As the sunlight begins to flood the windows, the urge to place a seed in a bit of moist soil in front of it is very great. Do you see a germinating seed in every sunlit window? Are your fingers beginning to itch for the soil? Do you spend your evenings in front of the fire leafing through seed catalogues? Or are you simply feeling that natural desire as the light returns in February to grasp life anew, to see buds open and to experience greenery. These are healthy instincts that no one should let go of. On the other hand, plants and gardening can be an expensive hobby, which sadly slips down the priority list when times are tough and the household budget crimps. In this article we tell you why you should keep gardening on your high priority list and help you with small means to realize the garden, great or small, that you have been dreaming of.

Sunshine, freedom & a little flower
Danish fairytale author Hans Christian Andersen once pointed to one of the great realities of our existence when he said that “just living is not enough…one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower”.  Indeed, study upon study has by now shown that the maintenance of our health and our capacity to heal is directly related to the extent to which we are exposed to the greenery. There are various theories as to why this may be so (see our article on Healing Gardens: What is New?), but just spend one warm season with a garden and you will know why. Particularly when times are tough and it seems hard to find the answers, gardening offers mental space for problem-solving and trains us to have patience, notice the fine detail and focus. Being active in the fresh air is clearly a physical plus.

From Slow Food to Own Food
As we have become more conscious about what lands on our plates, how it gets there and how it is cultivated, we have also become more interested in cultivating at least a portion of our own vegetables and fruits. As economic conditions tighten, people are looking for ways to reduce the grocery bills. In 2009, for the first time ever in UK history more vegetable seeds than flower seeds were purchased by English gardeners. A similar trend may well unfold in other countries where small-scale production of fruits and vegetables has all but disappeared.

The good news is that starting and maintaining a garden can be an extremely modest investment with high returns in terms of good living for many years. Whatever space you have - a yard, terrace or window sill - you can pursue this low cost getaway and bring new energy into your life this spring. Below we provide you with our best suggestions for turning your dream into a reality at low cost.

20 Best Ideas for Realizing Your Garden Dream on a Budget:

1. Skip the garden service – make the garden your exercise this warm season.
2. Plan a garden that reduces the food bills, however modestly (see more about SPIN Gardening, below).
3. Plan and plant a garden in pots or in raised beds, reducing the amount of soil needed.
4. Don’t start too late and waste your seeds! Many plants, including food crops, begin to grow when the snow is still on the ground or need to be pre-cultivated indoors.
5. Fancy ergonomic equipment is nice and hopefully it will be getting cheaper, but for now focus on getting good basic equipment and think about posture, bending and lifting technique. Basic equipment (depending on what you’ve got in your garden): manual lawn mower, long garden spade, small metal rake for evening out soil and raking in a new lawyer of organic material into plant beds, large rake for raking away leaves and other organic material, manual weeder, small planting spade, sharp garden clippers, branch saw, bush clippers, basket for organic material, equipment for watering (regular hose plus attachments, drop hose and others). SPIN Gardening (see below) advises further equipment for food production.
6. Think carefully about how you lift, dig and move otherwise in the garden. A thoughtless first day could result in the foiling of your dreams for the season! Bend your knees! Never lift anything heavy with your knees straight. Some things are not made to be lifted by you only! Get a sturdy wheelbarrow and a pair of good gardening gloves to strengthen your grip. Organize your garden into raised beds.
7. Quality soil is one of the keys to a successful garden but don’t go overboard or let the gardening shop mislead you. For most gardens sufficient preparation is turning the soil at the beginning of the season and adding a bit of garden compost and manure (which you should continue to do periodically throughout the season).
8. You can purchase soil testing equipment or you could just conduct a cost-free quick test to see what your soil needs more of by taking a handful of soil in between two wet hands and seeing whether you can roll it into a sausage. If so, you’ve got clay-like soil. If not, you’ve got sandy soil. To improve sandy soil so that it keeps nutrition and moisture better, add bark, peat and compost. To improve clay soil so that it drains better, add  and compost.
9. There is no form of soil nutrition you can buy that beats using garden compost (leaves, grass and other material from the garden) and the kitchen compost. So, set up an efficient composting system for your garden!
10. Add to the ingredients in 9., fermented horse manure. Visit your local stalls and ask whether you can relieve them of some of their manure piles from last year.
11. Give your garden that little extra nitrogen-fixing kick that it needs by blending in ashes from the fireplace, giving it nettle water (see our article, Nordic Garden Lore) or by starting with sewing nitrogen-fixing plants (so-called green manure) such as peas, beans, lupin or clover.
12. Instead of purchasing many new plants of the same type, consider taking cuttings of new spring shoots from plants that you want more of. Some will grow roots by simply being placed in a glass of water in the sun. Others need to be planted in soil and given time in a green house environment (this can be created as simply as by covering the potted cutting in a small plastic bag but seeing to it that it still gets air).
13. Protect plants against hungry garden insects by removing them with your glove-covered hands, by learning which plants and herbs repel insects that are attracted to vulnerable plants and by trying out natural repellents such as pine-oil detergent diluted in water and rhubarb leaf decoct.
14. Be a biodynamic gardener – it’s better for the earth, better for you and for your wallet! See our article Nordic Garden Lore.
15. Our gardens need a healthy balance of insect life in order to thrive. Encourage, in particular, butterflies and bees. Provide stones for them to warm their wings before flying, water for drinking, aromatic herbs, edible and nectar-rich flowers.
16. If you haven’t got time for a garden but have a penchant for live flowers in the house, try making an arrangement with bulbs this spring season. (see Floralfutures' flower arranging suggestions, below)
17. When the season is done consider harvesting your own seeds for use next year. Seeds should be harvested from healthy plants when the fruit has completely matured, e.g. for a cucumber this means that it has begun to yellow and soften. Let the seeds dry completely and save them in a dry, cool place with a temperature not higher than 25 C. Paper bags or folded small bits of labeled paper are ideal as are labelled and sealable tins. Do not store seeds in plastic bags as they need to breath. Avoid the refrigerator as it is too moist there.
18. Set up a system for bartering seeds, cuttings, plants and food produce with your garden-loving neighbors and friends. Your community will become a greener, livelier and healthier place to be!
19. For flowers, choose perennials that will return over many years. Cover the new plants and any plants with sensitive roots with leaves or pine branches during the winter to ensure survival.
20. Instead of purchasing expensive roses, give your loved one a bag of seeds this Valentine’s Day!

 

Some Tips from SPIN (Small Plot Intensive) Gardening: Main Points for Bringing Agriculture Back Home Emphasize high value crops (as opposed to crops you can buy cheaply in your local area) Expand your growing season with crops that tolerate moderate frost Make small, frequent plantings Lay out beds so that they can be easily planted, weeded and harvested Intensify production with relay cropping (growing crops sequentially in one season) Use the 1-2-3 concept, assigning different areas of farm to different levels of production intensity Think expansively and creatively about your land base Have several watering options Buy seeds in bulk – storing them is no more difficult than place them in a tin and keeping them in a cool, dry place Visit www.spingardening.com and purchase the first of a series of new downloadable guides for “How to Grow Productively on Under an Acre” (USD 19.99).

Best Tips for Creating a Mini-Garden through Flower Arrangement this Spring What you need - Wide round glass tank (or similar) - Florist's foam (oasis) - "Aspidistra elatior" leaves – others work too (ask your florist) - Sharp knife & material for one of the following options 1. Flowers: Roses, hedera and pale green "moby dick" make a good combination. Any other flowers will do; look for round formed flowers with sturdy stems in the round tank. 2. Bulbs (watch them grow and sprout!): Narcissus, tulips, hyacinths or any other bulbs, moss, toothpicks. 3. 'Budget' option: Small, glass vases (or marmelade jars) and various flowers (from your garden), moss. What to do Decorate a glass tank on the inside with 3 long aspidistra leaves (or any other appropriate leaves to cover the glass) and place a block of florist's foam inside the tank to fix the leaves. If you use a regular ceramic vase rather than see-through glass, you don't have to use the leaves.  Step 1: Strip away the lower leaves from the stem, measure the stems against the tank and cut the stem at an angle. Then carefully position the flowers in the florist's foam at one particular height and make sure the side flowers cover the rim of the tank. Step 2: During spring time, bulbs can be a welcome alternative to flowers. Stick the tooth picks in the bottom of the bulbs and then place the sticks in the florist's foam. Place the bulbs in clustered groups and then press the moss softly between the bulbs and be aware that the bulbs should both be visible and will sprout shoots and flowers. As finishing touch you may want to place some pebbles here and there. Step 3: Put water in the small, glass vases or jars and fill them up with colorful flowers. Then place the vases inside the glass tank and place some moss here and there in between the vases. Tips Presoak florist's foam in water by putting the foam ON the water. The foam will absorb the water itself. Water the florist’s foam daily, so the foam will not dry out. Floralfuture is a company managed by Audrey Apon-Vendrig who specializes in organizing workshops in flower arranging for groups of up to 80 people.