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One Hundred Dollars a Month

I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.

Megan From West Virginia Sends in Photos of Her Parent’s Garden

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harvest pictures

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in their photographs and stories. I hope by sharing other peoples pictures and stories here on One Hundred Dollars a Month we can all have a rock star garden this summer. Keep them coming!

Check out this story {and all the photos, reader Megan from West Virginia sent in:

strawberry pallet garden
Hey Mavis!
I wanted to submit some photos of my parents garden this year. It is totally ROCK STAR! Since having my baby in May this year, I haven’t had much time to keep up with the garden….hence, no photos of my own garden. My greenhouse is doing great, but that is another story=).
My parents recently went on a 10 Alaskan cruise and asked me to look after their garden. Mom was afraid that if I didn’t pick beans, the plants would stop producing. Well, yesterday I drove the 45 minutes to their house, enlisted my sister to hold the baby, and pick a bagillion veggies. I was shocked at how great their garden is doing this year.
gourds
I picked a huge bag of green beans and plan on processing them today. I’ll get at least 6 quarts from this one picking. Several of their tomatoes were ripe, but it looks like the tomatoes have gotten a blight of some sort. All the leaves on the bottoms are yellow or completely brown and dead. But the tops look great and they are still growing!
The cucumbers are crazy as well! I canned 4 quarts of pickles last night and will probably get 4 more today (using fresh dill and garlic from my own garden. 🙂
wooden sign
My dad is a crafty and resourceful man. He has used reclaimed items to build the “structure” of his garden. Old pipes and whatnot are strung with heavy duty cattle fencing as trellises for the beans, gourds, and other viney things. He even used an old mailbox to store his twine, gloves, shears, etc. in! Super cute. Even the electric fence was thrifted at a yard sale.
He even  made a sign that shows where each of his kids live and how far away they are. We are a close family, even if we are miles apart most of the year!
pea vines
The man HATES to weed (who doesn’t?!?) so last year and again this year, he put down super thick black landscaping plastic and cut holes for the plants as he planted them. I don’t think I saw one weed while I was up there yesterday.
corn stalks
The corn was at least 8-9 feet tall! And the crazy part is, it was all knocked down during a big storm earlier this summer. But within a few days, after propping them up (ie leaning them the opposite direction) they were all standing at attention again!
growing potatoes in tires

These are of his trial garden this year. He planted in pallets (like you) and got an abundance of lettuce and onions earlier in the season. He planted in tires as well. Some tires had onions while one has a tomato! He also constructed a strawberry garden complete with cage to keep the birds and other critters out.

*******

Megan, please tell your parents their garden looks great! I am so jealous of those gourds, I don’t think I’m going to get any this year. 🙁 Too bad I don’t live closer to West Virginia or I’d try and barter with them.

Take care,

Mavis

backyard-garden-photos

Bob and Sherle From California Share Their Vegetable Garden Photos

If you would like to have your garden, chicken coop or something you’ve made featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, here’s what I’m looking for:

  • Your Garden Pictures and Tips – I’d especially like to see your garden set ups, growing areas, and know if you are starting seeds indoors this year. If so,  show me some picture of how you are going about it.
  • Your Chicken and Chicken Related Stories – Coops, Chicks, Hen’s, Roosters, Eggs, you name it. If it clucks, send us some pictures to share with the world.
  • Cool Arts & Crafts – Made from your very own hands with detailed {and well photographed} pictures and instructions.
  • Your pictures and stories about your pets. The more pictures and details the better.
  • Garage Sale, Thrift Store and Dumpster Diving pictures and the stories behind the treasures you found including how much you paid for them.

If I feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to the greatest store in the world: Amazon.com.

Go  HERE for the official rules.

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Comments

  1. I love how he keeps his gardening tools in a mailbox – so cleaver and cool! I also really like the sign he made showing where his children live! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

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