Save Money by Growing your Own Veggies

With prices rising on almost everything that we buy these days, people are looking for ways to save some money wherever they can.

An old fashion idea that seems to be regaining popularity is growing your own vegetables.  With a Lettuce over $5 these days growing your own might just be the solution.

With winter starting this week and cold temperatures and short days, growth in the garden can be a little slow but with the winter solstice at the end of the month, days are already starting to get longer. This is a reminder that spring isn’t really that far away!

Another positive is physical labour is also a lot more pleasant in this weather than the summer months. Things to think about:

• preparation of new garden beds or soil improvement
• repot patio plants, if necessary
• transplant established shrubs
• consult an arborist about questionable trees, have dangerous ones removed or pruned
• maintenance of lawnmower and other Garden Tools. Keeping mower blades sharp will avoid the tearing and shredding of grass leaf blades that can increase the chances of disease entry and increase water loss.
• installation, repair or cleaning of paving, retaining walls, water features, gazebos etc, or hire a landscaper to do it.

After you have done the preparation work what vegetables can you plant at this time of year?

Many veggies are happy growing in the cool conditions of the SEQ winter, but if you didn’t get plants started off in autumn, you might find that seed germination will be poor in the coldest months. If you have spaces left to fill, try starting seed off in pots and trays in a warmer pot such as a patio or indoors, (provided they aren’t starved of light after emergence), or save time with some seedlings from the garden centre. The exception is those that are normally sown direct, like beans and peas.

• broad beans peas
• lettuce
• English spinach
• silverbeet
• beetroot
• carrots
• onions
• garlic
• cabbages
• broccoli

In frost free areas, also

• regular beans
• tomatoes
• capsicums
• eggplants
• zucchini
• squash
• cucumber.

Meanwhile, vegetables sown in autumn should be coming along. Keep up the water if there is no rain (winter is traditionally our dry time) and apply regular supplemental feeding with liquid fertilisers.

Strawberries will be starting to fruit. Mulch around the plants with a loose dry mulch like sugar cane to keep fruit clean and dry off the ground. Chicken wire or vegetable garden nets might also be necessary to keep the local wildlife from getting to your fruit before you do.

So with the rain gone for a while, this weekend will be a good time to head down to Bunnings our your local garden centre, and then out into the garden.  You will get some fresh air, some exercise, and maybe save a few dollars off your shopping bill in the future.