Getting kids into the garden is easy. Keeping them interested is the hard part. Here are the kids gardening activities and projects that actually worked in our house, without spending much money.
Kids gardening tools don’t have to be expensive. Shawn shares budget thrift store finds, free DIY swaps, and what he’s learned from years of getting his daughters into the garden without spending much.
My water bill last August was genuinely embarrassing. Turns out a few simple, cheap techniques can keep a vegetable garden alive all summer without hand-watering twice a day or crying at your utility bill.
Watering every single day gets old fast. These drought tolerant vegetables are built to handle dry summers with minimal fuss, and a few cheap tricks will stretch whatever water you do have a lot further.
That leaky old garden hose you were about to throw away might be your best irrigation tool yet. Here’s how to turn it into a cheap DIY drip system for under ten dollars, including a hose timer setup, hole spacing tips, and why it beats overhead watering for disease prevention.
Every June, hardneck garlic sends up curly green flower stalks called scapes. Cut them off and your bulbs get bigger. Eat them and you get free garlic flavor all week. Here’s when to cut, what to look for, and the cheapest ways to use every last one.
Got a balcony, deck, or porch with a few square feet of flat space? That’s all you need for a cheap tabletop garden growing herbs and greens all summer. Here’s how to build one for next to nothing.
You don’t need raised beds or a big yard to grow real food. A mini vegetable garden in a single container on a tight budget is completely doable, and June is a great time to start. Here’s how to do it without overcomplicating it.
Tomato suckers are usually something you snap off and toss. Turns out they’re also free, ready-to-root plants. Here’s how to root them in water or damp potting mix and get fruit before fall.
Free organic mulch is closer than you think. From arborist wood chip drops to coffee grounds from your local cafe, here’s where to find it, how thick to apply each type, and what that saves you versus buying bags.
Squash bugs, cucumber beetles, and squash vine borers can wreck your cucurbits fast if you’re not watching for them. Here’s a frugal field guide to stopping them with hand-picking, duct tape egg removal, stem collars, row cover, and a yellow bowl trap, starting now in June.
Ollas are ancient buried clay pot irrigators that slowly seep water into the root zone, and you can build one for under $7. Here’s how to glue two terracotta pots together, bury them in your summer beds, and keep tomatoes, peppers, and squash happy through a Redmond July without running a hose twice a day.