In this episode of the Beginner's Garden Podcast, I share my top 21 money-saving tips to growing a frugal vegetable garden. Click below to listen or read the article below to learn my 21 tips to saving money gardening, and when you're finished, be sure to share your own tips so we can all benefit!

 journeywithjill.net/podcast

Before you go out and buy any soil or compost, here are 4 things to think about to get exactly what you need for your garden on your budget. Don't waste your money on something you don't need! If you've wondered, “How do I start a raised bed garden?” Then these tips will get you started!

When we start our first gardens, we're full of excitement and hope. But there's another feeling not far behind: fear. What if we make mistakes without realizing it?

In this episode of the Beginner's Garden Podcast and the blog post below, I share five common mistakes I see first-time gardeners make. I made them all myself as a beginning gardener, and I want to prevent you from going through those failures like I and so many others have experienced.

Today I'm going to talk to you about low maintenance crops. These are the ones that won't require a lot of baby-sitting. They're easy to grow and manage. In my opinion, they're perfect plants for the first-time gardener to start with, especially when you don't know realistically how much you will be able to manage in the height of the summer and want something low effort.

Maybe you want to try to start seeds indoors for the first time. Or maybe you've tried in the past with little (or no) success. While attempting to start seeds indoors can prove intimidating, once you get the hang of the basics, it's really not as hard as you might think.

Though I have been starting seeds indoors for several years, I wanted to ask an expert to weigh in on best practices. In this episode of the Beginner's Garden Podcast, I talked to Kevin Espiritu of Epic Gardening, and he shared with me what you need to start and grow your seeds inside.

Once gardeners get an idea what crops they want to plant, beginning gardeners ask, "Where should I buy seeds?" With a plethora of sources -- local options, online seed companies, and seed catalogs -- it's hard to know the best places to buy your garden seeds.

One thing is for sure: quality matters. Here you'll find the benefits and drawbacks of local seed sources and online seed catalogs, along with tips to help you know how to choose your best vegetable garden crops and where to buy seeds.

journeywithjill.net/podcast

Sometimes we jump into choosing our crops and designing the layout of the garden way too fast. But if we take step backward and work through these three overlooked but crucial steps in garden planning, we'll find not only will the rest of the planning go more smoothly, but we'll end up with a more successful garden overall.

Let's start our 2019 garden season off right!

Resources mentioned:

Complete Garden Planner

Beginner's Garden Shortcut Online Course

Whether you're looking for gift ideas or just hoping to expand your garden resources, here are my top eight favorite tools and books I've used in and for my garden. 

Links to all the books and resources are found here: https://journeywithjill.net/gardening/2018/11/06/my-8-favorite-garden-tools-and-gardening-books

Even beginning gardeners understand how critical healthy soil is to the life of their plants. But how do you know what's going on underneath your mulch? Without a soil test, you're just guessing, and you might even attempt to fix problems without knowing the root cause.

A soil test is a critical but overlooked component to understanding the home in which your plants live. In this episode, I'll go over the basics -- why you need to test your soil, when to test, how to test, and what to do after you receive your results.

Click here for the full blog post with the information presented today.

If you're on your second year of gardening or beyond, this action plan will help you get started on your garden planning so you can have your best season yet!

BONUS LIVE TRAINING! Details at http://journeywithjill.net/headstart -- Don't miss it!

Full blog post: https://journeywithjill.net/gardening/2018/10/08/how-to-get-a-head-start-on-your-garden-planning/