Easy and Low Cost Gardening

I was talking to a friend about home gardening and she was very frustrated that she spent so much money on soil, fertilizer, pesticide and pots last year but she only was able to harvest 6 tomatoes. 

Gardening does not need to be expensive. I compost all year long and use it to amend soil in my vegetable garden. I do not even have a real compost bin. I use the big trash can that has been sitting inside our garage for years. I poked holes around it and I roll it on the ground once a week.

My improvised compost bin.

I also save used ground coffee and eggshells. I crush the eggshells into small pieces and mix it with ground coffee. I then put it around the base of the vegetables. It protects my vegetables from the slugs and provides the nutrients that they need.

Ground coffee and eggshells are good for your garden.

Lastly, I practice companion planting. I personally do not like using pesticide in my garden. I strategically place my vegetables where each kind can benefit from the other. An example, I plant tomatoes with garlic, marigold, and nusturtium. Garlic repels spider mites, marigold repels nematodes, and nasturtium deters aphids, whiteflies and squash bugs. I let my vegetables help and protect each other.

I never had to buy fertilizer or use pesticide. All I do is water my plants regularly and wait for the harvest. 

My husband said I give to much caffeine to my plants and that is why they are hyperactive that they could not stop producing. 

Too much caffeine? This is a photo from last year when my kabocha squash took over the backyard.

From carnivores to...wait, what?

Kale became a vital part of our everyday diet.

During the flu season in 2012, my husband and I caught the virus. We got hit so bad I thought we were going to die. Even when we recovered from it, it took us a few months before we totally gained our strength back.

That experience made us reconsider our eating habits. We both love meat. We can eat steak everyday. When we were newlyweds, we ate steak almost everyday until we got so sick of it.

My husband hardly ate vegetables. I do like vegetables but I like meat better. We were a family of carnivores until my husband's primary doctor persuaded him to eat more vegetables and less meat if not at all.

It was hard in the beginning. My husband does not like cooked vegetables and munching on carrots and celery can get boring. 

One morning, my husband suggested, maybe if we would make a smoothie out of different vegetables, we will be able to eat it.

It took a few experiments before we finally perfected the right combination. It is a mixture of banana, blueberries, tomatoes, carrots, celery, kale, spinach, cucumber, chia seeds and flax seeds. I know, it does not sound appetizing but believe me, it is good and it works. We eat it everyday for breakfast.

Another flu season had passed and thougn we were always surrounded by sick people, we did not get sick at all. We even stopped buying and taking vitamins and other supplements. We get all the nutrients we need from fresh vegetables and fruits.

Eating healthy can save you money in the long run. You will not be spending it on doctors, medications and hospitals.