Spring is just around the corner, and now is the time to start thinking of all of those lovely veggies, flowers and other plants for your garden. You may already be starting your seeds indoors, or at least planning your outdoor garden. And don’t forget to focus on growing your own food–that is the most frugal gardening of all!
There are plenty of ways to have a frugal garden, from recycling items to use the garden to taking advantage of sales on supplies. But one of the greatest ways to be frugal in your garden is to score some free seeds. And the best way to get those free seeds is through a seed exchange.
What is a seed exchange? Basically, in a seed exchange, you simply do that, swap the seeds you have for the seeds you want. Even if you are just getting started in your garden, you can keep the idea of a seed exchange in the back of your mind and plan out how you can take advantage of this idea for next year.
In the fall, when your plants bear their seeds, harvest and save those seeds. You should be doing this anyway as part of your normal frugal gardening practices. It doesn’t matter if you harvest more than you think you will use. In fact, the more seeds you have, the better your seed exchange opportunities will be.
Make a list of the seeds that you have and the seeds that you would like to have. Look at gardening catalogues to get inspiration. You can be as simple or as complicated as you like. For example, asking for an exchange of tomatoes or sunflowers will yield a higher success than asking for an exotic dwarf moon flower.
How can you get started with a seed exchange? A really simple way is to ask your friends and neighbors if they would be interested in swapping seeds. You can also host a seed exchange event in your neighborhood at a local park or garden. Pick a date, check with your town and put up some flyers.
If a neighborhood seed exchange just sounds like too much work, try going through the internet. There are many gardening groups and websites that encourage seed swapping. Just do a search to find what you are looking for. You can search on terms such as “seed swapping” or “seed exchange.”
You can also visit the Frugal Gardening thread in the Frugal Living Forum here at Families.com to swap your seeds.
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