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Grow Your Own to Save Costs

There is a brilliant way to grow your own vegetables called "Square Foot Gardening".  Anyone can go onto the Internet and see how it is done. Watch the videos etc. I advertised in the local paper for old cement laundry tubs which I have set up to be waist height to garden in them. I mixed up the growing mix that Mel Bartholomew advises (he is the author of the book on Square Foot Gardening). I found I could buy the book online and pay the exchange on the dollar plus freight cheaper than buying it here in Australia. Plus the copies sold here are the out of date ones. He has released an updated version. There are also a lot of videos on YouTube about vertical growing and growing in containers if you have limited space. I found the laundry tubs the best as no grass could come up through the plughole seeing it was up off the ground. I had a cage built over the top made out of old galvanised pipes and I bought a roll of chicken wire. I have seen an idea in the Gardening Australia Ideas DVD where the woman makes a covered thing over her garden out of reticulation pipes and shade cloth but there would be nothing stopping you from using the chicken wire instead of the shade cloth to let in more sunlight. I had so much trouble with possums, wallabies and birds before I had the cage over the top. There is a good website to look at re growing tomatoes. www.bestjuicytomatoes.com You must start off with the good mixture if growing in containers to sustain the root system.  
Contributed by Kathy Mooney