t exist until the 1940s.”
The first grocery store was established in 1916 and became commonplace in the US in the early 20’s.
Laura says
Thanks for sharing your research; the 1940s date was according to mine. They are historically very close in proximity, and the point is that grocery stores are a fairly modern phenomenon.
Kathryn says
Speaking from experience, the start-up (and then upkeep) cost of raising suburban chickens for eggs is very high. It wasn’t worth it to us at our life stage. If you are already buying cage-free organic eggs, then you might break even once you are to the upkeep stage. (It is also viable if you have space for lots of chickens and can sell the extra eggs.) I’m pretty sure there are some articles here on MSM that mention that. I enjoyed having our own chickens, but would not recommend it if you are only looking to save money.
I agree and enjoy the fruit and vegetable gardening, though!
Stephanie says
We have 6 female chickens and it is not expensive at all to upkeep them. Feed is not expensive and we fee them lots of green things from the yard. We get a lot of eggs and are able to share with others.
Andrea says
As with everything, it can be expensive to have chickens. We would have to build a coop and make it fox and raccoon proof, plus provide a heat lamp for the winter. It would take a couple of years to get our investment back.
Katie says
Great article! We have a shady small yard in an HOA. Not ideal for gardening or chickens. But, we teamed up with a family who has 2.5 acres just up the road from us and started a large vegetable garden and have added bees and 12 hens. If you don’t have an ideal situation, look to team up with someone who does. You might have the expertise on plants (like my hubbie and I do) and can share the duties and costs for the garden. We visit “the farm” 1-2x per week and share the harvest and eggs with the host family. It’s more than ideal! We are going to add some raised beds to our own front yard to take advantage of the only sun space we have.
We live on one income, so it helps with the budget, teaches my kids where food comes from, and gives all of us needed time outside and exercise.
KC says
We live in the south and I’ve tried gardening a little before and really enjoyed it. Now we found out that we’ll be moving to Alaska in the fall and I know it will be harder to grow some things. I’m going to look into and maybe try the “container” gardening. We’ll see!
Becky says
An alternative to building a raised garden: I have a friend who just planted her “pallet” garden. Our local newspaper often has extra wood pallets they give for free to anyone who will haul them away; I’d never thought to use them as the basis for a raise garden. Admittedly, it’s a “minimally raised” garden, but I think you could stack 2-3 pallets to raise it more.
Jan says
Pallets are often made of wood treated with arsenic.
Sara says
Some are treated wood. If you look for a stamp that says HT, it has been heat-treated without chemicals.
Maria says
I have heard that you can use dish soap mixed with water in a spray bottle as pesticide… is this safe?
Also, is there a simple and inexpensive way to determine the type of soil that is in your yard- if it’s safe, and free of harmful chemicals?
Andrea says
If your state university has a Cooperative Extension Service, they often do soil testing through the mail.
Jeannine says
What a beautiful edible landscape Prudent Homemaker. It looks lusciuos. I live in the country and I only have 9 fruit trees. That is great that you can fit 31 in your yard. I have a 1,000 square foot garden.
This is what we are growing this year:
okra
strawberries
onions, basil and garlic
summer squash
cucumbers
lettuce
zucchini
peppers and tomatoes
Not sure how much I will have to put away, but even if I can feed my large family through the summer and early fall I would have saved money, learned more about gardening, got some excercise and ate good and healthy food. It is worth the effort.
Start children small in the garden even if it is teeny, tiny, they will get used to gardening and learn to enjoy it.
Melissa says
I grow my own food, this is my 3rd year! I love it bc I feel like I have control over money we spend. It’s a lot less money in the spring-fall season.
It also help bc my daughter loves the werid excpencive things brussel sprouts, asparagus which has gone up in price so much. I mean you can go to McDonlels and get a hamburger for $.89 or go to the grocery store and get an orange 10/$10. It’s crazy.
But last year I got a pack of brussel sport seed ($2.00)last year and grow 3 stocks, then saved them and have three growing this year. I ended up with 2lbs of brussel sprouts last year and hopeful 2lbs this year. It would be about .50 a pounds!!
Joy says
My only concerns with planting near your driveway is oil and other vehicle fluid runoff from vehicles and exhaust fumes. Also, those who live in snowy climates put salt on their driveways in the winter when it’s icy out. This often changes the soil near your driveway so it may not be suitable for growing fruits and vegetables.
Sara says
In our area, the city sends around mosquito trucks to spray in the summer. So unfortunately, planting in the front yard is not for us!
Lana says
I SERIOUSLY do not have enough sun. We are totally shaded and I have tried everything in 18 years. Even my herbs are quite small as they just don’t get enough light. It is not an option to remove trees as they run about a thousand dollars each to have taken down and all of the neighbors have just as much shade which shades our property as well. I am thankful for my shade though when I come home from running errands and step out of the car in my cool and shady driveway. We are typically 10 degrees cooler on our property than what is reported on the weather.
Andrea says
I wonder if you could trim some branches yourself by hand with a pole saw?
Jenny says
I have the same problem- and while I love not having to run my AC for most of the summer, it really is not conducive to having a garden…. i picked out my favorite things to grow (tomatoes, peppers and herbs) and planted a few in containers which are in my front my the driveway(the place that does get some some) but mostly I depend on farmer’s markets for my goodies!
Elaine says
There is a free ebook— How to Grow Container Gardens: Vegetable, Flower, and Herb Gardening the Easy Way!—available for Kindles on Amazon. I don’t know how good it is, but seems worth a look for free :-).
Cathy says
Loved this article! It came at the perfect time, too, as we are just now starting to transplant our 3rd round of seedlings (first 2 rounds didn’t make it due to weather surprises and family distractions). It was hard to stay motivated after 2 rounds of failure, but I’m glad we did. Our biggest gardening hurdle in recent years has been transience. We’ve moved 3 times in 3 years, and moving pots and other containers is NOT fun. But we’ve had good success with lettuce in a self-watering container (here in SoCal, plants can dry, wilt and die in a few hours on the hottest days) and collards, beans, peppers, and even yams in fairly small pots (2-5 gallon). This year, we’re going to experiment with growing greens and beans in several Topsy Turvy hanging pepper planters, which I spotted yesterday at the 99 Cent Store. Can’t wait to see how that works! I so agree with what Celine said above: “and gardening done “wrong” or imperfectly..is always worthy..either of success anyways or lessons….”
Casey says
I rent a townhouse, so can’t plant full garden. We decided to build a raised bed garden 4x4ft on our back cement patio. It works great! Had to buy dirt & such like to fill it. Last year we grew cilanto, lettuce, peppers, and onions. Plus we did 3 tomato plants in old cleaned out w/ holes drilled home depot 5 gallon pales. This year we are doing spinach & lettuce (which we have already enjoyed to make salads) and broccoli, plus same as last year.
cheryl says
I just began gardening last year after doing tomatoes in a container for many years. I love it! So much that my hubby built me another raised area for herbs and smaller veggies. I am on a slope and nestled in the woods so I had to battle rabbits and chipmunks. Those who asked how to keep them away, I tried dog hair, human hair, vinegar soaked rags tied everywhere and spraying blended hot peepers on everything. I wasn’t very successful. I finally started bringing in my tomatoes before they were ripe to beat the critters to them. Like I metioned I have alot of trees nearby so you may not have the same issues as I did. Still I highly recommend gardening. I love picking a tomato, green peppers and/or a cucumber for our dinner. It’s so nice to eat from your own garden and enjoy the fresh goodies you worked hard for. If you do a raised garden, which I love (less work), there is some expense to beginning one but if you keep it for years to come and divide the original cost, it will be minimal per year.
Christine says
Another way is to buy from CSA (Community Sustained Agriculture) farms. Depending on your location you can deal direct with the farm or visit a farmer’s market. The latter has really taken off in my north north central MA area – great organic meat, eggs, produce, cheese, bread, etc. Many offer great recipes too – picked up recipe for chocolate cake made with beets – complete awesomeness and kids had no idea eating veggie!
Tya says
Christine, we’re moving to the Spencer area and I’d like to know which CSA you’re using. Do you have a link I can go to?
Christine says
oh Spencer is beautiful – I’m sure you’ll love it! The urban farmers agric academy is in spencer and is a CSA farm. Other local CSAs, farmer’s markets, farmstands and farm visit can be found on this website:
http://www.farmfresh.org/food/csa.php?zip=01562
I live in Pepperell and go to town’s farmers market Saturday mornings which all local CSAs attend. I typically patronize Dragonfly Farms for produce and Lyn-Dell for beef. The full CSA share is too much for my son and I so we split with our neighbor and it’s still a lot. I need to learn how to can but I’m very intimidated.
JoannaTopazT says
I just used the chocolate cake beet recipe a couple of weeks ago with the beets that were still in my freezer from last year’s CSA. I was upfront with the family about the fact that they were in there: it’s me I was hiding them from, since I don’t like beets — but I do like chocolate cake, and I didn’t want the veggies to go to waste. 🙂
Lydia (Thrifty, Frugal Mom) says
I’ve been wanting to experiment with container gardening but can find so little info on it. Anyone know of some good tips or websites for it? And I know we are strange, but we don’t like tomatoes so I’d want to plant other stuff instead.
Kristine says
http://www.yougrowgirl.com – Gayla Trail grew a whole garden in containers on her Toronto rooftop.
Patrice says
Ha! At my first glance, I thought this article said “Save Money by Skipping to the Grocery Store”. I was thinking… we do often save gas money by WALKING to the grocery store, but seriously… who skips?!
The Prudent Homemaker says
So funny! I think I remember skipping when I was 5 to go to get an ice cream cone at Thrifty . . . 🙂
Michelle says
That is funny. When I first saw it I thought it said “Save Money by Skipping IN the grocery store”. Sounded kinda dangerous to me. =)
The Prudent Homemaker says
I think an overlooked part of gardening is fruits. So often everyone thinks to grow vegetables, but fruits keep on giving, year after year, and I love that!
This morning we had blackberries, peaches, and a lemon from our garden! (Blackberries will grow in shade; mine grow on the side of my house by the a/c in a 12″ wide area against the wall)
I have an edible landscape in my backyard: http://www.theprudenthomemaker.com/index.php/kitchen-garden/edible-landscaping
We grow as much as we can in our garden. Last week I harvested: leeks, lettuce, spinach, green onions, peaches, parsnips, carrots, cherries, radishes, strawberries, arugula, Swiss chard, and sugar snap peas.
We have 31 fruit trees in the backyard. Some are espaliered. Some are dwarf trees and some are semi-dwarf. We live in a suburban lot. We made sure that all of the trees that we planted bore fruit. The fig tree even fruits twice a year!
I can grow things at home that I could never afford to get at the grocery store: artichokes, pomegranates, figs, meyer lemons, blackberries, and more.
You can do a lot in a small space: cover the walls (or fences) with grapes, berries, and espaliered trees. You can grow 10 semi-swarf trees in the space one standard-sized fruit tree takes (plus it fruits a few years earlier!) Sneak lettuce and herbs in the front yard planters under your flowers.
April says
Your back yard is AMAZING!!! Thank you for sharing!
Wendy says
Your back yard is amazing! I’d love more fruit trees (we have 3 and some blueberry bushes) but my husband thinks it’s important to have a large open space in the back yard for our boys to play football or soccer. (He grew up in the city and never had that.) I’ve given up on the trees but have to admit I guess he’s right. It was nice this weekend to see 7 boys in the back yard with a large area to play rugby and soccer in and I admit they could not have done it if there were trees there. 🙂
The Prudent Homemaker says
I have a big play area in the middle of all of that, with swings (a set built by my husband that’s straight up an down; i.e. not an a-frame, and 10 feet tall, which is taller than park swings here) an in-ground trampoline, and a merry-go-round (also built by my husband). It’s hard to get a shot of the whole yard, so I have just included the edges 🙂 that contain food. The middle has grass and plenty of room to run around.
Use the edges for gardening (not just a few raised beds in a corner) and plant your trees around the edges, and you can get a lot out of a yard, plus leave the middle or playing.
Wendy says
My kids have long outgrown swings and such—these are 14-16 yr old boys. They kick a soccer ball pretty hard and far. Even with a large open area, they knocked half the peaches off of my tree and quite a few leaves. (Also killed one blueberry bush a couple of years ago using it as a soccer goal.) But that’s o.k. They had fun. We do have a large garden and grow quite a few vegetables. They do manage to stay out of that, especially when it’s time to harvest
😉
The Prudent Homemaker says
These are not the normal backyard swings–they are taller, and the poles go three feet in the ground with 90 pounds of concrete on each pole. An adult can swing on them.
14-16-year-old boys love my swings! My 21-year-old nephew, who is 6′ 7″, was over the other day, and HE swung on our swings!
(Plus, since the poles are straight up, my children climb them and then slide down them like a fireman’s pole).
Room to run and kick a ball is not something we have. We have a .24 acre lot, which is pretty big for here (.10 to .16 acre lots sizes are normal here). If I did have that, I think I’d want my garden further away, too!
Brandi @ Savvy Student Shopper says
Awesome backyard you have! So beautiful… and delicious!
I also have a lot of blackberries growing on the side of my house. I can’t wait to make jam!
Andrea says
For blackberries, it depends on the climate. Here in the northeast, they will not produce fruit in shade.
Amie says
Wow! Your garden is awesome. I did a square foot garden for the first time and I am so excited to see things growing. My mother-in-law is an incredible gardener. She has the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen. Your garden impresses me even more (shhh, don’t tell) because it is edible. I love that! I bought one fruit tree a few years ago and we’ve gotten 2 plums off it. I’d love to plant more and successfully harvest fruit.
Pam says
Stefani,
you can ward off wildlife with human hair. go to you hairdresser’s shop and ask them for a bag full and scatter it around your garden.
Chris says
Love this post! I have been veggie gardening more every year, as well as making all of our own bread products (except hamburger rolls) and baking mixes. I barely buy any produce at the grocery store anymore. Most of my grocery trips are just for baking supplies, dairy, and paper products at this point in time. Gorgeous picture too! Who’s garden is that?
celina says
one potatoe plant in a corner, one tomatoe plant in a pot…some lettuce and herbs on a window sill….super quick easy and amazing..!!!!!!
and gardening done “wrong” or imperfectly..is always worthy..either of success anyways or lessons….
also think of blue berry bushes….instead of other shrubs…rhubarbs instead of hostas….and raspberries…
mint in pots is cheap and amazingly successful..so are chives…
kids will help you lead the way if you let them…
Dorothy says
IWe have always had a garden which seems to grow each year and we raise our our pigs chickens and cows. With the price of everything going up. We need to.
Angela R says
What a lovely post! I recently attended a weed foraging class here in Seattle. Now that is a suggestion I don’t here too often for getting organic greens for free – go out in your yard and pick ’em! 😉
I personally love seeing that more and more people are interested in growing their own food. I have enjoyed our garden so much it’s now spilling up on my deck and I’ve half a mind to rip up more stuff in my backyard to plant a row of fruit trees.
Thanks for sharing this, Crystal and to Laura for sharing her wisdom.
The Prudent Homemaker says
There are some great cooking blogs that are dedicated to foraging. The ones I’ve read are from your area, too!
Casey says
Would you mind sharing those sites? I have looked for a good foraging site, but no such luck. I live in Michigan. Thanks!
Angi @ schneiderpeeps says
How very cool. We forage dewberries and wild mustang grapes each year. We usually can pick enough that I don’t buy blackberries at the store or any jelly. We’re hoping to pick enough grapes this year to make grape juice.
Stefani says
What about wildlife? I live in a rural area with a large amount of wildlife (i.e. deer, rabbits, foxes, coyotes).
Jen says
Rabbits are a problem in our area, I have had great luck planting smelly plants around the perimeter of our garden like onions, garlic and marigolds.
Heather says
If your deer are determined, you’ll have to build a fence.
Wendy says
My uncle swears by an “electric fence spray.” I’ve never purchased it, but he buys it every year at a farm supply store. He says it smells like an electric fence to deer. He puts it some string on poles and sprays the ground under it.
Stephanie says
Yep- I had a moose eat my raspberry bushes. I would not have believed it if I had not seen it myself… and I’m in the suburbs. Do fences deter moose?
Kristine says
A short fence can deter rabbits. A VERY tall fence can deter deer. I use “bunny bombs” on those furry terrorists. Bundle 2 Tbs cayenne pepper and 2 Tbs garlic powder in a coffee filter. Then let steep in 25-30 oz of hot water overnight. Do this outside – it will STINK. Remove the coffee filter, and pour the liquid into a spray bottle with a dollop of dish soap. Apply to plants. It will keep rabbits from eating the plants. Wash WELL if you’re using it directly on edibles, and reapply after heavy rain.
Heather says
I’ve kept rabbits away by sprinkling cayenne pepper on the plants. Have to redo after each rain though.
Then my neighbors got a cat! Problem solved.
Tara G. says
My neighbors growing up had dried blood bags tied onto the fence of their garden to keep the deer out; I have no idea where they got them, but it seemed to work.
Sara says
There are websites online where you can buy ‘Predator Pee,’ Bobcat, etc. Talk about a deterrent!
K says
This is a great article.
I am by no means a great gardener. but I’m learning and I’m determined to keep at it.
I did have a fairly good amount of mustard greens grow in my raised, boxed garden. However, some pest(s) had eaten holes in most, if not all of the leaves. I even found some earwigs in the stalks of some of them.
Any suggestions on how to rid a garden of pests w/out using chemical/harmful pesticides?
Do Marigolds really ward off pests as I’ve heard and read? I planted some Marigolds in the midst of my veggies. However, they all started off together, as seedlings. The Marigolds hadn’t yielded a bloom, so I guess they were “too young” to be effective?
Jen says
There are some natural sprays you can use that include dish soap, vinegar and water…look up the amounts and which to use on each problem. Onions also deter pests.
Happy Gardening!!
K says
Thanks!!!!
Heather says
I use marigolds (but I buy a 4 pack to get instant results. I also still have to spray for bugs, so no, it’s not a cure-all. But maybe I am spraying less because of the marigolds? Plus, they look nice in the garden.
Even if you do have to spray some, you can be careful to only use it when you really need to. I figure that my veggies are sprayed way less than most of the conventional produce that comes from factory farms. But in the end, some climates are awfully difficult – VA has a lot of bugs! We just do the best we can.
K says
Oh my goodness…. we have our share of bugs, too!
Thank you for your suggestions.
Sakura says
I plant a garden every year and have never sprayed for bugs. I do however put down slug and snail killer or use a shallow pan with beer in it, I put eggshells around my tomato plants. I planted Marigolds last year, but this year I put a few onions in and around my plants, I read somewhere that it helps.
K says
I have a friend who says she has no problems w/ bugs in her garden. I should be so lucky. 🙂
Thank you for the tips!!!
Jamie @afamilieslove says
You may have a problem with slugs or earwigs, or both. Easy fix, for slugs put a ring of ash from a fire pit around your garden, just lightly, redo when it rains, slugs will not cross it!
For earwigs, take a small plastic container with a cove(think a margarine tub kind of thing) cut, or use a hole punch and put holes in the sides about 1 inch from the bottom, about 3-5 should do it. Put the container in the garden, settled into the dirt a bit, with the holes near the dirt level, and pour into the dish a bit of soy sauce,or beer(either work well) and a little veggie oil, then snap on the cover and let it trap and drown the buggers!
You can also use Safers oil soap for many garden pests, with no harmful affects I know of.
K says
Thanks so much!
Andrea says
Marigolds will help, but you typically need one marigold beside each vegetable plant. They attract pollinators, which is good! Shallow dishes of beer sometimes work for slugs and earwigs.
K says
Thank you so much for your suggestions!
Sara says
Also, check to see if you have aphids. They are tiny and may look like green, brown, or white dots on the underside of leaves. If you google ‘natural aphid pesticides’ you’ll find a lot of solutions. Also, if you smash a few onto the leaves, their bodies put off a chemical signal that tells the other aphids a predator is near.
K says
Thanks!!
Wow! I’ve learned quite a bit from your reply as well as the replies submitted from other readers.
Marisa says
You can also get rid of aphids by buying ladybugs. They eat aphids :-).
Brandi @ Savvy Student Shopper says
I love growing my own food! I recommend everyone giving it a try!
Even if you’re short on space, you can grow in pots and indoors. Pinterest has a lot of ideas for “small” gardening!
I learned that I could regrow my celery, lettuce, cabbage, etc. It’s so neat watching the pieces of vegetables you’d normally toss produce food again 🙂
April says
I had no idea you could regrow so many vegetables! I think I will try that with the cabbage, cauliflower and green onions I will be using this week. I just started a self-watering container garden that I saw on Pinterest. So far, it is working wonderfully! I can’t wait to have some really fresh veggies on our table!
Kristine says
The problem I found with green onions is it only grows the GREEN part back. I use the white portion of the onion. Green onions will readily self seed once established in the garden. Mine went for four years before I dug them out to start the patch over again.
Amie says
Really? How do you regrow lettuce? I’d like to give that a try.