10 FREE Garden HACKS Using Household Items, You Can't Afford to Miss This! 

I've been using yogurt containers with holes in bottom for years.

Leaning into your carpenters paper… I save packing paper when I get Amazon packages, roll them up and use them for the same purpose. Love your vids!

If you're going to be picking the flowers off your squash plants to hand pollinate, be sure to save the flowers for eating. They're pretty good fried.

Save all toilet paper and paper towel rolls when done they can be used for seed starting as well. Cut paper towel rolls into 1/3 they should be roughly the same size as toilet paper rolls. Cut four 1 inch slits on 1 end on 4 sides then fold them in and fill with potting soil and the seeds, you can plant the whole thing in the ground when ready and it will naturally break down.

I’m a quilter and I use my leftover skinny stripa to tie up plants. Easy enough n the stens and prwtty!

I dry banana skins then grind them and add to tomatoes when transplanting.

Rather than using a q-tip for hand pollinating , I use a cheap watercolor- set paintbrush after it gets frayed by being used to clean the hard -to-reach innards of my electric toaster . Happy belated Birthday to Tuck!🎉❤😊

Fish. I always go grab a few bluegill or other panfish and put them in the hole where my tomato will go. Cover them in the powdered eggs shells, an inch and a half of soil, then plant that mater. We pick them from the second floor every year.

Great tips, thank you! I put crushed egg shells at the base of my plants where I tend to get slugs. They don’t like slithering over the sharp edges, so my plants stay protected.

I’ve been hand pollinating my squash just to be safe. There’s already at least 6 giant squash growing. I’m growing a Tahitian melon squash. It’s taking over half of my garden and I love it!

I've been doing almost all of these things for years. We repurpose just about everything for use in the garden, rather than throwing it away. As such, we produce very little household garbage. A few more examples of materials you can repurpose for planting: * The polystyrene trays that come with meat or fish make for good drainage trays for seedlings. So do large aluminum food service trays, if you know someone who is throwing them out. * Toilet paper tubes and similar cardboard items, as well as cardboard egg cartons, can be turned into biodegradable planters. This lets you avoid pulling apart roots when transplanting your seedlings. * Laundry detergent jugs can be converted into watering cans if you drill a lot of small holes in the cap and a large hole in the handle to let air back in. * Plastic yogurt cups, and any kind of disposable plastic or polystyrene cup, can be used for the same purpose as plastic drinking cups. * The clear plastic lids that come with store bought pastries make for good humidity domes. So do any other clear plastic trays or lids. * Disposable plastic utensils make for good plant labels. * Old window screens, if you know someone who is throwing them away, are good for covering newly planted soil so pests don't disturb it. * Old tires are among the best raised bed material I've found. Just stack them up and fill them like you would a raised bed. I got a whole bunch from our mechanic. They're pretty impact resistant too.

This year I 3D printed my seed starting pots. All are reusable. We saved our clear plastic salad boxes all winter 6"w. X 12"l. and 5"d. to become mini greenhouses. They are easy to pop open in the morning and the tops don't blow away because they're hinged.

I live in the damp Pacific Northwest where slugs and snails are a huge problem. The absolute best remedy I've found is those copper coils you buy for scrubbing metal pots. You can get 3 for a dollar at a dollar store. They unravel like nylons and I cut circles from that and wrap them around the base of the plant like a collar. Slugs/snails won't cross copper because it creates a shock reaction with their slime. If you're curious as to what we face here, look up banana slug....! And happy belated birthday to Tuck!

Happy late birthday baby boy hope your doing better 😘

I use pull-off can lids as hanging plant tags and bread bag tags to identify seedlings. I just write the varieties with a sharpie.

That little Tuck is Adorable. Your so good to him. Dirty nose means he buried something for future eating ❤❤❤ If its plant stuff.... He is helping you to Naturallly Compost.

If you are in an area prone to drought, you can use the cardboard center of finished toilet rolls. Simply plant them into the ground next to the rootball of what you're planting, then when the drought comes water directly into the hole so it soaks in deep underground and doesn't just wet the top half inch of hydrophobic soil.

hi there, im in australia, i have seen a few of your vids. u have so many great ideas. love it.. and naww happy bday tuck, hes lovely. im so jelly of your garden. i dont have a great deal of success. bit here bit there.. this summer was almost none existent., silly weather changes. thanks for the vid and infos. :)

That introduction energy is 10/10 everytime! 🫡

I've been watching your videos since last growing season and man, I learn so much from you, THANKYOU! You are the reason why I got into gardening!

Excellent video. I'd like to offer that you use cardboard rolls instead of plastic cups and bottles, just put them together in a tray or shallow box, or even just tied with a piece of string to keep them upright, fill them with soil, and you get a seed starter tray with individual cells that can be transplanted straight into the ground without removing the plant, disturbing the roots, or polluting the ground with microplastics. Thanks for sharing your gardening experience (and enthusiasm:) with the rest of us.

Last year we started using gallon milk jugs with a couple holes in the bottom to slow release water for plants. An alternative to drip irrigation that we can't afford just yet. Perfect for our hot dry summer. Doesn't look too good but hey the plants loved them.❤

I also use coffee cans or plastic jugs to keep rabbits away from young tender plants

For calcium you can also use powered milk

We grow some of our squashes on a trellis and use our kids' old clothes to tie up the fruit when they start to get big. We use paper egg cartons to sprout potatoes. Have used shower curtains to put over plants before cold temps.

I keep finding uses for jute garden string and wire. We save our takeaway cups from our occasional coffee shop visits, rinse them out and let them dry to use for up potting little seedlings. I also like using strips of old t-shirts for tying up raspberry canes and tomato plants. Thanks for all your videos!

I've been saving my salad containers from work, along with the containers that have had little tomatoes in them, fresh mushrooms etc. I wash them, put holes in them and I've planted microgreens in them. I've also used McDonald's cups from when I had worked there. So far, they're working really well. Oh, I've also used the tins and plastic covers for planting things in too, along with veggie and fruit cans.

Another great video. A tip I've been using for years is banana peels in a jar of water, soak for a day & use it to water your plants. I also save the water when I cook vegetables to water plants also (no salt)

I've got a better free tip for pollinating by hand. Lots of grasses have tons of tiny hairs on their stems that mimic the hairs on a bee, it works great to use them as pollinator swabs and are conveniently located close to your garden.

I love using household items to help with my gardening! So jealous of your million tomato plants! Thanks James!

Some saving tips I am using/re-using to save money and environment: 1. Small containers from berries, mushrooms, and tomatoes to germinate herbs and lettuce before picking them into the individual cells. 2. Taller containers from kiwi to germinate and grow my onion seedlings. 3. Large clear plastic containers with lids (especially ones from Costco) to grow microgreens. 4. Plastic bottles with sturdier walls use as a watering can - much easier to navigate around the plant and much softer spray especially for young seedlings. 5. Smaller plastic bottles to water my plants when I am away. 6. Old sheets, stockings, and other fabric to cut the strips to tie my plants. 7. Used plastic utensils (especially spoons and forks) for plant labels. 8. Throughout the year collect plastic containers from sour cream, ice cream, cottage cheese, etc. for transplants. They are very sturdy, and you can use them for many years. Of course, you must make some holes in them. 9. Also use the milk containers to start and grow my onion seedlings.

To keep birds/squirrels from digging and eating my peas and newly planted containers I save those red plastic mesh produce bags onions and oranges come in, to cut open and stretch across the top as bird netting. I also save any old oven shelves to attach the netting to. You can recycle old curtain sheers and use as row covers or again use as bird netting.

I take old mini blinds and cut them up for plant markers. Just as a hint, use a sharpie and a pencil to mark them. The sharpie can easily be seen, but may fade, the pencil is in case that happens. One blind can provide a ton of markers, which is great if you are giving starts away.

For my 5 gallon buckets, I use gatorade bottles instead of water bottles for the water reservoir. The water bottles tend to crush down easy where the harder bottles do not, so the water stays constant. You can get them free at just about any tennis court trash can---check subdivision courts after weekend matches.

Great content!! I use clear plastic bins inverted for taller plants as a mini greenhouse, carboard for weed bloc , shredded cardboard and paper for mulch and own Vitamix food cycler that makes hot "compost" (yea had to spend money on the foodcycler but now all of my kitchen scarps are converted for "free and quickly", garden stuff goes in my outdoor composter) EDITED to add a few more-- I use the water from boiling eggs (let it cool) and from my salad rinser/spinner to water my flowers as there is some great residual nutrients in the water, I use the metal frames from political signs as my supports for shade cloth,

Awwww, Tuck.❤

I’ve used #10 cans in the garden for decades. I cut both ends off and push into the ground about 2” when planting my tomatoes and peppers. Plant them first. This helps keep the high wind from harming them and when watering it puts the water to the roots and not to the weed seeds next to them in the ground. You can put mulch into the can and keep plants cooler. I cannot use drip lines and have to use a watering can or hose. So this method means less watering of weeds and gets right to roots!

Great garden tips. Tucker is adorable. I love my red solo cups :) My favourite of yours is directing the branches on your fruit trees - love it!

Happy BirthdayTuck!!!!

Quart yogurt containers are a great size if you need to move eggplant or tomatoes etc. up from 4" pots. The containers and lids also make great plant tags, just cut strips with regular scissors and write on them with a Garden Marker. I put the quart containers into sterilite totes so I can carry them in and out of the house to protect from cool snaps or to harden them off.

Ever considered keeping a couple of honey bee hives to help with pollination?

One of the best recycled products I use are large cans you can get from cafeterias or restaurants. Cut off both ends and place those around your young plants. They protect them and water stays in it after you water them. Early in the season, I put a milk jug like you do over it. Fits perfectly and it is easy to slip on and off. It also makes good markers if you have small seedlings that you dont want to step on. I amalways forgetting where I plant things snd this has helped so much!

I use the solo cups for starting tomatoes as well. I fill them initially 1/2 way up & then after the plant has its first true leaves, fill the rest of the way with soil. Roots will grow on the buried stem & it will be a stronger plant.

Always such wonderful advice! The only thing I think it needed was to add that when you lay down cardboard and wood chips, you should wet down your cardboard thoroughly just before the wood chips go on.

Happy Birthday Tuck!!💗🐾🥳

Happy belated birthday, Tuck! Glad you’re feeling ok 😘🐶🥕

This year I started using a grocery store sheet cake container (rectangular black plastic base with clear dome on top) as a mini-greenhouse for starting seedlings. It actually works better than the one that came with the seedling kit I bought. Good info on the dying squash not getting pollinated. I have several volunteer pumpkins that popped up this year and wondered why the fruits kept turning yellow and dying. Now I'll keep an eye out for male versus female flowers.

Happy Belated birthday Tuck!

Egg shells not too finely crushed, spread around your plants, will also deter slugs. Toilet roll centres make good planters to start your seeds, then you can transfer them straight into the ground.

I'm restricted to growing tomatoes in large pots in a sunny area. BER has been a problem until the past few seasons. I found that powdered lime cures all the BER problems. I add lime to prep the pots and then mix a "slurry" of lime and water and plant the tomatoes with extra lime in the hole. Once a week I add some lime water when watering. It's been a few years now w/o BER.

I have to let you know that I love your RU-vid channel. I am all the way in Barbados but find your info extremely helpful. My husband laughs because sometimes I’ll just watch your introduction to cheer myself up. I love when people love what they do. Lots of love to you and Tuck. “Let’s Go”

I LOVE that you got straight to the point and was talking fast, not wasting no my time

Cleaned out used yogurt containers make great temporary planters for tomatoes and peppers, too! And I hear you can use gallon milk jugs for winter sowing. I plan on trying that out next year!

Wooden popsicle sticks as plant markers. Throw them in compost end of season.

Dziękujemy.

Old curtain blinds as a label for plants

Your tips are pro and definitely everything Mike McGrath agrees with.

I have been wintersowing in milk jugs the past couple of years. It’s a great way to reuse the jugs! Can also use 2-liters and gallon tea jugs. Start as soon as winter hits ❤

I love your enthusiasm!

Pex tubing from the plumbing section and Home Depot or Lowe’s works great form making insect barriers. It is mendable and can be contorted to making a great barrier or even a greenhouse. I appreciate all you share. You have really helped me learn. Happy belated birthday, Tuck! ❤

It makes me happy to know my intuition lead me to do some of these on my own! Thanks for the tips James!

I wish I would have come across your video’s before I planted my garden! You share so much information in a easy to understand way. I’m soooo new at growing vegetables that I don’t even recognize what I planted unless I put a marker by it. I need to get a notebook and look up all your videos to make notes. At least next year I’ll start out right!

First ❤ love what u do so I started a food forest too ❤

I use the carboard roll from toilet rolls as potting pots no need to transplant when ready just pot the whole thing out and you dont disturb the roots and the roll breaks down

Your channel and videos are so amazing and inspiring. I love Tuck (the boss, el heffe) and your energy and enthusiasm. What a huge influence on the world and on my personally. I'm gardening more because of you and Tuck. Thank you.

Recycle thing - If you're a meat eater, and depending on your grocery store, the plastic trays (not styrofoam) for meat products are also great. They're not super deep but for micro-greens and other plants that don't need a ton of root-depth they work awesome. Sterilize first of course. Great vid!

Aww I missed saying happy birthday to Tucky. Happy belated sweet pup!

I like using strips of aluminum cans as collars to keep cutworms from my tomato seedlings. Then I save them for next year. Happy belated birthday to Tuck!

Hi James & Tuck I use clear plastic containers from, Strawberries, Larger Tomatoes and Frozen dinner trays to start seeds.

Wowza, I love your line-up of seedlings ! Awesome green house and seedlings within. I planted my Tomatoes out last month as well as Zucchini , flowers including lots of Sunflowers. We are battling slugs and snails , flea-beetles on the eggplants and gophers . The weather is finally going to be Spring-like as it has been yo-yoing from optimal conditions to wind and rain. Happy belated birthday Tuck ! My dog Jack enjoys all the garden goodies that Tuck enjoys. To my surprise, he loves dinosaur Kale, curly Kale and snap peas. Happy growing time !!

I save all my campari tomato or strawberry plastic containers. We have a lot of squirrels and raccoons that love our peaches and other fruit trees. I clamp them around each fruit stem and duct tape them They do snap closed but as an extra precaution I add duct tape around the container. They have holes in them so the fruit can still breathe. It looks like i am growing plastic containers rather than peaches. I also use the crepe paper around the stem of the tree and add tanglefoot to it. Between the containers and the tanglefoot i get to keep all my peaches. Thanks for all you and Tuck do. I have enjoyed watching your videos for a very long time. Ellen Florida Gardenet Zone 9a

I use fish water even when I don’t have a tank I will mix sardines in water and put that in my plants or in the ground depending on planting stage. I have used the fish oil capsules on really poor dirt. As calcium sub I’ve gotten shells from my local water source and pounded them to put on the ground. A friend uses a whole egg planted at the roots of her plants. There are many things here are just a few.

Great ideas, thank you! I use cardboard egg cartons for seed starting. They don't need holes in the bottom because the paper slowly leaches out moisture.. I slip them into a lightweight plastic film bag from the produce department of a local grocery store, the free bags provided to customers to put veggies in for purchase. Also, the square containers from produce departments which have mushrooms in them. Just the right size for starting seeds. Need holes in the bottom unless using then as trays to catch water from pots inserted inside.

Great tips and thank you for the info. Nice garden and tuck is such a cutie

First again. Hi. Hard to miss when you’re already watching your harvest video when you post 😂😂😂

I use the plastic trays that hold my frozen pierogis as trays for my seedling pots

Those male squash flowers are so yummy when they have been dipped in batter and deep fried. You don't do this with the female flowers, for obvious reasons (no fertilized female flowers left on the plant = no fruit,) but when you've done all of your hand-pollinating, you can put those male flowers to good use.

The best part about your channel is that you are happy and sharing good information. You are a wonderful .................... (fill in the blank).

James, you are my favorite gardener! Here are some household items i used in my garden: I use chopsticks to make small holes when sowing seeds. I use a meat thermometer to check the temp of my compost pile. I cut up plastic containers to use as plant ID tags.

😅great info... love seeing Tuck out getting in on the action!

Love being resourceful in the garden with household items! Thank you James! 💕💚🍅

I have always used crushed egg shells in the hole before i put my tomatoes in and always have a huge harvest till late fall, but this year I’m going to make a calcium spray which is 1 part egg shells to 10 parts white vinegar let set for a few days till all bubbling stops. I’ll let you know if I see a difference good or bad. I hope your 2023 garden is abundant and tucker has more delicious carrots then he can eat !!! I have a terrier who could be tuckers cousin he’s name is Harley he loves being in the garden with me but he doesn’t like carrots but he loves cucumbers. Much love to you and Tucker from zone 5B 👍🌱🫶🏼

I live in a cold climate and put all my food waste in a pile in the snow all winter. When the spring comes I pull out all the re-used bags from the food I've used to collect the cuttings of vegetables and fruits and let the animals dig through it all winter. Then in the spring I clean it up and put it in a compost... and eventually when it breaks down put it under my bushes and trees in the spring.

Nobody is cooler than Tuck!

Save that brown shipping paper that comes in the Amazon boxes! I use it to line the bottom of my containers. The water drains right through it, but prevents the soil from eroding out through the drainage holes.

Have been using water jugs for the last few years. I also fill water jugs with water and freeze them. Then when the temperature is high, take the frozen jugs and turn upset down next to plants that could use the water. I have a well.

I use the solo cups but the way you cut the drainage holes is something I have to try. I've been heating up a long nail and poking it through a stack but I liked how that worked.

Useful info. Thanks.

Your energy and enthusiasm remind me of my son (also named James). Love you channel and your little gardening buddy. I had to fence my garden off from my fur babies as they are compulsive diggers.

Reused our gallon water jugs for mini greenhouses when the temps kept swinging earlier this Spring, and I use a fine tip paint brush from Dollar Tree for pollinating. 😊

Clear sushi boxes as a little greenhouse to start invisibly tiny seeds like oregano. If the bottom is clear too, you can see when roots are forming and it's time to slide the whole thing out and plant. Love you, James!

Use the deep clear plastic bottoms of berry containers as little mini greenhouse lids for seed starting (strawberry ones are particularly deep). They even have small holes for a bit of aeration. Use the shallower tops as trays for mass seed starting that you can then prick out into larger cells. Also, cut up old t-shirts (or t-shirt string!) as plant ties. Very soft and stretchy, but strong!

Using solo cups, I double them up. The cup with the holes is used for the seedling, and the second cup has no holes. It enables me to water from the bottom, or catches excess water when watered from the top.

Banana peels. I cut them up then put it in a plastic container, fill with water then cover with lid. Use a strainer when pouring the liquid in to a watering can. No diluting needed.

I have been using those big cheese ball containers as cloches for years. I drill holes in the bottoms for ventilation and turn them upside down over the plant. I put a brick on top to keep the wind from blowing it over.

Cardboard Paper towel rolls and old news papers can be made into seed starting pots and the can be planted directly into the ground 👍🏼

Tuck should get a gardening is life collar 🙂🙂🙂 guy does his gardening every day without fail lol greetings from Uganda 🇺🇬

I didn't know about the clothes pin hack! It's going to be so useful as I get more young fruit trees! The milk jug usage is something I learned about last fall for winter sowing. It works very well in my PNW 8b zone! Great tips all!

Freebies and reusing stuff is wonderful! We have a coffee roasting company near us and they're more than happy to give us burlap sacks from the raw beans as they have to dump them anyway. They're excellent for under mulch!

Great tips James! Love little Tuck❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️Have a great day!🌸🌼🌸🌼🌸🌼🌸🌼Happy Belated Birthday Tuckey ❤️❤️❤️