The Cheap Vegan Vegetable Garden

I recently started my first ever vegetable garden. My dad had always grown vegetables but I usually just enjoyed the fruits of his labor. Now that I’m living in LA I want to take advantage of the sun and grow some greens of my own.

Since I’m in the city, we don’t have garden space in my apartment complex. I asked my landlord if I could put a planter out and he happily agreed. He even helped me build it! 

To build a planter you need treated wood (to keep bugs from eating it) and some long nails that are really hard to hammer in… I wish I could say that I was a great builder and I did it all on my own, but without help I probably would have just ended up buying a bunch of pots and laying them in a row on a shelf. 

Once I had the planter, I filled it with dirt and an organic alternative to Miracle Grow (ask the people at the nursery for a suggestion).

CHEAP VEGAN WARNING: Don’t be too cheap of a vegan, refrain from getting free dirt on Craig’s List as tempting as free dirt sounds (does free dirt only sound tempting to me?) The problem with free dirt is you don’t know what seeds or plant diseases are already in it, you could be using dirt full of weeds and you’ll only know once you are already too invested to start over.

Next, you need to pick out some plants. This will depend on the time of year you are planting, the climate you live in, and the size of your garden. For example, my dad suggested that I get some carrot seed and sprinkle it around the garden. That would be a great idea in Spring time on the East coast, but not in LA. Be sure to ask your garden supply store what works best in your climate. If you go to a good local nursery the guys there are sure to be a rich source of information, talk to them!

In LA, this time of year, in a planter, these were the plants I decided to grow: 

• Tomatoes
• Basil
• Orange Wax Peppers (seeds)
• Purple Basil
• Rosemary
• Oregano
• Thyme
• Bush Beans (like green beans)
• Cucumbers
• Eggplant (seeds)
• Cilantro

There is some science to plant placement. Some plants do better/worse planted next to each other. This is called “companion planting”. Basil and Tomato for example work well together. The basil deters certain bugs from eating the tomato plant.

Here is a chart of some good and bad companion plants.

I’ll be keeping you posted on how the garden grows and the tricks and tips I learn along the way.

Cheap, Fresh, Local.

The purpose of this blog is to help people figure out ways to incorporate whole foods in to their diet without spending too much money. There is a perception that eating a vegan diet is very expensive compared to an omnivorous diet. The fact is there are plenty of easy ways to go vegan and eat well on a budget. One of the best and healthiest ways to do this is to cut out the processed foods and start eating more whole foods. Farmers markets are a great place to nab deals on fresh fruit and vegetables.

Most farmers markets offer a table of food at a reduced price like the one shown in the picture above. These are foods that are just a little past their peak but haven’t quite gone bad yet. This is a great option for those of us who want fresh local foods but can’t always afford produce at full price.

These cheaper produce options aren’t always the ones we would have chosen regularly. Use this as an opportunity to get creative and try new foods. Find recipes using any ingredient at www.vegweb.com. Just search the name of the fruit or vegetable and dozens of recipes will pop up.
(To find out more tricks about using vegweb click here)

At this farmers market we ended up buying 2 eggplant, 1 red pepper, 5 zucchini, and a bag of 10-12 lemons and limes for only $6! Perfect for pasta primivera and lemon pellegrino.

I Never Know What’s in Season.
This is a fun info-graphic letting you know some of the foods that are in season around the US.

This website is also good for figuring out what’s in season is here at Eat The Seasons.

Why to Eat In Season

1. It’s Cheaper! It’s in season and it’s grown near you. This means it’s all around easier to get a hold of, which is good for your bank account.
2. It’s Good for the Earth. Choosing foods that are in season in your area means that some truckload of food doesn’t need to drive hundreds of miles to get to your plate.
3. In general seasonal foods will be fresher, taste better, and have better nutrients. There are also less chemicals involved in keeping the food looking fresh since it has less distance to travel and is actually in season.

TIP*: Be sure to use farmers markets! The people selling crops know their stuff if you aren’t sure what’s in season around you. Plus! If you go at the end of the day you can sometimes get produce for cheap or even free.