Loooveeed this video Miko! I would definitely be interested if you ever decided to sell the gardening sheets as a pdf. So excited to see how your garden goes
I'm new to gardening too. A few things I wanted to share- Tractor Supply sells cattle panels (48-54 inches tall x 16 feet long) for around $25 each. They make great trellis'. T-posts are around $7 each. I'm thinking you'll need at least 4 for each panel. ) Invest in the T-post tool ($40), you won't regret it! No way to get it home? Rent a Uhaul truck for about $20. You'll get it for the whole day. Every year around April 15th Home Depot or Lowes puts miracle grow soil on sale for around $2. Stock up then. Don't forget to budget for stakes, tomato cages, and fertilizers. I would also budget for end of season sales. I hope this helps. Good Luck!
I mean I didn't needed another reason to love you, but this was great! We are about 18 months away from military retirement and building our forever home, and space for a garden is a must. I can't wait to watch this journey and learn about cost, saving and what worked best for you. Happy planting, and as always, thank you for sharing!
Wowza! This is a very extravagant way to start a garden. I'm in Australia so the weather is likely different where y'all are but we don't use steel vats like that because it heats up the soil too much. We start from a no dig perspective - lay the paper, spread the mix then the manure etc before covering off with mulch. The bed is left to rest while the seeds are sown in the seedling tent and then after hardening off, the seedlings are planted. I also didn't notice any mulch or seeding area and no netting. In an open air vegie plot like that you will need those to kick off. I've been growing now for 15 years. Produce comprises 75% of my grocery bill so I pay very little at the grocery store for my food. I started off with pallets discarded from building sites, joined them up with a few bolts and the only outlay I made was to get some soil in as the ground I had wasn't very good. So all up I paid $110 which was for a couple tonne of growing mix. You really do not need money to start a plot.
I love the fact that you remind us that gardening can be a non expensive hobby ! I live in France and I'm planning my garden for spring 2023 already. I also wanna add that in my area, there are a lot of elders that are growing their garden for decades, and that are always happy to help out, give you free stuff to start your garden, ect... communicate with your local neighbors/community and you will end up getting almost everything you need for very cheap ! 😁
I know 3 things about gardening. Don't grow your cucumbers next to your pumpkins, grow your garlic in the same place year after year, and I hate playing in dirt. But I enjoy watching others garden. Blessings on your new adventure.
raised beds as pictured and soil are going to cost the average person way more than 400 to start from scratch. If you are a viewer and do not have the $$ for metal containers and the yards of soil as presented here, try using a kiddie pool or building beds from discarded wood pallets. Also, look up lasagna gardening which is a no till method. It would be nice not to have to bend over but it certainly wont hurt you and has been the system for thousands of years. I mention this as a matter of encouragement. I really love the planner pages though, quite handy.
During the beginning of 2020 my brother-in-law made a raised bed. All I had to do was add 5 gallons buckets from Home Depot (or Lowes) and punched a bunch of holes in the bottom of each of them. It kept me busy growing veggies!
I’m so excited for you! Budgeting can be hard especially when you start (organic soil, seed or plant shopping, grow lights, shelving etc…) Gardening really helps with mental health and is a fantastic physical outlet beyond growing food. I have been growing from seed most of my vegetables for several years. It is absolutely trial and error. Best thing I did was start my own composting area. Just be patient and give yourself grace. Things die and that is when you should be prepared with successions. If a plant looks bad, pull it, try to figure out why the conditions were not optimal or if it was user error, and move on. I would say part of research is keeping a pocket journal (week, month, season/year) with notes (how sun changes, temperature, what and when you started, what grew well, what failed, pest pressure etc…) pictures and video on phone is also helpful. I like hand drawing/ writing out my seasonal grow plan but made a digital layout of my garden using aerial view pic from google earth. Curious why you have dedicated a raised bed to lavender rather than a border nearby, aesthetics? They will take poor soil as long as it drains and they don’t like wet feet (a lot of water). Dwarf cosmos or zinnias grow quickly from seed in spring/summer and attract beneficial insects too. You can then turn that bed over to fall/winter veggies. The Jessica Walliser’s books on garden insects are incredibly valuable. Have fun!
I love this - I can't wait to follow this journey. I hope you do many more videos on this as I would love to start a garden but feel so overwhelmed each time I start to look into it.
I absolutely LOVE these planning pages. I usually just use a notebook and write the same things down too! This is going to be amazing for you, I'm excited to see your journey.
I loved this when you posted this a year ago. Do you have any UPDATES? I'm so curious to learn what worked, what might not have worked, and what you might have changed. I'm planning to get serious about food gardening this year and would love to know more from you - thanks!!
Miko, how exciting! I live in a rented townhome in Sammamish/Issaquah area of Washington and have two patios and daydeaming of doing a suoer small garden now! Fresh fruits and veggies, with inflation, are so expensive. Great odea to be 100% self-sufficient. I love your budget by paycheck system and am following. I bought the budget by paycheck planner, cash and sinking funds envelopes and more recently teller post it slips! Wahoo! I just recently went from being a W-2 income emoloyee to my own therapy practice BrightTrek ABA Therapy, PLLC. Your Budget by Paycheck system is making a HUGE difference in my life. Please keep making videos!! And-are you going to do a video with Ryan to close out March?! 🙏💕🙏💕🙏💕🙏💕🙏
Gardening is my absolute life passion, i grow a significant portion of my family's fruits and vegetables and so I'm going to give some unsolicited advice: Frost dates and hardiness zones can be good guidelines, but if you live in a rural area, they can be wrong. My frost dates are about 2 weeks past what the internet says they are, since I live in a low point in a valley, and the numbers come from the benches about 20 miles away. Old Farmers Almanac is great, but if you have a local extension office, it is even better. In my area, they have super specific information on growing that is tailored to our climate. Quality seeds are totally worth it, especially as you begin to learn what you like in your fruits and veggies. I love Johnnys seeds, they have amazing detailed info about all their seeds. It is maybe cheaper to grow your own fruits and veggies than organic, but not cheaper than conventional. But is is sooooo much more satisfying and delicious. Gardening is a practice in letting go of perfection/being in control. You're going to kill a lot of plants. Or they will be taken out by bugs/disease/weather. It's part of the experience and don't stress it. Some years will be really good for some things, and some years won't, that's why you have next time to try again. Anyways, hope that wasn't too annoying, I love gardening so much and I hope you find as much comfort and peace working in it as I do.
Hi Miko, how fun, congrats on your new garden! I started my vegetable garden last year. With absolutely no budget, I took some from my grocery budget, and I was creative. I got cuttings and seeds and strawberry plants (runners) for free. Contact friends and family. I used facebook market place and other online sales listings. I got pallet walls for free. Under the pallets, I started with carton, then I filled up with leaves, branches and grass clippings. Then I filled up with some cheaper soil, and put a bag of cow compost on top. I got a lot of vegetables and strawberries. The strawberries, I expect will produce more berries this year, as they produce more the second year. This year, I just ordered a polytunnel online. I live in a cold climate, so I will grow salads, squash, eggplant and other things that require a warmer climate. My tomatoes didn´t do so well, but as you, I have studied more, so you need to trim them back a lot, I didnt! 😅 Looking forward to seeing your progress.
Cherry tomatoes tend to yield more pounds of fruit per plant, mostly because bigger tomatoes are more susceptible to blossom end rot and other things that ruin the tomato fruits. Cherries don't get those problems, and they're so good to snack on as you are working out in the garden. Proud of you for taking this journey, good luck!!! I love that you're planning to plant marigolds among the vegetables! They attract pollinators and deter harmful insects.
Beautiful video! Love your research and organization. I garden also. Just wanted to mention the need for a tall trellis system especially for your raspberry plants. As a bramble, raspberries can really get out of control. They need controlled and pruned properly. My trellis system is about six feet tall. Pruning is based on the type of raspberry plants you purchase (if they produce once or twice a year). I’m sure you will research this and have it down in no time! I wish you the best!
I really love the way you distill and simplify information. Your videos and workbook have helped me learn to be in control of my finances over the last year. Thank you! I have been gardening with flowers for several years and am starting a vegetable garden this year. This video is awesome. A gentle suggestion- maybe look into an alternative to miracle grow. There are so many safer options especially for fertilizers or soil being used to grow fruits and vegetables.
This video is sooooooo THOROUGH! I love everything about it ! I pray to be at a point one day when I’m done with the budget I’m not going forward ! I have a few days to start my garden but this has made me think about a lot . I might have to hold off on it but I’m happy I have this info ! Thanks for such an in depth video !
Gardening is a wonderful journey, 👩🌾you’ll figure it out before you know it. I look forward to watching yours come together. I wish you the best. Go garden!! Bty I’ve listen to your book and have started applying all that you share with us (the world). I have my budget planner and thus far it’s really starting to make since. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge 🤍
I’ve been gardening pretty seriously in the midwest USA for 6 years now. It’s been a lot of hard work & very expensive. I had big dreams when i began, & am not giving up, but tbh it has been pretty discouraging. I have spent many hundreds if not thousands more than i have gotten back…& that’s not even factoring in all the time and toll on my body- especially sore backaches. I’m still doing it, but scaling back this year. It is definitely not as easy as some people think (myself as a beginner included).
Btw i am only sharing my experience here- not looking to discourage anyone by any means. I think gardening is a noble goal, & i really wish it would be more fruitful (literally) for me. :/
We have saved a lot of money purchasing our plant starts from our local high school & college agriculture programs. It helps our budget & our local schools.
I started container gardening on my patio the first summer of the pandemic and it was a life saver for my mental health. I spent way too much money though! I would check into soil & compost from a garden center in a farming community. they will often offer lower prices from bagged, especially if you bring some 5 gallon buckets with you.
I started my garden last Saturdat because I always wanted one. I have a very small yard and I planted some flowers, melons and some other stuff. Then I went crazy and planted a bunch of stuff in pots and placed in the shed kitchen. I have no clue what I am doing. I bought sunflower seeds because I've always wanted sunflowers, note to self, read the packet and google if you don't understand. I bought a Mammoth Russian sunflower and apparently, they grow 14 feet, it would touch my power lines in the yard amongst other possible issues :( lol. Happy gardening and I will definitely be checking out the Almanac for general knowledge
Gardening is DEFINITELY a long term learning process!!! Best of luck MIKO 👍 I have hydroponic growing systems, 9 and adding 1 more since we have short growing seasons outdoors. You can see many videos I have on my channel for Sprouting seeds, growing indoors and more.
We have been seriously gardening since 2014. It hasn't saved any money on the food budget yet, but we don't do it for financial savings. For long term viability of your soil and health of your plants don't use miracle grow or any of their products again. The chemicals destroy the soil life which is necessary for healthy plants. Continued use of miracle grow actually makes your soil worse over time and creates dependance on their chemicals to grow plants. Have to run, hope you continue to enjoy gardening. I am starting thr budget by paycheck program this week with my kids as part of their math class.
What great video - since you love Spinach, y'all may want to go to a Farmer's Market and try out Tatsoi! It's super similar in texture and usage and is another one you could grow for greens!
Loving, saving and following this video and hopefully more about this topic. We decided to grow a garden and I am going to be canning/preserving. I have a sinking fund in my budget for the supplies(canner, tools, soils, seed, etc.). Does TBM have a plan or idea to publish this planner, tools etc.? If so, I would LOVE them.
Heck yeah budget sis. How’d your first garden turn out? I had amazing luck my first year, second year not so much. Lol good luck. Love the content and budget by paycheck planner. About to start tackling my debt.
What I do in my garden is I mix dirt and horse manure about 50/50 or you can do this is get the big bags of potting soil to fill your rised garden beds but make sure that you drill holes in the bottom of them so that the water can drain out that way you ain't drowning your plants and causing mold
I love your layout, but may I suggest switching out the broccoli and cilantro for a more summer veggie or herb. Broccoli and cilantro are more cold tolerant plant and if you’re planning to harvest them in the middle of summer they would probably bolt. Are I would say get them now so you’ll have a chance to get an earlier harvest then planned. The cilantro put it in a smaller container so you can move it to a cooler spot later on.
Love the video! I'm starting my container garden this year while I'm building my raised beds! Will you be adding any of these work sheets to your free printables? Or maybe creating a vegetable garden workbook type thing? I would definitely love that!❤
I would be concerned with those horse troughs not having drainage. Unless you won't be getting lots of rain at one time. If you are getting lots of rain you could drown out your plants. Where I live a 6 inch rain is not uncommon and would not work in the type of containers you have. And you also might need to add shade for some of your plants. Companion planting is a good idea. Certain plants like each other(or dislike each other).
You never did a follow up video on how your garden grew? Are you still gardening? Are your plants growing well? Is you garden successful? Was it worth it?
Wear gloves when you play in the soil as it will ruin your manicure......I am looking forward to how this will play out for you......you also might need to enclose the garden area as you are in the woods and the deer love to eat garden plants. Best wishes to you. Your son will love helping also.
