Why not grow your own fruit and vegetables this year? As you’ll see from the site, we’re indulging in a little self sufficiency here at Chez Green. We’ve managed to bag plenty of free seeds too, through giveaways such as the BBC DIg In campaign, Toby Carvery plus some freebies in our local paper!

In addition one neighbour gave us some lettuce and broad bean plants in exchange for some tomato and courgette plants. Another neighbour gave us some cabbage and sprout plants in exchange for Mr Green doing some electrical work for him.

Cheap gardening

Gardening doesn’t need to be expensive and it can SAVE you money in the long run. Plus you’ll be able to indulge in a little self sufficiency, which always feels great!

Once you bite into your first home grown crop, you’ll be hooked and planning on expanding your garden next year!

Here are 6 tips to help you garden in credit crunching style.

Make a compost heap

Make a compost heap from old pallets or bag a compost bin on Freecycle for free. They are given away all the time on our local group, so why not try your luck?

Swap seeds

Nearly everyone ends up with too many seeds, so get together with friends and organise a seed swap.

Sell plants

Sow a few extra seeds and sell them at a local table sale or car boot sale. You’ll soon get back everything you have spent out.

Make a cold frame

Make a cold frame from old windows and doors. Again, old windows, doors and sheets of glass are given away all the time on Freecycle.

Make compost

You don’t need a fancy, expensive bin - just a heap in the corner of the garden will do, or make your own compost area from pallets. You’ll never need to buy compost in plastic bags again!

Share crops

If you don’t have green fingered neighbours or friends, why not join Cropswappers?  It’s a new website dedicated to rebuilding simple community sharing.

What about you? what’s your eco friendly, credit crunch gardening tip?

Photo credit: Woman Gardening — Image by © Kate Mitchell/Corbis

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