Saving money on our fall garden

To save money, we planted seedlings to transplant into our garden. (Buying seeds rather than plants is a huge savings!) We started with used pots from plants we had previously purchased.

The first step was dipping the cleaned pots into a bleach/water solution. We then filled the pots with organic potting soil that contains fertilizer and planted seeds in each pot according to the package directions, mostly 1/4 to 1/2 inches deep.

The pots were then placed in partial shade near the backyard water source where they are easier to water. We'll keep them nice and moist and they will be ready in a couple of weeks to plant.

One useful tip when potting: reuse old plant markers.

Usually I just throw them away, but my sister saves them and then sticks a label on them with the name of the seed you planted and, voila! You have an almost free plant marker. Using a marker is so useful because you really can't tell most of the plants apart until they get their secondary leaves. Even then they all look pretty similar. You might be able to tell a squash from a lettuce leaf, but you won't know what kind of squash or lettuce you have unless you mark it. I love this because markers are pretty expensive in small quantities.

If you have other money-saving tips, leave a comment and I will post them.