Frugal gardening brings the most satisfying results

The real trick to frugal gardening is in not taking too many shortcuts. It is common to read about things like no-dig gardens, for instance, where the author will promote this as a means of growing good vegetables no matter what sort of soil you have.

This may be true if your soil is very shallow and rocky, but for most soils the best approach is to improve the soil first and then move on to no-dig and raised beds to make the most of your available resources.

Most people get hung up on old ideas - like you need to use more fertilizer if you want to grow more; and you cannot do much to change the nature of the soil you have. However, as you will see on our soil improvement pages, the objective is to reach a point where you can get the most out of your garden for the lowest on-going level of inputs like fertilizer.

You can also read more about this in our article on Organic vs Chemical fertilizer.

There are, of course, many other ways to garden frugally, almost unconsciously every day - from tearing old rags into strips to make ties for tomatoes, to composting kitchen waste and so on.

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of frugal gardening these days is in conserving our limited water resources.

To complement your frugality in the garden, follow this link to visit a really helpful website on the subject ofFrugal Living Tips leading a less wasteful lifestyle without debt, while still enjoying all the good things that life has to offer

Also, while on the subject of becoming less wasteful there is an absolute 'Must-Watch' Video called The Story of Stuff. This is a real eye-opener about what is involved in the lifestyle we all take for granted.