Gardening: Hobby or Necessity

If you are like me, you really have to stretch your money. Very little work where I am so one dollar has to do as much work as it can. The set up cost for a garden here is a bit high but once in & growing it will pay for itself over time. Here in the South we deal with a lot of red clay & poor soil so the soil has to be built. Here is a break down of my costs & experiences currently & what I expect the future to be.

My garden is approximately 100ft x 50ft I had soil analyzed by county farm agent, Cost $5.00 per sample that told me I needed to add lime 400lbs for $150.00. Since red clay is hard as a brick We also had to add sand so soil would not clump up. ($110.00) I hired a tractor to spread lime and till plow & harrow garden area to a depth of 18-24 inches. Cost $50.00 Next I purchased a roll of Hog Wire $128.00 for 330ft. I bought several 7ft stakes at $1.00 each.

Next we choose what to put in garden I chose tomatoes (Bought 50 plants, was given 36 more by the church) also had carrots,squash, cabbage,green pepper,hot pepper melon, potatoes, peas & greens. Using a how dig your furrows the length of the garden place them about 31/2 feet apart. Next using post hole diggers Dig holes for your plants about a foot deep, or for your seeds about six inches deep. Make your holes oversize as next to your plant or seed you will be burying a milk jug or a 3 liter bottle.

Take the above mentioned bottles and punch medium to large holes in one side big enough not to get clogged by dirt. Place bottle next to plant or seed with holes toward the plant or seed. Bury bottle until only neck of bottle above ground . Next on the backside of your furrow place your hog wire for the full length of your furrow like a fence.

Secure your preexisting plants such as tomatoes to the hog wire to support them do the same with the plants from seeds as they get big enough. Now in order to get your plants to have giant sized fruits you fertilize the garden so talk to your local grocer & buy (Sometimes they will give it to you) the offal fish heads guts left from preparing fish for sale. Take this or fish you have caught put it in each hole where it will have the plant roots resting in or on it.

Cover plants & seeds

You may now mix your fertilizer mix it to a liquid,Now the fertilizer can be poured into the mouths of the jug you buried, You also water your plants with these bottles . This puts your gardens food & water right where it is needed most at the root of the plant. The result of this is bigger plants with larger size fruits & more productive yields.

Once you have harvested using this method you will have plenty of fresh vegetables to eat plus more to freeze for future use & potentially more that you can sell in a produce stand or to the local grocer or convenience store. The benefits you can get from this garden are stress relief thereby reducing your danger of stroke or heart attack, weight loss due to the exercises of planting harvesting & daily care, extra income from having less produce you must purchase as well as from what you sell. All the above is why a garden is not a hobby but a necessity. For those of you with limited space watch for future article on container gardening.