Raising your own vegetable garden helps stretch your grocery budget. Not only is it economical, but homegrown produce is quite nutritious, especially if you fertilize the soil before you plant. It's pretty easy to visit your local lawn and garden store and pick up a few bags of commercial fertilizer. But to enrich your garden soil without harmful chemicals and save money at the same time, it's better to make and use your own fertilizer.

Homemade Fertilizer Made With Weeds

Although we see them as nuisances in our yards and gardens, weeds can be quite beneficial. They can make an easy-to-use homemade fertilizer for your vegetable garden. The greater the variety of weeds you use, the more nutrients your fertilizer will contain. Most any kind of weeds can be used such as dandelions, nettles and wild garlic.

To make this homemade fertilizer, simply gather together a bunch of different types of weeds. Chop them up roughly with a pair of yard clippers and place them in a five-gallon bucket. You'll need about a pound of weeds per batch. Add eight cups of tap water to the chopped weeds and cover the bucket. Set it in a warm, sunny spot outside that is away from your house. As the weeds ferment, they will become rather smelly.

Allow the homemade weed fertilizer to ferment in the sun for two to four weeks, stirring the mixture weekly. Don't get the solution on your skin or clothing, because it will stain.

Finally, to use this fertilizer on your garden, mix together 1 part of the weed solution and 10 parts water. Pour it onto the roots of your vegetable plants and then water the soil with plain tap water to help send the homemade fertilizer down to the roots.

When you need to make more weed solution, simply replace the old weeds with a fresh batch. Add more water and allow the solution to ferment as you did previously.

Homemade Organic Fertilizer

Another way you can enrich your garden soil and save money is to make a homemade organic fertilizer. You'll need to visit your local feed and grain store, as well as a garden supply store to buy the necessary supplies, including:

1. Seed Meal

2. Finely- Ground Agricultural Lime

3. Gypsum

4. Dolomitic lime

5. Bone meal or rock phosphate

6. Kelp meal

If you can't find bone meal or kelp meal at the local store, you can buy small bags of both through various Web sites.

To make this organic fertilizer, mix together 4 parts seed meal, 1/4 part agricultural lime, 1/4 part gypsum, 1/2 part dolomitic lime, 1 part bone meal or rock phosphate and 1/2 part kelp meal in a five-gallon bucket.

To use this fertilizer on your garden, spread it over the soil in the spring before you plant. Then, apply small amounts to your growing vegetable plants every three to four weeks.