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As you drive across country you can see so many people with front and back yards who have converted a small plot of land into a vegetable garden. Gardening can be a hobby and it is a good way to cut grocery costs.
If you don't have a large yard, make a small garden. Any size garden is worth the effort. You can use hanging pots suspended from the eaves of your house to grow strawberries, carrots, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and herbs. If you have no yard at all, many cities offer community plots. Along with the plots, you get all the water you need. Fertilizing and mulching a garden can run up a bill, so here are some cost saving tips.
* Manure is available for free at horse stables and chicken farms. It may contain weed seeds, so compost it first(heat will kill the seeds).
* Mulch is free in some cities that have recycling programs or local public farms.
* There are some inexpensive ways to keep pests away. You can use garlic or hot pepper sprays are effective on most pests (place a few cloves of crushed garlic in a quart of water). You can place copper bands around your garden to deter snails and slugs.
The main challenge of growing your won produce is the sudden surplus of one item. One way to avoid this problem is to plant in shifts. Plant one row one week, another next week, and so forth. This way your produce will ripen in shifts. If you didn't plant in shifts and you have bushels of product to use, try preserving them by canning, freezing, and drying. Another way is to sell extra surplus by putting a sign in your front yard: fresh produce for sale. Have fun gardening!
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