This is a spin off from the Garden Balance Sheet thread.   https://gardenandgossip.org/showthread.php?tid=2069
I've already said that I'm aiming not to buy any seeds this year and was mocked.   At the end of the year you'll see how strong my will power can be (or not). 

I'm sure most of us aim to be as frugal as possible in the garden so maybe we can share our tips and hints for economising in the garden. 
Apart from tools and structures, like GHs, most money is spent on seeds, plants, compost and feed.

Seeds we can save or swap. Seeds saving Guidance and Seed Swap events at https://gardenandgossip.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=57
Plants we can grow from cuttings or seed and grow, swap or sell. https://gardenandgossip.org/showthread.php?tid=478 https://gardenandgossip.org/showthread.p...t=cuttings
Compost we can make from all sorts of waste materials. https://gardenandgossip.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=75
Feed/fertiliser can also be made from a variety of ingredients. Apart from making comfrey tea and using the runoff from the Hotbin. I haven't explored this area much. I'll have a nosey around G&G for relevant threads. https://gardenandgossip.org/showthread.p...omfrey+tea

I've mentioned elsewhere that I picked up a Aquaponics/Hydroponics set up yesterday. I've found out some more about it. Its a Farm Urban Produce Pod. If you want to build your own here are the instructions. https://farmurbantrust.org.uk/wp-content...cratch.pdf
I won't be putting live fish in mine but it does explain why there were some plastic fish tank plants and lots of sand in the bottom of the one I have. 
I need to read more about this thing as I don't want to use electricity to run a pump. That would limit the places where I could use it.

This little restaurant has a menu that changes daily, on the lines of the Alphabet. You can order a meal each day but all the food has to begin with the appropriate letter. It may be something you would like to eat or something you would definitely not order. Or you can be chef and present your Dish of the Day/ daily menu. 

We'll start tomorrow in the time honoured fashion with the letter A.

Happy Birthday PP. Hope all is well with you and that you have lots of cake, wine and sunshine, in any order that you please. x

Happy New Year all - apologies for the radio silence. Age is creeping up on me and using my phone for all online stuff has been proving difficult. May have to bite the bullet and get something with a bigger screen

Anyway - greenhouse No1. Is already full. No2 I usually plant in the beds and thats it... but I would like to use the space for some more seedlings except the sides are slanted. I had this GH for free years ago. I dont know what make it is. 

Any ideas on shelving solutions for slanted walls? I can use the back apex wall but I usually grow something up that. So would prefer to use the sides. Its 12 long so would give me a lot more shelf space

Its cold so I've been playing with seed packets (again).
I've found a few different types of "Cress" :- Plain, Curled, Fine curled, Curly, Extra Curled, Iranian/Persian, Greek. (Land cress and Water cress too but I'm not counting those this time).
How much difference there is between these, I know not! They all seem to be recommended for growing the same way. Trays on windowsills sort of thing.
BUT what are the adult plants like. What would happen if they were left to grow, flower, seed and so on. How quickly would they re-seed? What do they look like as mature plants? Are they invasive like Bittercress? 

I asked the Duckduck who came up with some interesting info about Persian Cress - as well as being edible its also useful for flower arrangements and can be used fresh or dried. It grows faster than wrinkled cress which is also used in arrangements. https://www.seedaholic.com/lepidium-sati...cress.html
There's a video at https://www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-libr...-v202.html The plants are much bigger and sturdier than I expected!

Does anyone have the answer? It can’t just be the hobbies I’ve chosen to do over the year that have all been expensive! 
Previous hobbies rock (semi precious) collecting, sewing, embroidery, knitting, jewellery making, beading, woodworking. Still do all of them occasionally . 

Disclaimer GARDENING IS NOT A HOBBY! it’s a passion, necessity and good for your health.


I’ve just worked out for my next crochet project I want to make, will cost me £23.08 + P&P for the wool (January sale prices) £ 6.41 for the pattern. 

Don’t even get me started on Bobs hobbies. Wood turning ( longest running hobby), bee keeping (new hobby, money going out the door, not a bee in site!), orchid collection (previous hobby), ferreting (got bored, I had new pets). He’s worse than a bloody child! 
Makes me feel better about my £30 ish crochet project     . 

Anyone else? Or is it just me?

A small plastic widger and dibber plus 4 labels  and a pencil   £8.99  p&p is free though.
https://www.gardenersdream.co.uk/4pcs-pl...-set-p6554

Hope you have a very Happy Birthday Veggie 
Help yourself to a big slice of chocolate birthday cake

   

Please note that Square Yard Gardening (SYG) is very different to Square Foot Gardening (SFG) and Square Metre Gardening (SMG).
SFG means dividing a bed into one foot square sections and growing a different veg in each square. SMG seems to mean much the same thing - divide a metre square bed into 9 and grow a different veg in each square. Both too fiddly for my little brain. 

As you know, I struggle to grow anything in rows, probably because the rows are too long and they start wandering off course (much like me). Today, playing about in the garden, I weeded a patch at the end of a long bed, a patch that was approximately a square yard. I could reach into the middle from both sides and it seemed manageable. My little plan is to divide the beds into yard wide strips and subdivide these into yard long mini beds (bits of cane will do). 

In each SYG,  I could sow 3 rows of the same veg - say, carrots, but sow them successionally, maybe at monthly intervals.  Three x 3' rows = a 9' row in a big bed. When the first row is harvested, sow more in its place. There'd be room for intercropping between the rows, maybe spring onions or lettuce. At the end of the season, this carrot bed would move to another SYG for rotation. 

The more  I think about it, the more I like it! It may actually be a plan I can stick with. Its more orderly than I'm used to but still interesting enough that I wouldn't get bored. 

What do you think? Does anyone do this or similar?