Urban Farm Hub

With good sun and soil grapes grow well here.

Many of you have probably read the book about growing the fifty dollar tomato but it doesn’t have to be that way.  There are many ways to save money when raising your city veggies.

Here are some suggestions…

Raised Bed Materials
– Craig’s List or Freecycle often have free or low-cost wood – make sure it’s not painted or treated as this can leach into your bed.
– If you’re building beds for a cause then hardware stores will often sell you wood at wholesale prices.  If you complete a donation form sometimes they will give you the wood. If you plan to go this route then do this early as it can take a while.
– You can also get creative with what you use to build the beds – old pieces of concrete and deconstructed pallets will all work. The goal is to hold the soil in and get it built up some so it’s easier to garden and will heat up a bit earlier than the surrounding ground level soil.

Soil
– If it’s for a cause and not for personal use you can write a donation letter to Cedar Grove and they will often donate compost. You need to pick it up so a good and sturdy truck that can handle a lot of weight will be needed.
– To build up your existing soil build a compost pile and add in grass clippings, dried leaves and non meat or dairy food scraps.  (Making good compost is a bit trickier than this so it’s good to check out some resources on how to do it right.)
– If you are planting in existing soil it’s a good idea to do a soil test first to make sure it’s safe. The cheapest place to do this is through the University of Massachusetts. You dig a bit up, ship it off and the analysis comes in a couple of weeks.

Seeds
– For a cause you can get free seeds early in the season from seed companies.  These are last year’s seeds but they usually sprout just fine.
– Doing a seed swap with friends and neighbors is also good as you usually don’t use all the seeds that come in a packet. There’s also an organization called Seed Savers Exchange that you can use.
– Saving your own seed from year to year. If you do this be sure to check and see if the seed you are saving will be true to the plant you want.  Many plants like beets and carrots will cross pollinate with less desirable species and the result is not what you anticipated. You will also need to save the seeds in a cool and dry place or they might not germinate very well.

Water
– This seems like it would be an easy one but the rain pretty much stops just when you need it in July. Unless you have a huge number of rain barrels it doesn’t really help. You drain the barrel then it doesn’t rain for a long time and you wind up using the hose. Rain coming off an asphalt roof also shouldn’t be used on food plants as it can be contaminated.
–  There are city approved grey water systems that clean the water going out into the yard and these can be used to recycle household waste water (usually from laundry or bathing – special soap is needed but it’s readily available).
– You can also conserve water by using drip irrigation and mulching with straw or other materials (sometimes the slugs go wild when you do this so watch your plants for damage).