Is organic gardening really all that difficult, or costly?  We turned to our experts, Caitlin Blethlen of Growing Gardens and Mara Reynolds of Portland Community Gardens to see just how easy and inexpensive it can be to grow your own food organically.

GBG: In your opinion, are organic gardens more expensive to plant and maintain than those using pesticides and herbicides? 

Caitlin: No.  The basis of organic gardening is establishing healthy soil which can take time through using cover crops, and adding compost and creating a balanced eco system in your yard.

Mara:  As far as I know, with the exception of the initial cost of seeds, organic gardening is cheaper all across the board.  With proper planting techniques, composting, and soil amendments, you should be able to successfully garden organically with very little inputs.  (To be honest I’ve never gardened with pesticides or herbicides)

GBG:  Can you provide a few tools that people might use to control pests when gardening organically?

Caitlin: Starting off with good soil is one way to keep your plants healthy, if they receive enough nutrients and support from the soil, they are less likely to get disease or be attacked by pests. Also, remember that bio-diversity is very important in a garden! Encourage bugs and insects to visit your garden, rather than try to keep them away. A healthy garden will have a balance of both good and bad bugs. Consider doing a bug/insect inventory with your child to see who is living in your garden!

We’re glad you stopped by this Thrifty Green Thursday!  Please join our blog carnival this week by adding your link to the list below and then linking back to us in your post.  If you’re lost, click here for complete information on where to get started. 

Last year I made three resolutions on Earth Day, and I managed to accomplish two of my goals.  Once again, I’ll keep things simple by choosing just a few resolutions.  Baby steps, as they say.

I resolve to purchase carbon offset coupons when I travel by air.  I resolved to do this last year and didn’t.  Ever since I read that book about reducing my carbon footprint, I’ve felt guilty about traveling–something I used to think was essential for learning about the world, experiencing new cultures, and connecting with relatives across the country.  I thought buying the coupons would allow me to travel without the guilt.  Still, I didn’t do it last year.  Perhaps it just doesn’t seem right to “buy” my way out of this one?  We had a bit of a discussion about this on my last post.  I’m still conflicted.

I resolve to plant an organic garden.  I didn’t do it last year because we moved right around growing season.  I need to get serious about eating locally-and nothing’s more local than my own back yard!

I’m sure there are dozens of other things I could do to save the planet, but I’ll stick with these two for now.  Is anyone else making any Earth Day resolutions?  Do tell! 

Making Earth Day resolutions works for me (well, sort of).  For more Works for Me Wednesday ideas, head on over to We are THAT Family.

The sun is shining, flowers are blooming, and the soil is ready to produce.  Why not plant a garden this year and score some organic fruits and vegetables for a fraction of the cost?  Plus, a garden will force you to get your hands in the dirt and your baby outdoors. 

Today we’ll start with the most important part: planning your dream garden. Our tips come from Caitlin Blethlen, Youth Growth Manager for a non-profit organization called Growing Gardens.  It focuses on helping low-income families grow their own food and is based in Portland, Oregon.   For last week’s post on the cost-benefits of home gardening and ways to involve your children, click here. 

GBG: What should people keep in mind when planning a garden?

Caitlin: To grow great vegetables you need a site that gets full sunlight for at least 6 hours a day, healthy soil and have access to a water source. Investing in healthy soil is the best investment you can make for your garden. Soil should be full of organic matter which will attract worms, bacteria and other microbes that help plants grow.  One way to ensure your soil is healthy is by adding compost. Compost adds important organic matter, and bacteria and helps soil retain water.

Other things to consider when planning a garden are location and pets. Will you be inspired or remember to care for your garden if it is tucked away behind your garage? Locating it in a sunny spot is important, but it is also important to put it in an easy to access location so it won’t go neglected. If you have dogs or cats, how you will keep them from digging in the garden?

GBG: When is the best time to start planting the family garden?

Caitlin: Planting seeds in the garden can happen between mid-February throughearly November depending on the crop. Portland’s climate allows us to grow many fruits and vegetables from peas and greens, to tomatoes and peppers.  Some seeds can be sown directly in the garden, like peas, radishes and beets, and others need to be started indoors before being planted out later in the season, like tomatoes, peppers, basil and eggplants. 

Our series on organic gardening has many parents planning a kitchen garden this spring.  But what should you plant in it if you’re also wanting to whip up several batches of home-blended baby food this summer?  Which vegetables are easiest to cook and process?  Which ones have you found are sure-fire hits with baby?  The easiest for my son were sweet potatoes, yams, and squash—all of which don’t mature until later in the season.  Are there other veggies that have worked well for you? Thanks for providing some planting inspiration for other new parents! 

Last year I made some Earth Day Resolutions, and now it’s time to see how I did.  Did my resolutions motivate me to go greener . . . or did I fail to meet even the simplest goals?  Let’s review.

I resolved to switch to eco-friendly cleaners.  Yes!  I did it.  I switched from conventional laundry detergent to Biokleen-and discovered that Biokleen was not only better for the environment, but better for my pocketbook than the cheapest conventional product on the store shelves.  Read about that here.  I also started using so-called “eco-friendly” dish soaps.  (And I wrote about why dish soap is bad for the environment, reviewed several eco-brands, suggested alternatives to liquid dish soap, and found a way to conserve dish soap while washing dishes.)

I resolved to sign up for renewable energy from my power company.  That was easy.  I’d been procrastinating about doing it for a long time, but after publicly resolving to do so, I logged on to my account online, clicked a button, and it was done.

I resolved to buy carbon offset coupons when I took airplane trips.  Did I do this?  No.  Ugh.  Well, now I have something for this year’s list.

Okay, so I made three goals, one was extremely easy, and another I forgot about entirely.  I will borrow Joy’s famous phrase to alleviate some of the guilt: “Progress, not perfection.”  Stay tuned for another list of resolutions I may or may not be able to keep!

It’s spring—time to dream of ripe tomatoes and sugar snap peas.  You can grow them yourself and save hundreds on organic produce with a few tips and a bit of inspiration.  Our first post in a four part series on organic home gardening will focus on garden materials and the money you can save once you do. 

You don’t have to invest hundreds of dollars to get results.  In fact, you may be able to get started with a very modest investment that will yield you a harvest for several weeks. 

Today’s contributors, Mara Reynolds and Caitlin Blethlen are expert gardeners with plenty of tips to share.  Mara works with Portland Community Gardens to further support gardening in the city. This tremendous program allows families to rent garden plots, learn how to preserve food, and get their children involved in gardening.  Caitlin is the Youth Gardening director for Growing Gardens, a non-profit dedicated to helping low-income, urban families grow their own food.

GBG:  What materials would you recommend for families who are setting up their first kitchen gardens? 

Mara: Containers are a great option for those without access to soil.  They should be made of non-treated wood or ceramic–plastic works but is not ideal for growing things you want to eat.  To determine what size of container to use, remember that a plant’s roots will more or less mirror its above-ground size, which be will determined by how much space the roots have to grow. 

Raised beds are great for anyone with physical trouble bending down, or for containing plants that spread quickly, but otherwise they just require more materials and aren’t necessary. To start a garden, begin by starting a compost heap (no bin required) and building up layers of mulch on your beds.  The tools and amendments you need will vary based on the size and needs of your garden.  

GBG:  Approximately how much can families save by raising their own produce?

Caitlin:  A family of five in Maine did cost analyses of growing their own vegetables in a 1600 square foot garden (0.3 of an acre). They priced what it would have cost them to buy the same items using three different sets of prices: conventional grocery store, farmers’ market and organic grocery store (Whole Foods, in their case).  The total value came to $2200, $2400, and $2500 respectively.  They had about $200 in out-of-pocket costs for seeds and supplies.  The cost of their labor was not included because they enjoy gardening and the physical work involved.  If they would have included labor costs, they would have subtracted gym and country club memberships from those costs.

From this they calculated that a square foot would add up to roughly $1.50  per square foot. That would mean a smaller garden of 400 square feet would produce $600 of produce. These are averages and certain crops are more expensive and space efficient than others. Each year our Home Gardeners participate in a survey and about 97% of them say they saved money on their food bill by growing their own veggies.

Thanks for joining us this week for Thrifty Green Thursday!  Please feel free to jump in with your frugal green tips.  It’s easy—just click here for details. 

My daughter is now three years old, so even though I co-write The Green Baby Guide with Joy, sometimes the baby years seem like they were a part of the distant past.  In our upcoming book, we talk a lot about reducing the amount of gear you buy for your newborn–after all, so much of it gets used for  just a few weeks or months.  Then I looked around my daughter’s room for relics from the past.  Three years out, is there any baby gear we’re still using?  Yes!

Cloth diapers.  Audrey potty trained at 2.5 years, but we still put her in prefolds with a cover at night.  She rarely wakes up wet, but we haven’t yet  made the leap to diaperless nights.  The prefolds are the same exact ones we’ve been using since her second week of life.  She’s fit in the same covers for at least a year and a half.

Blankets/quilts.  Many people complain about the glut of baby blankets they receive as gifts.  Audrey uses the bigger ones on her toddler-sized bed and the smaller ones for her dolls.  The quilt my cousin made her still hangs on her wall as a colorful decoration.

Board books.  Audrey has graduated on to more sophisticated reading material, but that hasn’t diminished her love for her “baby” board books.  She still picks them up, thumbs through them, and “reads” them to herself.

Some toys.  Toys we’ve had since Audrey’s birth still sit in her toy box: blocks, some stuffed animals, and wooden puzzles were fun for her when she was little, and she’s adjusted the way she plays with them as she’s gotten older.

Moses basket.  Audrey slept in a Moses basket for the first six months.  Once she moved into a crib, we started using it to store her soft toys.

So when you start stocking that nursery, think about the longevity of the things you buy.  It worked for me!  For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, head on over to We are THAT Family.

What baby gear did you get a lot of mileage out of as your little one grew?  Let us know!

Last week we introduced you to Lunchsense Lunchboxes, a great solution for those of you searching for ways to quickly pack meals that work for little ones.  The boxes have been featured on other websites as well including “Vegan Lunchbox.” 

This isn’t your typical fabric lunchbag.  It’s a sturdy system that snaps into a box or a flat tray and is filled with handy plastic containers that lock closed so that food doesn’t leak out.   This week we’ll fill you in on the last part of our interview with Nancy Owen Myers, the Lunchsense creator and an innovative mother of three.

GBG:  How does a Lunchsense lunchbox end up helping the environment and saving money?

Nancy:  The obvious, easy answer: since the food containers in Lunchsense are designed to last, they pay for themselves over a fairly short time by both eliminating baggies from brown bag lunches, and by allowing the user to buy in bulk and reduce waste (and cost) from pre-packaged containers.

The less obvious but still easy answer: Food that gets carted around single-use containers gets tossed out with the baggies; food that gets carted around in durable containers comes home to be eaten later.  Far less food is wasted when kids use Lunchsense lunchboxes!

Here are few comments from families that have purchased their own Lunchsense packs.


“This lunchbox is the best thing since sliced bread and it paid for itself in a week since I no longer have to buy lunch – Thanks”

“My family tries to do little things in our effort live a little more “Green”. One of the smartest things I did was buy a Lunchsense box for my daughter to take to school. We don’t go through hundreds of little plastic baggies every month anymore. Just in $ saved not buying plastic ziploc bags, this little lunchbox has paid for itself several times over! So- we’re doing something good for the Earth, and saving money for other things… like braces.”

“I just wanted to thank you for the great service and to let you know that we are enjoying the lunch box innards we purchased. Just to let you know, I joked before to ask if having your product would get my child to eat her lunch. It’s only been a week for school, and we are learning how MUCH to put in her lunchbox, but she DOES eat the items, brings home the excess, and EATS that after school for snack. I am not bombarded with requests before dinner, and she’s eating something healthy for her snack. I couldn’t ask for anything more! Thanks a bunch!”

Some of you whip up homemade brews out of vinegar and baking soda while others of you are loyal to an eco-friendly company with products you love.  Do you have any tricks that we could learn from?  (My favorite is to use Borax for cleaning the shower–it’s amazing and so cheap!) Please share your secrets!

Erika Jones of Organic Baby Resource just came out with a FREE downloadable e-book: The Organic Baby Food Guide.  What a valuable tool for new parents . . . and you can’t beat the price!

Here’s what she has to say about it:

The Organic Baby Food Guide profiles 35 of the leading brands of baby food around the world so you don’t have to go out hunting for nutritious, organic options. Instead, we tell you where to find the foods in your area so you can comparison shop without leaving your home.

Just go here and you’ll find a link to get your own free guide!