Square Foot Gardening on the Cheap!

So after work yesterday (boy was I knackered!) I went down to the local Aldi's and bought myself two of these raised bed kits. I am planning on starting a 'Square foot Garden' this year to try and cut down on our food bills.

How much on Food?!

Last year we spent £2,700 on food; that is £225 a month! That's a lot of money when you consider we stretch our meals out and re-use leftovers religiously. Like I have mentioned in a previous post, although my and my BF are both working, we don't really have money to waste and so, looking at the bills and things each month, I try to scrimp and save where ever I can and one of the biggest outlays we have is the food we buy.



We won't become tight arses but we do want to be able to spend on the things we want and to save a it for the future and with out current spending, this isn't going to happen any time soon. We have both agreed to set aside a bit of money (£50) each month to invest in things that will save us money in the future. This is where the raised beds come in.

I am a pretty frugal person by nature, I re-purpose, up-cycle and bargain like a demon, so obviously I want to do this on the cheap.

Aldi to the Rescue.

I love Aldi, they generally have plenty of gardening stuff in at this time of year, a lot of it is awful or aimed at the novice (plastic pots filled with flowers for the patio ect ect...) but there are a few gems to be had.

I found these raised border/planters yesterday for only £6.99 each and they are perfect for a quick/instant veggie Square foot Garden. I already have the ingredients necessary to make the soil mix, (click here to see the ingredients) so that has already been paid for. I won't be buying weed-proof barrier cloth, I'll be putting the garden on top of slabs, so a thick layer of newspaper will suffice.

What Happens Next?

As I haven't even started building this all up, I think I'll keep this project an on going update thing so you can see what I do and how it progresses over time.

You have already seen the post about the seeds on the windowsill/ I'll be planting those into this bed once they are ready to go out.

I am really looking forward to this taking shape and I hope it inspires you to get out there and get gardening, just don't buy a shitload of expensive stuff, hell you could even make one of these beds if you nip down the lumber yard!