Author Topic: The economy and gardening  (Read 6602 times)

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Offline barleychown

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The economy and gardening
« on: Dec 15, 2008, 03:25:52 PM »
Has the economy changed the way you garden? Are you spending less or starting more from seed?


I am starting more from seed, and planting more edibles here. I plan to increase the amount of edibles each year, but I will always have blooms, too.  :grinnnn:
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Offline Tina

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #1 on: Dec 15, 2008, 05:30:51 PM »
Due to personal economy and weather, I really haven't gardened in the last couple of years. Just struggled to keep the bare bones alive out there with varying amounts of successes and failures. When my life settles down a bit, I want to try more edibles  if I can protect them from the squirrels that really appreciate them too. I need to take out some trees to do that because I just don't get enough sunlight here. And if I plant outside the tree zone I can't protect them from the critters.
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Offline Tonya

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #2 on: Dec 15, 2008, 05:36:00 PM »
Definitely planting more from seed and more edibles here. Flowers have fallen by the wayside until things look up.

Offline duh

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #3 on: Dec 16, 2008, 06:03:05 AM »
Since I just started gardening a few years ago I'm still evolving.  But I think the economy has had an affect on my plans.

This comming year is all about the veggie garden.  I've been laying down cardboard and leaf mulch so that it will be in pretty good shape for this spring.  I've already started egyptian walking onions out there and I'll be adding the radishes next.  Then will come the spring planting.  I also received my Awesome auger for the garden.  I really plan on giving that thing a work out. 

My neighbor says that digging a planting hole in the clay and amending just that is better than tilling up the area when you have a slope like mine.  So that's the plan.  I get so excited just thinking about planting. 

Offline Penny

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #4 on: Dec 26, 2008, 09:15:31 PM »
I want to do lots of tomatos and peppers, in fact the majority of my garden will be peppers and tomatos.

Offline bestofour

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #5 on: Dec 26, 2008, 10:51:10 PM »
I have tons of leaves so I've tried using them a few years to keep the weeds down over the winter but when I pull them back there has been some type of terrible ground cover weed stuff that I have to pull up. This year I may put down some cardboard.

Offline Dianna

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #6 on: Dec 26, 2008, 11:04:36 PM »
Cardboard works really well, Sheri. I use it in my flowerbeds and have noticed that the weeds that manage to come up are a whole lot easier to pull. :grinnnn: It decomposes fast, too. Try putting your leaves on top of the cardboard as mulch, then don't pull it back. Plant through it... :wink5:

I have been planting more from seeds but I don't have good luck on starting them in the house. I do better putting them straight in the ground outside or in baskets when it warms up. We do a veggie garden, too, that saves us money on produce. Sure tastes a lot better, too... :542:



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Offline bestofour

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #7 on: Dec 27, 2008, 12:08:01 AM »
Dianna, one year I started seeds indoors and it just about killed me getting them replanted outside.  That takes soooooo much time.  I found in our warm climate it works just as well for us to direct sow.

I'm gonna try your cardboard under the leaves and see what happens.  I've been told that it's oat grass that comes up around here no matter what I do.  It eventually burns itself out but it's hard to plant around without pulling it up.

Offline duh

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #8 on: Dec 27, 2008, 06:45:49 AM »
I definitely agree that tomatoes and peppers are on the list to plant.  I also want yellow and red onions and potatoes.  Those will need a half box to grow in so that I can pile loose soil and straw on top of them.  They would never grow in my clay, even with the awesome auger.  So I'm not sure they will get done this year.  I'll just do as I can.

Offline bestofour

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #9 on: Dec 27, 2008, 06:52:39 PM »
Tammy, potatoes grow in my red clay pretty well.  I just tiller it up and make the hills so the dirt doesn't pack down again.  With your tenacity I'll bet you'll have lots of potatoes whenever you want.

Offline landofoz

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #10 on: Dec 27, 2008, 09:21:00 PM »
I'm growing about what I normally grow.  KS really hasn't seen much, yet, by way of economic distress.  Besides, I only spend $35 a week on groceries, so growing anything makes a nice impact on the budget.

Offline Penny

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #11 on: Dec 27, 2008, 09:47:18 PM »
Thats good to hear Sarah that Kansas is doing ok, we are doing pretty good up here as well, and thankfully the line of work that Brad does, hasnt been affected.....thankfully!!

Offline Triss

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #12 on: Dec 27, 2008, 10:13:38 PM »
Sarah, it amazes me that even with a family of 4 you manage to shop for groceries for only $35 a week.

We are all under the same stars, therefore we are never far apart.

Offline duh

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #13 on: Dec 28, 2008, 07:54:31 AM »
I spend more than that for just one person.  I'd like to know how you manage it. 

Offline bestofour

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #14 on: Dec 28, 2008, 02:50:34 PM »
She must clip a lot of coupons.

Offline Tonya

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #15 on: Dec 28, 2008, 02:58:56 PM »
Coupons, and she makes a lot of things from scratch. That's always cheaper. $35 is way cheap, tho! We usually spend about $50-$60 a week for our 4. No coupons unless it is a really good one. I buy store brand everything. cereal(when I buy it), veggies, cleaning supplies(except my dish soap....must have DAWN It kills fleas on the dogs :ThumbUp: ), laundry soap, everything. We actually like the WalMart brand cheese better than Kraft.


Offline bestofour

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #16 on: Dec 28, 2008, 08:09:42 PM »
I don't buy store brand.  I buy Tide and Hefty trash bags, dove soap.  It's what I've always used.  My oldest daughter just changed detergent from Tide and now her daughter is itching all over and she's narrowed it down to that change.  I hardly buy groceries though.  We don't eat at home a lot. 

$35.00 is great shopping though.  Shows what can be done with effort.

Offline landofoz

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #17 on: Dec 28, 2008, 11:40:44 PM »
Just so I'm not hijacking Sarah's thread, I posted my reply in it's own topic right here.

Offline duh

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #18 on: Dec 30, 2008, 08:31:32 AM »
I was amazed at the local food lion.  They now sell big baking potatoes by the bag at a cost of 7.95 each.  It's a 5 pound bag but still.  So you can bet that the regular bags of potatoes don't have any good sized potatoes in them.  And they are still 4.95 for a 3 pound bag.  And canned veggies have doubled in the last year going from 1 to 2 dollars a can. 

So if I can freeze or can it, it is going in the garden.  I have to reduce costs. 

Offline bestofour

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #19 on: Dec 30, 2008, 10:15:50 AM »
duh, if you have a Harris-Teeter or somewhere you can get your produce you come out better.  At least I do.  I don't need a 5 lb bag of potatoes, especially baking potatoes, so I go to where I   can buy them separately.  It seems like it would cost more but in the end it's less.  I buy my fruit that way too.

Offline Penny

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #20 on: Dec 30, 2008, 11:52:12 AM »
I wish that i could spend that much on groceries, i shop every 2 weeks and spend around 400.00 every time  :shock: :shock:, alot of our cost is fresh fruits and veggies  :ThumbUp: and chicken....i must spend over 100.00 each time just on chicken alone  :shock:, and the cost of the fruit and veggies comes in at around 100.00 each time too  :cringe:, the other 200.00 is made up of the other things that we need, such as other meat, like pork, no one really eats beef, other then hamburger meat, in casseroles, and thats 4.00 per package here........once the girls are gone, then i know our bill will be slashed, but for the time being, thats what it is.,
« Last Edit: Dec 30, 2008, 11:56:03 AM by penny »

Offline Penny

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #21 on: Dec 30, 2008, 12:00:05 PM »
Thats the other thing i do too, is everytime i shop, there are always good deals.......so i am stocking up on that stuff too, especially when its meat!!

Offline duh

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #22 on: Dec 30, 2008, 03:40:31 PM »
There isn't a Harris-Teeter in the area that I know of.  There are a number of farmers markets but they are more expensive than the grocery store and I can't afford to go there hoping that I can get a deal if the gas goes up 300% come harvest time.  That was crazy last year. 

Offline Tina

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #23 on: Dec 30, 2008, 04:13:24 PM »
I was amazed at the local food lion.  They now sell big baking potatoes by the bag at a cost of 7.95 each.  It's a 5 pound bag but still.  So you can bet that the regular bags of potatoes don't have any good sized potatoes in them.  And they are still 4.95 for a 3 pound bag.  And canned veggies have doubled in the last year going from 1 to 2 dollars a can. 

So if I can freeze or can it, it is going in the garden.  I have to reduce costs. 
Those are outrageous prices. I can still get a 10# bag of potatoes for under $4 and canned veggies for under $1. That would be available at most of our larger chain groceries.  And I have watched the prices rise with the gas prices as well.
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Offline Triss

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Re: The economy and gardening
« Reply #24 on: Dec 30, 2008, 04:47:26 PM »
I also get a $10 lb bag of potatoes for $3 at WM.  We probably go through 3-4 of those a month.  We all love potatoes.  We also get the HUGE bag of rice, I think 10 lbs, and keep in the freezer.  The last one I bought was the middle of November and we still have some left.  We probably have rice 3 times a week.

We are all under the same stars, therefore we are never far apart.

 

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