I'm curious about gardening methods employed by people on this board, and hoping to get some money-saving ideas. I like to DIY stuff, but also tend towards a more built-up veggie garden (raised beds, pavers and so on). Please tell me about your veggie garden and whether it pays for itself.
My garden - still a work in progress. I have 3 4'x12' raised beds and 2 4'x16' raised beds. Planning to put in two smaller beds for more intensive growing a'la square foot gardening if I can find the time this spring. Blueberry plants are currently in containers, and will be transplanted into a dedicated bed as soon as the ground can be worked this spring.
There are also 2 8x16' raised beds for perennial crops (berries, rhubarb and asparagus), and another area that is sort of informally planted with hops, a fig and a cherry, plus a couple fruit trees and a jostaberry along the back fence, though they are not producing yet. I also have a homemade lean-to greenhouse that is 8x11'. This will be the first spring that it will be in full operation, and I'm hoping it can give us a good jump on the season with greens and radishes and things in early spring.
As far as running the garden, I'm hoping to get a pump this spring so I can start taking advantage of irrigation water instead of paying for city water. I start most seedlings in the basement under standard shop lights, then move them out to the greenhouse, saving about a month's worth of lighting cost.
Most soil amendments are free. I've gotten 12-yard loads of horse manure/hay delivered in exchange for some canned goodies and homegrown eggs. That gave my soil a good base, and now I have the stable owner load my pickup and do smaller volume compost loads. My neighbors have also been happy to have me take big bags of leaves off their hands in the fall, and kitchen scraps and chicken poop also contribute. Basically all I buy is Miracle Grow for starting seedlings.
For tomato cages, I invested in a 150' roll of CRW mesh, which made about 20 heavy duty 6' tall tomato cages. The CRW is also good for trellising certain things, such as green beans. My other favorite hack is using electrical conduit. I use it for the uprights on trellises, then drill an appropriately sized hole partway through a piece of 2x4" so it fits snugly on top of the electrical conduit. That makes a sturdy frame, which can support twine, CRW or bird netting, depending on the kind of plant you want to support. The electrical conduit can also be bent into 1/2 circles, which are great for making low tunnels. I covered most of my beds with bird netting this way last summer to keep both the birds and my dogs out of the beds. Of course they could support season-extending plastic or other row covers as needed.
Lastly, excess slats from vinyl mini blinds make great plant markers. They're easily cut with scissors to whatever size you need, and can be written on with sharpie marker. They can also be hole-punched, so it's easy to tie them onto my tomato cages or wherever else they're needed. I pretty much have a lifetime supply from just shortening a couple blinds to the proper length.