Peas doing well, and gardening on a budget

The peas are growing quickly - although the germination rate was low (I think I sowed about 12 seeds or so). I have 4 seedlings reaching towards the light. I think it is time to build a trellis for them - I probably should have planted them with the trellis. I will have to be careful not to damage the roots. I want to start a second container of peas this weekend.

Coffee grind to the left, filters to the right.

Gardening is not a cheap hobby, I would guess especially in the beginning. I was going to build self-watering pots with 5 gallon buckets. I still plan to do this, but in the meantime I am using some cheap containers I found at Walmart and old containers I had lying around. I have started composting in two 5-gallon buckets but I'm not entirely sure if I am doing it correctly. I really want to try vermicomposting, but I can't quite get comfortable with the idea of having worms in the house. I read that used coffee grinds are great fertilizer and can be added to soil (<20% volume). We go through a lot of coffee at work so I have been taking the coffee grinds and filter home this past week. I've added some to the compost bucket and drying the rest to set aside for later use.


I broke my plastic watering bucket the other day - I didn't realize how strong I am! I made a new one using an empty juice bottle and it works quite well. I'm trying to think of other ways to save money. It is kind of fun!