Finding Frugal Items to Plant In

Finding  Frugal Items to Plant In 

Gardening doesn’t have to be difficult or costly with these solutions utilizing things that you already have around the house, or using things you have in a different way. By doing so you can save some money, time and in a lot of cases, reuse / recycle things that would commonly just be thrown away. Why buy new when you can DIY and save money?  Need a little inspiration to get your garden started in a container?  Check out what some amazingly creative people around the globe who have frigal innovative gardening ideas to grow a garden in – just about everything!

Here are some fun and clever garden hacks to help make your garden more successful.

1) Use Starbucks Cups, 2L Bottles of K-Cups as Seed Starters

2) Old Furniture- No Problem! Stack Em Up!

If you’ve ever wondered what to do with that old desk or maybe thought that you just have too much unused furniture in your home, this is definitely a collection that you’ll want to save. There are so many creative ways that you can incorporate old pieces of furniture into planters for your frugal garden. 

Right... so now that you've seen the phenomenal projects these old desks can do lets look at other DYI containers and buckets we can fin around the house.

   3) Old Buckets/Oil Containers- Perfect for Veggies! 

Container planting vegetables is not a new concept, but what about using buckets for growing vegetables? Yes, buckets. Just look at these buckets that was giving away in the POS Market and what I've done with them. 

While raised beds can solve many of these problems, they are more expensive and require more room. Another great benefit of growing vegetables in buckets is that they are portable. If your tomato is not getting enough sun in a certain area, simply pick it up and put it somewhere else. You will not have to dig up, replant and risk killing your tomato; you will only be moving the container it is in.

3) PVC Pipes/ Concrete Blocks Can Work Just as Well. 

Plastic PVC pipes are cheap, easy to find, and useful for so much more than just indoor plumbing. There are so many DIY projects creative people have come up with using these plastic tubes, and they extend to the garden. Try your hand at a DIY PVC pipe garden with some tips and ideas. Look at these ideas.....

4) Lastly, Old Pallets (Vertical Gardens) /Old Tyre's -- Its Frugal Yes.... 

Up-cycling old pallets into Vertical Gardens is an awesome idea as it takes up less room and maximizes growing space for those who live in townhouses or apartments with little room but still want to get some gardening in during the pandemic.  I've done it already and the results speak for themselves, so I thought I’d share these DIY creative ideas to up-cycle pallets and old tires with you. You may be amazed at the possibilities!

Also, one of the most versatile items you can use in your yard are used tires. These wonderful rings of rubber can be painted and decorated to create fun planters or unique pieces for the garden. You would have probably thrown those old tires away anyways, so why not reuse them to create something beautiful?

Look at these below videos on how to safely make a Pallet or Tyre Planter. 

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Easiest Veggies to Grow During the Pandemic

    Easiest Veggies to Grow In Trinidad and        Tobago During the Covid-19 Pandemic.

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Lettuce & Pak Choi

Most households eat lettuce or Pak Choi a few times a week, if not everyday. So these leafy wonders are a must and super easy to plat during the pandemic. Imagine salad fresh from the garden! Luckily, lettuce and Pak Choi is super easy to grow and maintain.

Lettuce and Pak Choi have shallow roots, so are sensitive to water. They require moist, but well-drained soil, and partial sun. You can sow lettuce and pak choi seeds every two weeks or so to ensure you have lettuce to harvest throughout the growing season.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes love the heat and hate the cold!

Tomatoes are one of the most planted home garden produces during economic recessions. The reason is because there is no comparison when it comes to homegrown tomatoes. They taste like nothing on a store shelf anywhere! So get planting these during the pandemic.The amazing thing is that tomatoes are super easy to grow too.

Just like peppers, it is recommended that they be started indoors 4-6 weeks before transplanting outdoors. Otherwise, just pick up the seedlings cheaply that have already been started at your Aranguez Nurseries. In T&T, they have it the cheapest I've seen. If you have purchased cheaper please state in the comments for the readers and frugal planters. 

Eggplants/Baighan

Eggplant is a versatile vegetable that's an essential ingredient in dishes from around the world! It's naturally low in calories, fat, and sodium, yet high in fiber and loads of other vitamins and nutrients, and it comes in a number of varieties that are just as beautiful as they are tasty! If you're not already a fan of the excellent, edible Eggplant, you soon will be!

Eggplants can grow 2 to 6 feet tall, depending on the variety. Eggplants take 60-80 days to mature depending on the variety. Grow eggplant in full sun. Eggplant is not particular about the soil it grows in but will grow best in well-drained soil rich in organic matter.

Ochro

Ochro is a wonderful and mainly trouble-free plant that thrives in hot weather, so our climate in Trinidad and Tobago is perfect. Cool climates aren’t very suitable for growing okra, though northern gardens may get a small harvest. It’s a very popular vegetable in Trinidad and Tobago, where is grows extremely well and is a favorite for soups and 'ochro rice' or even fried for breakfast If you’re not familiar with okra, it can be a bit of an acquired taste. The edible pods have a sticky fluid in them which can help thicken up soups like gumbo. In some places, okra is actually just called “Gumbo” because that’s how people know it. Once you know how to cook with okra, it’s actually quite versatile. You can even eat the small pods raw.

Bodi

Quite versatile and resilient, The Asian Long Bean known colloquially to us as the Bodi Bean happens to be a favorite in many different types of cuisine here in our twin land. Also known as bora, asparagus bean or snake bean; here in Trinidad - bodi is eaten as a curried talkarie with rice or roti, stir fried with vegetables of all varieties, it can be steamed gently and eaten with fish as a healthy alternative as well as even being heartily prepared with boiled provisions as to balance some vegetable intake. 

Cucumbers

No quarantine garden is complete without cucumbers. They are very easy to grow and are very prolific. Planted in a section of the garden that receives full sun and has an evenly moist, fertile soil, success in growing cucumbers is almost guaranteed.

Pimento & Hot Peppers

Pimento peppers can be grown from seed or transplants.

Pimento peppers are small, sweet, heart-shaped peppers that ripen to red in color. They only get to be about 1 ½ inches across and are very mild with a Scoville heat rating of less than 500 units. Depending on the variety, plants may become large and bear hundreds of fruit, or they may be smaller, perfect for container gardening. Like all peppers, growing pimento peppers thrive in hot weather in fertile soil with consistent moisture and a long growing season.

Add some kick to your gardening with this attractive, tasty plant

Hot peppers are so much fun to grow in gardens and containers. They’re relatively carefree plants and offer fruits in a wide variety of colors, shapes, sizes, and heat levels – from mildly spicy to super-hot! I’ve been growing hot peppers for over two decades and I’ve learned that in order to grow great peppers, you need to provide the right growing conditions and select the best varieties for your particular region. 

                        For more great gardening tips, click any of the links below.

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About Frugal Farming

About this Blog 

Welcome to Planting your own Food

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             About Frugal Farming

Frugal Farming is both a local and international blog that focuses on simple, plain and costing little  vegetable and fruits gardening with the intention to keep children and parent busy throughout the quarantine period as the Covid-19 pandemic takes its course. Moreover, with the loss of countless jobs and peoples livelihoods at stake, this blog would conclusively assist families to plant basic necessities that would steer them through the current and upcoming global recession and lots in between!!!!

With so many people isolated at home and the economy so wobbly, for those with the space this is a fine time to start growing some of your own food — and, in fact, seed and plant shops companies are reporting record sales this during this pandemic.

Here I'll share my experiences with  how you can use your time at home and plant vegetables and fruits adopting the cheapest means possible by planting in things we discard everyday. As people pick up new hobbies while they remain in self-quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic, interest in gardening and farming is experiencing a boom among Trinidadians and Tobagonians. Developing a green thumb is a way to pass the time for some people, but others are using it as a way to attempt to make sure they have access to fresh food after panic buying led to shortages in grocery stores and vegetable markets alike.

Moreover, Frugal Farming was founded through an academic venture through Anglia Ruskin University's Internet Marketing Module, and now aims to promote the Frugal Farming Innovations and many more through planting and farming imagery and social media marketing. Fittingly, this Blog aims to  steer Families and circumvent poverty from decreased income where T&T Manufacturers Association (TTMA) has found that as a result of the country’s COVID-19 mitigation measures, 36 per cent of the businesses have terminated full time employees and 55 per cent have terminated part time or contractual employees. 

               About the Blogger

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Hello! I'm Ronald and I’m a business student and working management professional with a passion for, gardening, hiking, hanging with friends and travelling, living in Trinidad and Tobago. I have a fast paced, exciting life that I share with the two loves of my life; my wife Sayelle and my exciting and extremely active (who has me up all night) daughter, Alexandra; notwithstanding my phenomenal friends! Other than that, I live a very normal life with a sprinkle of exciting, out of the ordinary experiences and adventures.

I call San Rafael home, (yeah is the bush) as the village is unlike any other- the best flora and fauna, wildlife, lime (party), fitness and artistic worlds all collide into this one energetic, fast paced community- and I love it! Its an overwhelming place at times, because of the violence from a selected few, but there's so much inspiration all around me whether its the latest trends in Trini fashion/beauty or the latest hotspot healthy eatery. I take advantage of that and can’t wait to share all of it with you.

Oh, and I have a very MAJOR passion FARMING and GARDENING as I grew up from small with my parents selling in the market and producing vegetables and staples which I sold in the Arima Market for appropriately 15 years...which conclusively arms me with the authoritative knowledge to now in turn assist and provide you with tried and tested methods and procedures to grow your own food during such trying catastrophic economic times.

I'm a discovering and exploring gardening and farming junkie who has an obsession with finding new ways to challenge myself physically and mentally. I approach farming and planting in a pragmatic way- I want to know how such marvelous natural wonder would impact my life and whats the history behind such awesomeness! Im certainly not one to buy into “fads” or “trends” like when people say 'plant this or use this soil! you'll like it' , without knowing some personal based backing or giving them a solid testing I can personally vouch for.

There are a few things that I am not: I am not in any way a trained, registered, licensed, certified farming or gardening "expert". I'm just an educated man with a curious mind and a passion for farming and gardening etc.

With so much wishy-washy information about planting your own food out there, I want to be your source for realistic, tried and true frugal farming choices to help you get out of this global pandemic and beyond healthy and happy as gardening has been found to increase overall health and well-being.

Planting your own vegetable garden should be fun, and watching your hard work turn into actual produce should be mentally, physically and emotionally exciting!

Cheers to living your happiest life!!!!

Ronald

So Again!!!!!!! 

WELCOME TO FRUGAL FARMING!!!!!!!!!!!!! TAKE A LOOK AROUND AND SEE IF YOU CAN PLANT SOME OF YOUR OWN FOOD..AT LEAST SOME..

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