Old House Gardens
The garden is no escape from the bad economic news, and everyone in the industry is worried that the first place homeowners will cut back is on plant material and supplies.
My friends at Old House Gardens, a Michigan mail-order company which specializes in heirloom flower bulbs, have found a clever way to address this. Their spring marketing campaign went like this:
"This isn't the first DEPRESSION our bulbs have faced," the ad says, referring to the age of some of their antique flowers.
"They'll make your yard so beautiful you'll say, 'Staying HOME is the most fun of all!'"
I hate to ask the question, because this could be a downer of a conversation, but are you cutting back in the garden this year? How?
Comments
Wow - never even thought about cutting back. My wife and I have probably doubled the herbs, veggies and flowers we are planting this year. As much as we love our local farmers market - planting and harvesting at home will save us a lot of money ...
Posted by: Steve | April 1, 2009 9:10 AM
Look, I don't want to start my whine, here, but I've been feelin' the hurt for about 4 years, now. I haven't gotten raises to match BG&E's increases or gas prices (and why is no one mentioning the $2/gallon at the pumps today?) or food, for that matter. This year there were no raises here at all.
I haven't had new mulch in all this time and not that many new ornamental plants. It's getting a little raggedy in my yard. This year, I'm growing more veggies and starting seeds in egg cartons instead of buying seedlings. (I've never been particularly successful at this, but it'll be a fun thing) This weekend, while I'm at Home Depot, scoping out the cheapest possible wood to build a teepee for peas and/or beans, I'll look into materials for a compost bin. I don't see that composting is going to save me any money, but I'm really into Waste Not; Want Not.
Eve. I am not sure, but I think there are sources for free mulch, if you have a way to carry it home. Maybe through your county government? Can anyone help here?--Susan
Posted by: Eve | April 1, 2009 9:33 AM
Yes (raising hand). Baltimore County turns our yard waste into free mulch. The catch is that you have to bring your own containers and shovel the stuff yourself. Go to the Baltimore County recycling website for locations and hours--I don't think this is available at all recycling centers in the county. Here's the link:
recycle@baltimorecountymd.gov
Something new this year is that the county will not pick up yard waste in containers. Some of our neighbors toss sticks, etc. into old garbage cans, and in the past they have been picked up on yard waste days, but not this year. Evidently they have a new machine that separates the yard waste from the plastic bags and recycles the plastic. You can also bundle the sticks and yard trimmings and put them out that way.
One caveat: you may be getting weed seeds with your free mulch. I try not to put any weeds into my yard waste, but not everyone is so scrupulous.
Posted by: Dahlink | April 4, 2009 11:10 AM