The Dirt-Cheap Green Thumb: 400 Thrifty Tips for Saving Money, Time, and Resources as You Garden

by Rhonda Massingham Hart

Discover how frugal gardening can lead to fantastic results! Rhonda Massingham Hart provides practical, time-tested tips that stretch your dollar even as they yield beautiful, bountiful plants. From starting seeds to preserving produce, Hart's advice ensures that you won't waste time and money while growing your own vegetables, flowers, houseplants, or landscape foliage. Perfect for thrifty gardeners of all levels, "The Dirt-Cheap Green Thumb" covers everything you want to grow, indoors and out.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Reference, Green, Plants, Food

329 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 30, 2009

Reviews

[Quirkyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I initially checked this out from the Public Library. After completing it I purchased a copy for myself.

I think as I score further copies of this book, it will become a gift to all of my growing friends and apprentices.

Everyone who works with me knows that I am a reuse, recycle, repurpose queen. This book has even more tips and tricks that I can use to double down with.

It is also a good starting point for someone who wants to start growing, but thinks it is way out of their price range and means. Hopefully this book will inspire more beginners to go out and grow something.

[Torey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful tips for starting a successful gardening journey! Cheap, practical advice about where to skimp and save and where to splurge and protect your investment!

[jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay normally I hate those type of books like "101 ways to save the planet" "50 frugal meals for your family" et cetera. I am not sure what convinced me to pick this book up, since it appears to be just as forced and cheesy as every other compendium of lifestyle tips. But I did pick it up, and surprisingly, I really liked it. There was not a lot of new material in here for me, but I was probably a tightwad punk diy kind of gardener before conception. It is still good to have all the ideas for pinching pennies in one place. If someone was very new to gardening and wanted to start on a budget, this would be a reasonable place to start. There are general tips on everything from mulch & composting to seed starting and acquiring tools. A more seasoned gardener can easily reference an area where she'd like more $avings.

[(a)lyss(a) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a helpful book! While not all of the advice is applicable for everyone and the costs of some things have changed in the last few years which can impact how cheap some of these approaches actualy are, there's a lot of practical tips in this book. From designing to maintaining your garden and harvesting seeds this book is packed with information and gets into the nitty gritty of how much work gardening can be.

[Ligaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't glean anything new here but I'm certain many newbie gardeners will be flush with projects. Because this is a small book, the thrifty tips are kind of abbreviated and one should really look into other resources to get the complete picture. (Like dehydrating your harvest, properly building a cold frame, or which fruits and veggies store best and how...)

[Tabbie Fayth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little pocket book filled with tips and tricks to make the most of your garden. Includes tips for flower gardens and vegetable/fruits. Definitely recommend for any novice gardener. I'm sure the more experienced person could use several of the tricks as well.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really helpful and I do recommend it to anyone that is gardening on a budget.

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very practical little book.

[Kari · Rating 1 out of 5]

This may have been because it was a Kindle book, but I found this ard to navigate and difficult to read. I gave up quickly into it because it was over my head gardening-wise and hard to use.

[Kirsten T · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got some good information from her ideas, but overall a quick skim.

[Laura Gilfillan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of great gardening info in here, and quite a few things I want to try.

[Wanda ❣️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of really really good tips in here!

[Lauren Read · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a broad overview of gardening but not a true focus on economy.
I thought the taxonomy could have been better.

[Arlian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not exactly what I was expecting, but quite good for what it is. I was expecting more of a book of tips and tricks for home-making things you need to garden, like homemade organic pesticides (like those found in "Dead Daisy's Make Me Crazy"), or one one of those crazy old books that's all "Save your stockings and milks jugs, look like a bag lady for 6 months until you can build this really neat planter!!" or whatever those old books all say.

This is just a pleasant no-nonsense beginners guide to gardening. For example, it says if you have acid soil try and grow acid-loving plants instead of trying to spend a bunch of money amending it (and provides a list of acid loving plants, that like shade or sun). Or it suggest mixing your own soil instead of buying pre mixed. Basic things that someone like me already knows and does. It does have *some* of the above mentioned things (cornmeal as a fungal deterrent, etc) but again, is mostly just a generic gardening book.

However, it's actually straight forward and no-frills enough to be one of the few books I would legitimately consider a a "one-stop" book of gardening. It's really and truly covers almost everything you might need to know about gardening in any average at-home plot--from tool purchase to soil mix to treating pests and disease to seed saving, and preservation (canning, drying, etc) as well. I almost *never* say this, but if you had to have only one book on gardening, I might recommend this to be the one.

[Marjanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up with a garden though have not really had one of my own (I've got a bunch of indoor plants, a lot of grass, and a handful of plants in my front garden). There is a lot about gardening I had no idea about. It kind of intimidates me, but then I read books like this and I'm glad there are a lot of smart, published gardeners out there. This book had a variety of advice, kept short and sweet. I will probably check it out again in the future when I actually get my garden going.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some books are good stories, some books are good sources of detailed information, and some books are good idea books. This book is an idea book. Not detailed in the description of the many ways to garden, it does provide a lot of ideas for the would be gardener to incorporate into their own home gardens. I will be following several of the idea threads suggested in this book as I plant and maintain my vegetable and landscaping gardens.

[Kristina Seleshanko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected re-purpose and recycling ideas along with DIY projects, and while there's a wee bit of that in this book, "Dirt Cheap" is mostly a simple guide to gardening. The premise is: Garden well and you'll spend less. Because the book is broken down into quick-to-read chunks, it's unique and useful.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apples have a June drop, ridding the tree of defective fruit. So that is why I have been picking up apples everyday? A nice little reference book to have on hand for the new or seasoned gardener. A lot of practical money saving ideas and just good information.

[Miss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book of resourceful tips.

Excellent if you're on a budget or trying to be more Eco-minded. Reuse!

[Khristiey · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty good primer for beginning gardeners and some nice tips for saving $ for us more seasoned folk. the charts are helpful and easy to navigate.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a gardening and backyard farming book than money saving tips. Still a worthwhile read if you are trying to grow your own food or are interested in composting or the other topics covered.

[Alisa Kester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got a bunch of good tips from this one.