Compost. It's a valuable commodity for organic gardeners...and best of all it's free.

I often stand in amazement at how God designed the world to work when I ponder little things, like compost for example. Fresh stuff that is grown in your garden or mine produces scraps and leftovers, that can then be used to feed the garden again as compost. Trees make leaves that fall in the autumn time, which then biodegrade and feed the tree by providing good things for the ground around it. It's really amazing to think about.

Of course, what do modern folks do? rake leaves and get rid of them....well not me anyway...I rake leaves, put them in plastic bags, water them lightly, and stick them in the barn until spring, at which time they are partly decomposed and make great mulch. This works better if you can leave them in the sunshine all winter, but some neighbors are not into the whole organic thing. My friend Dale takes other people's leaves left in bags at the street corner for use in his garden the following spring, which I'd do if I didn't have a tree and if my kids didn't love raking so much. :-)

Kitchen scraps are another great source of future compost. I save all of my veggie peelings, cores, etc....everything but meat...and we add that to one of the compost bins every other day.

The kids are so used to this idea of compost and biodegradable things, that the other day, they were eating watermelon with some guests over, and my youngest went into the kitchen, grabbed the compost bucket, opened it (ew) and said, everyone throw your rinds in here to feed our garden!

For years, I used a regular bucket for my kitchen scraps but one year someone got me this one in the picture, which has a filter, and doesn't smell (unless opened), and it works wonders too.

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One of the best ways to save extra money on the grocery bill is to grow your own groceries, but getting started with a garden can be challenging and intimidating. If it's not done properly, a garden can potentially cost you more than you actually save. Many gardening books on the market today contain costly suggestions. Most of the time, gardening books aren't directed towards busy mothers with young children either, and it shows! That's where my new ebook, Momma's Guide to Growing Your Groceries comes in!