skip to main content

Vegetable Gardening

Favorite zero-cost garden solutions/enhancements/toys?

15 years ago

What's your favorite zero-cost garden solution or enhancement?

Mine's probably my new cold frame. A buddy of mine and I just spent a day building a pair of them. He had a couple of salvaged sliding-glass doors and I had a bunch of rough-sawn ash, so we got together and made two and each kept one.

Here's a picture of mine:

And there's a writeup at my blog under the "New Cold Frames" post:

I'll be curious to see what you guys come up with.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

macheske
15 years ago
Ed,
Great job on the cold frame. I purchase and fix up houses as a hobby and will be replacing the sliders in two houses I just bought. Do you have plans for the cold frame? Looks like a fun day project.

Well, I guess my best free garden enhancement is..

I just spent all day getting free very well composted horse manure. A stable near us just dumps the manure into a low spot on their property and leaves it, so in a year it's totally black gold. I'm not kidding that I think they easily have 1000 cubic yards. The best part is they told me to take all I want. If I had a big front end loader it would have been alot easier but my little tractor had to do. At least I got another 30 cubic yards today.
Rick
digdirt2
15 years ago
Nice cold frame Ed. You should get a lot of use out of it very soon now. ;)

Dave

Rick - check out the plans linked below for a good one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cold frame plans
Related Discussions
Solution to offset strange house front (2 front doors)
Q
Comments (13)
Aah, PEI - God's country. Hydrangea and lupine heaven :) As you are a novice gardener with budget concerns, I would suggest, as others have done, is to address the traffic flow problems first. You've already indicated that you are unhappy with the approach ie the driveway, and the confusion about the main entry door. My inclination would be to make the one acre property more manageable for you by "zoning" it. I would first enclose the home and the new gardens within a low white rail fence and mixed shrub border, in whatever perimeter wouldn't be overwhelming - maybe 1/3 of your land? That would leave the back for you to sow to meadow or wildflowers as you prefer later. The front third would be dedicated to vehicular needs and setting the stage. Your southern view of the wetlands across the way is probably quite beautiful. The driveway as it now lies in front, while practical for ease of access to the house and for snow removal, will likely detract from that somewhat. However, if you are not going to be adding a side garage in the future, you could just leave it where it is and improve the appearance. Think of a traditional Island approach. Fresh gravel isn't costly and is practical in your situation. Don't bother with edging in a snow-country setting. Run the drive from the roadway up to within 10 feet of the perimeter fence in a "T" shape - that way, you can create a defined turn-around area for vehicles or for extra parking. The facing fence, with an arboured opening or gate centered on your newly positioned front steps and door, can be softened with a small perennial bed in the front of it as well as behind. Line the driveway edges with spaced heritage-type trees on either side. Ash trees are fairly fast growing but also ask at the local nurseries for their recommendations. On the house, I too would reconfigure the steps to lead up to the actual front door. Periwinkle blue is a really nice colour choice, especially if you echoed it in a trim around the white windows and ultimately with your flower choices. I wouldn't get too hung up about the asymmetry of the house. The plantings will distract from that... and whatever other cosmetic changes you may ultimately make. Fruit trees and flowering vines would be appropriate and lovely somewhere in the fenced yard. And while your home would benefit from some foundation planting, just be careful not to concentrate everything in a claustrophobic huddle too close to the house. Plant out to the fence line, spill over it and frame the views as you look out from your windows.
...See More
Deer solutions, redux
Q
Comments (59)
Thanks for posting these Konrad, thats a clever idea. I think there might be a way to have a noisemaker as well as keeping the string up to block the deer if other deer come along after it was tripped. The general idea is to put a strong spring inline which triggers something when pulled with a certain number of pounds or pressure. Not sure what kind of gizmo like that could be rigged. I can tell the deer are still looking for openings in my fence. Last night they pushed against one of the lines and managed to reach a cherry branch which they munched to nothing. That was the only damage they managed to do. Having some noisemaker thrown in could add to the deterrent. Marc, I live in too urban an area for an electric fence, not even sure if they are legal. If nobody minded I would go that route. Maybe the fishline with some noisemakers rigged to it would be nearly as good. Scott
...See More
New garden toy
Q
Comments (16)
I have this one - Gorilla dump wagon. Much easier for me than DH's mega wheel barrow. Not only for my tools, compost, plants in pots - People have borrowed it when moving for household goods. DH keeps it clean for me, even the tires. I used it myself the night I was on my way to bed when I realized the compressor was failing in my refrigerator. I loaded the food into the wagon in my kitchen and wheeled it out to the garage refrigerator. I don't know that I would want to take it to the cemetery though, little bulky for loading. For years DH cleaned there with cordless shears. He'd take a bucket, brush, whisk broom, shears. These days he goes with gas weedeater and tries to time his visits when he won't be disturbing people. And, many times, people will come up to him and ask if he will clean around their family head stones while he's there - our cemetery has new ownership the last few years and new owners don't keep things up as well. They have taken out some of the faucets too that were strategically placed around the grounds and now water for watering plants or cleaning isn't readily available there. He was just reminding me last week of being at the cemetery, had cleaned, edged around several family graves (he has a big family) and was standing back admiring his work. Someone from behind placed their hand on his shoulder and he screamed, came clear off the ground ;) (he's kind of fun to startle, it's quite a reaction). That poor woman was so embarrassed, she'd only wanted to ask him for help with some headstone maintenance since she could see he had products to make it easier.
...See More
A Brand New Garden Toy
Q
Comments (15)
wantonamara, Looks like a very nice saw with that hi-tech silky blade. Can you tell yet of that bottom sickle is effective at cutting the bark on the underside? Tearing a strip of bark down the remaining branch/trunk as the cut falls away is a problem that is hard to prevent with the standard saws. A noid ~22 ft pole saw/lopper came with our house.... and its two mature fruitless mulberry trees. The 30-something year old blade is rusty and never been sharpened, but still cuts reasonably well after one or two major pruning sessions every year. I have occasionally rubbed (candle) wax on the blade to reduce drag/binding rather than protect, but has rarely been a problem. The mulberrys could put out new branches faster that any other tree I've ever dealt with.... which quickly taught me to catch them while still small enough for the lopper to avoid the additional time and energy needed to saw them later. I have probably made 10 to 15 lops for every sawn cut on "buggy whip" producing trees like mulberry or Chinese pistache; though it's much closer to even with the fewer cuts needed on oaks. This is the mostly lopped pistache pile from last Monday: Most of these branches will be run through the shredder/chipper this week and placed somewhere back in the yard.
...See More
macheske
15 years ago
Thanks Dave!
Rick
naturegirl_2007 5B SW Michigan
15 years ago
Wow! That coldframe is awesome gratefuled.

After seeing that, some of us probably are hesitating to post our mundane solutions. So I'll start with very simple ones I used. Old, yellowed sheer curtains made good row covers for my broccoli plants last season. Bottomless plastic milk jugs and water bottles with the tops removed made good frost and critter protection in the early season for small transplants. Slats from a broken vinyl mini-blind were cut up and made great plant markers. I found marking them with a soft lead pencil gave readable labels all summer long. A china marker (grease pen) also worked well. Sharpie markers were okay for a few months, but other permanent marker brands faded much quicker.

I eyeball neighbors' trash on garbage day with "repurposing" thoughts in mind. Small lengths of fencing is used to protect plants the rabbits like to eat. Broom & mop handles become plant stakes or tripods for climbing vines. Empty nursery pots get refilled with my divided perennials or used as patio containers. Maybe I'll even spray some with a terra cotta color paint this year.

Old pallets that were being thrown out by a business (yes, I asked) became a double compost bin. That's the best garden thing I've built....and I had help from my husband. We built that on our anniversary, and I considered it a great present. I wouldn't suggest it for most people ;)
simmran1
15 years ago
Thanks Dave for posting that link. One alteration I would make is to use the (normally recessed) fluorescent light diffuser instead of the plexiglass. I have plexiglass on my cold frame and found it could over heat my young plants so I placed a flat fluorescent light acrylic diffuser on top. (Available at Lowes) I place my coldframe just like the article says and now I don't bake the young plants. The bricks are a good idea, and I also have an old blanket handy on unusually cold nights to drape over the whole thing.
dinas
15 years ago
I just yesterday got cable TV. (Had to, digital transition coming and that converter box does not work.) Cable guy left almost 50 feet of nice, flexible cable, and told me to please discard it. It will be good to use to fasten up plants-I can make some sort of super thick twist ties.
I also use old pallets for compost piles-tie 3 to make 3 sides of a box, and a 4th on one side only to make a sort of gate.
I also keep my eyes open for useful garbage when doing my daily run-ran home once with a whole roll of chicken wire fencing over my shoulder.
kayhh
15 years ago
Nice cold frame. I made a simular one with scrap wood and old wood-framed windows about 7 year ago.

I also build temporary cold frames both with large growing container (for my greens) and with bales of straw and a couple of old shower doors.

My favorite zero-cost solution this year is to collect all the scrap peices of 2x4 that our shipping department produces. I am going to use them to creat the walls for my raised beds.

Free is good.

Kay.
caavonldy
15 years ago
I rescued a pair of french doors that my neighbor had replaced. I figured I could use them for a cold frame. Unfortunately they are heavy. I have to figure how I am going to do this. Hubby won't help, he wants to take them to the dump.

Related Stories

MOST POPULAR 8 Life-Enhancing Home Resolutions for the New Year

By Laura Gaskill

You can take steps to make this the year your home truly becomes a place of comfort and joy

HEALTHY HOME 6 Tips From a Nearly Zero-Waste Home

By Melanie Loftus

Lower your trash output and increase your quality of life with these ideas from a mom who did it to the max

GREEN BUILDING Zero Net Energy: A Hardworking-House Term to Know

By Steven Corley Randel, Architect

Homes that consume only as much energy as they produce by renewable means are a goal for builders. Learn what ZNE means for you

LANDSCAPE DESIGN Design Solutions for the Time-Strapped Gardener

Landscaping for easy maintenance can help make your garden more manageable — and pleasurable to be in

ORGANIZING Outside the Box: 18 Unconventional Storage Solutions

By Dressed Nest Interiors

You might never think to use household standards in creative ways like these, but you’ll be glad we did

GARAGES 8 Clutter-Busting Garage Storage Solutions

By The Inman Company

Never trip over tools or bumble through boxes again. These organizers, cabinets, shelves and boards will keep your garage neat and clear

LIFE Stop the Toy Takeover by Changing the Way You Think

By Apartment 46 for the Home

Make over your approach and get gift givers onboard with your decluttering efforts by providing meaningful toy alternatives

PRODUCT PICKS Guest Picks: 20 Fun and Colorful Teaching Toys

Kids might not even realize they’re learning with playthings and playroom accessories like these

GARDENING GUIDES 5 Favorite White Roses for a Purely Beautiful Garden

By J. Peterson Garden Design

How does your garden glow? With roses that look like light and smell divine

OUTBUILDINGS Studio Solution: A Kit Greenhouse Becomes a Creative Private Office

By Annie Thornton

See how an inventive work-from-home designer made an office from a greenhouse, for some inspired thinking in the backyard

Sponsored

John Romans Construction

1 Review

Franklin County's Full Service, Turn-Key Construction & Design Company

More Discussions

Veggie Tales - April 2024

47

trying to understand PHI

2

I'm completely devastated

28

Garden slug tip

3

Do carpenter bee traps work?

7