The Urban Patch

If you’ve ever said, “I’d love to grow my own food, but I don’t have the money” – I get it. It looks expensive: raised beds, compost bins, fancy tools…but here’s the secret: you can get started for under $20.

Yep, less than the price of a pub parma (without the pint – when did pints get so expensive??).

Ok let’s get stuck in.

🪴 What You Really Need (And What You Don’t)

To start your little urban patch, you only need four things:

1. A plant (a herb, leafy green, or something that won’t easily give up on you)
2. A container (anything that holds soil and drains)
3. Some soil (ideally not straight from your front yard)
4. Sunlight and water (conveniently relatively free!)

If you need a refresher on these 4 steps, check out our Getting Started Beginner’s Guide.

💸 Your $20 Budget Garden Plan

🌱1. Plants – Start with Cuttings or Cheap Seedlings

Forget fancy seed kits. You can literally start with what’s in your fridge or swap cuttings with neighbours:

• Ask on local Facebook groups or community gardens – people love sharing cuttings of mint, rosemary, spring onion
• Regrow from scraps: Pop spring onion roots or celery ends in water, then into soil a few days later
• Bunnings seedlings: Get a 6-pack punnet of mixed herbs for around $10. That’s six plants for the cost of a mediocre sandwich

🪣 2. Containers – Free or Nearly Free

You do not need designer planters. Some of our first basil grew in a recycled olive oil can:

• Check Facebook Marketplace for free pots. Search “free planters” or “garden stuff”
• If you’re starting with seeds, recycled egg cartons are pretty neat – and when it comes time to repot them, you can just plant straight into their new container as the egg carton will just naturally decompose!
• Hard rubbish days in Brunswick (and many other urban kerbs) are full of discarded pot treasures (plus furniture you definitely don’t need but will try to carry home anyway)
• Wash out your used tinned tomato cans, ice cream tubs, or yoghurt pots! You can even upcycle buckets or or bins. Drill a hole in the bottom and voila, you’ve got yourself a new plant home

🪱 3. Soil – One Bag Does Plenty

If you’re growing in pots, don’t dig up backyard soil. It’s usually too heavy, full of weeds, and not great for containers. Shell out for potting mix:

• Bunnings Garden Basics Premium Potting Mix 25L – around $5.30. 2 bucks more for Premium (vs the Basic variety) but you get 3 months worth of plant food mixed in there. Win!
• I also like Scott Osmocote’s Tomato Vegetable and Herb Premium Potting Mix 25L (pictured above on the right) – slightly more spenny at $9.98, so sometimes I mix it with the Bunnings Garden Basics one if I’ve a larger planter to fill out
• One 25L bag is enough for 3–4 medium pots or 6+ small containers

💡Urban Patch Tip: Save those round takeaway salad or deli olive tubs for scooping soil.

🌞 4. Light, Water & Love – All Free

• Aim for at least 4–6 hours of sun a day. Even a bright windowsill can grow herbs
• Water with saved kitchen water (e.g. from rinsing rice/veggies) – added bonus of extra nutrients for your plants!
• Talk to your plants. I’m convinced my basil grows faster when it’s praised

🧑‍🌾 A Note on Tools – You Already Own Some

Don’t get sucked into the trap of buying all sorts of fancy garden tooling right off the bat. You don’t need a trowel or a spray mister to start. Your hands work great. So do forks.

Free alternatives:

• Old fork or spoon = hand trowel
• Empty drink bottle = watering can
• Finger = seed planting tool

🧺 Your $20 Starter Garden Shopping List

Item	Source	Cost
Recycled containers	Marketplace, your kitchen	$0
6-pack herb seedlings	Bunnings	$10
25L potting mix	Bunnings	$6
Bonus cuttings from neighbours	Marketplace, next door	$0
TOTAL		$16

🪴 Final Thoughts (and a Nudge)

Starting small and on a budget doesn’t mean starting badly. It means starting smarter.

You don’t need a perfect setup. You need a little soil, a scrappy container, some sun, and a tiny bit of care. And if you mess it up? Try again next week. Nature’s very forgiving.

So go on. Find a pot, pinch a cutting, and grow something. And when your first parsley leaf appears – send us a pic. We’ll be cheering you on.

Want more ideas? Check out:
👉 Beginner-Friendly Plants You Can’t Kill
👉 The 4 Basics to Get You Growing