We are great fans of gardening here at Cheaper Living, they are cheap to get started and can provide an abundance of food Saving you money on groceries, and possibly health care if it means you are eating more healthy foods.

If you rent your home then we strongly advise you to have chat with your landlord before attempting to make any changes to their property.

An outdoor garden in the ground is usually the simplest and cheapest way to get started. If your land is fertile then all you need to get started is some time, a fork and/or shovel to turn over some ground before planting your seeds. And a few seed packets from any one of our garden or hardware stores.

If you don’t have gardening tools already you can borrow these from family friends, or you could check on local buy sell groups on Facebook, TradeMe or the local newspaper and garage sales. Seed packets are often less than $5 for years worth of seed, and if you’re prepared to spend some time learning about compost and put some effort in you will usually never need fertiliser or other nutrients for your soil either.

In later posts we will teach you how to setup your garden and how to setup your compost heap or bin.

If you are renting and your landlord is not supportive of you planting out your own garden then there are still options for you. You could start a container garden which we will write about. or you could perhaps even setup a garden at a friends house and share the costs and produce.

There are a few essential things you need to consider before starting your garden.

  • Start small If you lose interest or overestimate the amount of time you have available to tend to your crop you may abandon it. Do not assume you will be able to get into your garden every single day and set realistic goals. If you achieve this in your first year then you can expand and grow bigger in your second year.
  • Only plant the food that you will eat by all means, if you want to try silverbeet and never have before then feel free to ask a friend for a spare seed or 2 but do not plant out 50 plants if they will end up in your compost. Make your planting focus on the foods you will eat.
  • Recognise your weaknesses if there is something you don’t know about ask someone you know who gardens, or look online. I know some amazing gardeners who still find themselves stumped by new diseases on their plants and have to refer back to one of their gardening books for help.
  • Don’t spend money if you don’t need to! If you have a worm farm and plenty of fertiliser then you don’t need the store bought stuff. Likewise, if you are establishing a small 1m x 1m garden for a trial then you absolutely do not need to go out and buy a petrol powered rotary hoe. Remember, we want you to save money, not go broke trying.
  • More than vegetables and of course, remember there is more to gardening than just vegetables. If your family love grapes then go ahead and plant a grape vine, likewise raspberries and strawberries are a good fruit to plant out in your garden. And while some plants do not require pollination a lot do, so it doesn’t hurt having a few flowers nearby to help encourage bees along to help you out.

Some of the plants I have had success growing are as follows.

  • Silverbeet
  • Strawberries
  • Lettuce
  • Cabbage
  • Peas
  • Broccoli
  • Cauliflower

These are not all of them but they are what I found easiest to grow with minimal care. This was in a temperate climate with above average rainfall and some added mulch.

Remember, grow what you eat, and when you have success you will be more motivated to grow more.