Gardening

Use vinegar on weeds instead of weed-killer?

by Crystal on April 26, 2012

Okay, so I’ve heard about many amazing uses for vinegar, but this is a new one! Supposedly, you can use vinegar to kill weeds in your garden.

Here’s what A Garden For Your House wrote:

How to Apply: You can use a watering can, a spray bottle or a pump-sprayer to apply vinegar. I use a pump-sprayer, because it is more efficient. Be sure to rinse your sprayer after use, or metal parts (if any) can corrode.

Make your application on a warm, sunny, calm (not windy) day. Vinegar is not selective; it can potentially harm plants you wish to keep, should you accidentally spray them. As I said earlier, I use vinegar on walkways, where grass and ornamental plants are not an issue.

Will vinegar kill every weed in every garden? That I can not say. I only know that it has kept my pathways free of unwanted growth.

Have any of you tried this before? I’d love to hear if it actually works!

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Reader Tip: Making Gardening Work When You Don’t Have a Big Yard

by Crystal on May 17, 2010

Rene from Budget Saving Mom recently shared some tips with me on how she’s planting a garden in a small space:

We live on several acres, but only about 30 feet of it is not wooded so I knew that on my property, a traditional garden would not work. As I researched my options, I discovered square foot gardening.

Square Foot Gardening

Square foot gardening is when you don’t plant directly into the soil, but instead, you plant in a bed you have made and filled with dirt. In fact, if you can build the raised beds, I would recommend square foot gardening over traditional gardening because of the lack of weeds.

Also, you don’t plant in rows, you plant in a grid. It’s amazing how much you can grow using this method. My sister was able to raise all of the produce her family ate for the entire growing season in a 4 foot by 8 foot bed last year!

We now have fresh produce throughout the entire growing season and I don’t purchase any produce from the grocery store during this time.

What about produce during the non-growing season?

In order to have produce during the year, I joined 4 other families and planted an enormous garden on one of the other families’ properties. With this garden, I am able to can and preserve produce for the entire year. The result is, I am able to feed my entire family on $20-$25 each week — an incredible savings!

Don’t assume a garden isn’t an option for you. Almost anybody, anywhere can garden! Even if you don’t have a yard, if you have a deck or porch or patio of any sort, you’d be amazed at how much you can grow in large pots!

Read more of Rene’s gardening tips, along with other frugal living ideas at Budget Saving Mom where she also blogs about being a good steward of what the Lord has blessed us with, homeschooling, freebies, and coupon tips.

photo credit: mlwhitt

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How Gardening and Preserving Can Save You Money (Guest Post and a Giveaway)

by Amy on March 18, 2010

**GIVEAWAY CLOSED**

Guest Post by Laura from HeavenlyHomemakers.com

People often ask me how I am able to afford feeding my family of six such a wholesome diet of mostly organic foods on a limited budget. My answer: I make almost all of our food from scratch and I grow and preserve as much of our food as possible.

I don’t claim to be an expert at gardening; in fact, I often tell people that my garden grows in spite of me. I also don’t have the yard space to grow as much food as I need for my family.

How I Preserve As Much Organic Produce As Possible Each Year:

Grow what I can, making the best use of my garden space.
Utilize my farmer’s market and learn which vendors grow their produce organically and which ones are willing to “give me a deal” when I buy a large quantity.
Talk to people. Many people have more apples on their trees and strawberries in their patch than they know what to do with. They are often happy to give me their excess for free.
Trade. If I have an abundance of potatoes, I’ll trade it for a bunch of green beans. Or, if I don’t have an abundance of any produce, most people are happy to accept a couple loaves of fresh bread in trade!

During the Summer and Fall seasons while fresh produce is readily available, we eat as much as possible. Any extra goes into the freezer or into my jars (and oh wow is there usually extra!).

By the middle of October, I have usually put away enough potatoes, corn, green beans, peaches, pears, applesauce, strawberries, tomato sauce and tomato soup to last us for the entire year.

Also by the middle of October, I am so sick of looking at tomatoes I don’t care if I ever see another one as long as I live! I soon get over it and begin to realize the fruit of my labor as all throughout the coming months I am able to pull delicious organic foods out of my freezer and pantry for our meals.

How Gardening and Preserving Benefits Our Family:

Our family has saved hundreds of dollars on groceries.
I know exactly the kind of food going into our pantry and freezers and then into our bodies. I know what I put into my sauces. I know what soil my food came from. I know I can trust the food to be healthy for my family.
Our family gets to work hard together. Planting, weeding, and picking all becomes a family affair. We are a family with dirt under our fingernails!
The food is delicious! In my opinion, nothing is better than home grown organic produce!

Be on the lookout now for deals on garage sales on jars and other canning and preserving needs! Brand new jars can be pricey, but at yard sales, you can find them for almost nothing!

Gardening and preserving your own food is a wonderful way to help provide your family with great quality, delicious, inexpensive produce all year round!

Laura Coppinger and her husband have four sons ages 5-12. She blogs at HeavenlyHomemakers.com encouraging women daily in the areas of healthy eating, gardening, parenting, homemaking, faith and fun.

Would you like some help getting started with gardening and preserving? Well, Laura has graciously offered to give away 10 copies of her ebook, Heavenly Homemaker’s Guide to Gardening and Preserving, here today. To enter to win, just leave a comment on this post in the next 24 hours. Winners will be chosen and posted on Monday.