Every year my mom and I work together to plant, tend, and harvest from a 300 sq ft garden at her house. She always had four big garden beds when I was growing up. I definitely gleaned this tip from her. Growing your own food is one of the better ways to save on food. Seeds are relatively cheap if you can get a good crop from them. Sometimes you will fail too and that is ok as long as you learn from it of the next year.
You don’t need to start with a great big garden either. Even if it’s just a few pots on a patio. Find where you have sun and start with a couple of tomatoes or lettuce. Or a grow light indoors with a couple pots of herbs or greens. Every little bit helps. If you have space for a big garden go for it but don’t feel like you have to do it all at once either and try to plant every possible thing.
Take time to learn. I was lucky enough to have a mom who loved gardening and my first job was at a greenhouse where I stayed for eight years. We keep a garden notebook going back probably almost 20 seasons now. It shows a plan of what we put and where, where we ordered from, what seeds we planted, how things grew, what amendments we added, soil test, etc. Basically it has everything. We companion plant and have a bed rotation each year as well. If you don’t know anything about gardening start with YouTube, Facebook groups in your area, follow basically anyone on any social media platform that gardens (try to stick with those in your zone though), and of course BOOKS!! Go to the library and check out garden books. Rodale has some great gardening books. We’ve used the same one published in the 70s for years. I honestly can’t remember the title but its a green hardcover so we just call it the green gardening book.
I could absolutely do a way longer post about varying garden advice but that’s probably another series unto itself. Bonus to all the gardening-it’s great physical activity and rewarding knowing the food you eat was grown by you as well.
~The Crunchy Cheapskate