With the ever increasing price of food, if you have space in your garden or if you are able to rent an allotment and grow a few vegetables, this is the way to beat inflation.

You will doubtless be spraying your crops with less chemicals than commercial growers, which is another bonus.

You stand a chance of converting a finicky child who is 'vegetable-averse' into a fan if they are able to eat what they have grown.
This will save more than money.
It should save your temper, time, and frustration etc, so it must be a winner.

1. Even if you do not have space outside, the youngest child could manage growing cress in a small dish with a piece of damp, soft cloth in which to root the cress seeds.

They will love to do this, as the results are very quick. This tip will give you a useful addition to your salads and sandwiches.

2. Sprouting vegetables grown in jars are another suggestion. Your local health food store will give you instructions.

It is not necessary to buy a special kit – a large jam jar, a piece of thin cloth and an elastic band are all you need – plus the appropriate seeds.

These sprouted vegetables are good for Chinese recipes. The bought ones often look a little jaded on the Supermarket shelves. These will be fresh and will save money. Can't be bad!

Once you have kindled an interest in growing plants you could well change the course of a child's life. It will probably promote an interest in eating their produce and may provide them with a life-long interest. The author speaks from her own personal experience here - gardening at school and I was hooked for life!

3. Marrows and courgettes are plants that the children will also like to grow. They need very little looking after except plenty of watering and harvesting. A great winner because of the short time these plants take to grow and the fantastic looking results.

You could also try pumpkins in readiness for Halloween.

Always grow plants that are quick, easy and useful if you want to retain the interest of the children. Runner beans just keep on coming and are really sweet when they are picked when small and eaten raw - the kids will love them - almost like taking a forbidden fruit! They are also spectacular to look at. Think Jack and the Beanstalk here. The children will be helping your budget as well as learning about growing vegetables. They will also learn that there are other ways to spend their time apart from watching TV.

4. Another good gardening tip is growing herbs in pots outside the kitchen door in readiness for giving plain meals a tasty ‘lift’. If you have an usual container, i.e., an old wheelbarrow with holes drilled for drainage, make a feature herb garden. If you include mint in this herb garden, plant it in a pot submerged in the soil, otherwise it will run riot amongst the other herbs.

Mint, parsley and chives are particularly useful and very easy to grow. A cheese and chive omelette is a winner as a quick supper dish. Don't let the chives flower and run to seed otherwise you will have chive plants everywhere next season.

Rosemary is a lovely shrubby herb and the small, pointed leaves give a special taste to roast or sauté potatoes etc. but this plant will need a very large pot or otherwise planting in open ground.

Probably the gardening tip that beats all others regarding the need to save money is the following:

5. After potatoes have been peeled, if they have produced any 'eyes' save the peel in a dark bag or container. When enough have been collected, dig a line trench in the garden, sprinkle the peelings in, cover with soil and wait.

It is amazing to get so much from so little. Just think how amazed the children and you will be at the results. Lovely new potatoes from nothing! Thanks to Jane Rice-Oxley of Denmead, Hampshire for this superb money saving tip. Well done!

6. This tip has a bonus attached. If you are planting a new hedge try including prickly items such as hawthorn, blackthorn, brambles etc. Such a hedge will be a deterrent to burglars, intruders etc. and will definitely save money. The bonus is it will be appreciated by birds and wildlife.

7. To kill weeds under and around conifers and shrubs instead of using a spray or watering can - both of which could cause damage to the plants, use an old long-handled ceiling roller and tray. This will apply the weed killer exactly where you want it, and is also very economical. Thanks to Guy from Norfolk for this timely tip.

8. Start a compost heap. Somewhere out of sight in the garden make a small space to contain compost bin. In best money saving tradition this can be home made with scrap wood. Ideally it should have no gaps in the sides, be situated directly on the soil and covered by an old piece of carpet to keep in the heat that will be generated as the material rots down.

Make thin, alternating layers of the following:

grass cuttings, young weeds, vegetable waste from the kitchen, animal manure such as waste from guinea pig cages, poultry manure.

It is also possible to incorporate small quantities of

Sawdust and wood shavings. Fallen leaves are best placed in a separate pile until they become degraded into leaf mould,

Do not compost meat, fish, cooked food, coal and coke ash, cat litter and dog poo, disposable nappies

Not only will you be finding an easy way of disposing of your waste you will be producing a good source of manure for the garden at no cost to you. To accelerate the rotting process you could try the old country tip of adding urine to your heap as a way of keeping it damp. Otherwise, an occasional sprinkling with water is fine. If you use urine as part of the rotting process, wait for a year before using the compost on the garden.

9. When re-potting a pot plant instead of putting a few stones in the bottom of the pot for drainage, use a few large leaves to make a single layer covering the drainage holes. These will allow water to drain freely but will not result in losing soil from the pot. These leaves will eventually rot, giving your pot plant the advantage in the process. When it is necessary to put the plant into a larger pot, just use the process all over again.

10. When planting a shrub, clear all weeds and unwanted grass from around the stem. Then place a thick layer of newspaper closely around the shrub and thoroughly soak the newspaper with water. On top of this put a good layer of compost. The wet newspaper will stop weed growth and the compost will encourage the newspaper to rot, making a really good compost sandwich for your newly planted shrub. This method should give it a really good start. Don't forget to keep the plant well watered until it is well established.

11. Kill ants by sprinkling unwanted talcum powder on them. This is safer and cheaper than proprietary brands of ant-killer. This tip is also useful if you are unfortunate enough to find ants in the house, particularly in the kitchen where there is food. This also had the advantage that when the ants return to their nest, the talcum on their bodies will help to kill off the rest of the ants.

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