The first day of spring is March 20, and that means it’s time to get your gardening on!
There is nothing quite like the feel of warm soil on your hands. Add some quality seeds, some sun, a little water, and in just a few short months you have the freshest produce or most beautiful flowers you can imagine. And nothing quite beats the feeling you get when you can go out into your own backyard and fill a vase or basket with something you’ve grown.
Even if you have a small space, as long as you have a sunny spot, you can grow something. You can even grow fruit trees! Last year, we made the big investment and built a large raised bed garden. We planted all kinds of things: tomatoes, peppers, three different types of squash. Then there was eggplant, strawberries, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, lettuce, carrots and tomatillos. We had cucumbers for days and we don’t have time for me to list all of the herbs, just know that there were 6 types of basil.
To say that we may have gone overboard in our first year is probably an understatement. But it’s almost time to start planting again, and while we have pared down our harvest list, what hasn’t changed is our love of a good bargain.
Seeds aren’t expensive, per say, but when you add in all of the other things you need like potting soil, plant food, insecticide, watering cans, soaker hoses and plant supports, it can really start to add up. Knowing where you can snag a military discount is a gardener’s secret weapon.
Home Depot & Lowe’s
Both of these home and garden stores offer a 10% discount to all active duty military and veterans. You need to register in order to receive the discount, but it’s easy, and it’s a solid 10% off on everything you buy. And depending on the sale, it is often on top of sale prices.
I love Home Depot and Lowe’s for things like soil (watch for the sales!), seed starters, and materials for building trellises or vining frames. We even bought the cinder blocks we used to build our raised beds there, at a discount of course! They also offer a variety of easy to grow plants already started for you. Their selection of plants is a little limited, but you can start a pretty decent garden from what they have to offer.
Meadow Farms
Do you live in Maryland, Virginia or West Virginia? Meadow Farms has an amazing array of plants, including fruit trees, vegetables and herbs. If you’re not up for sprouting from seed, they are a great place to “stock” your garden and Meadow Farms offers a military discount.
I scoured the net to find other garden centers that offer discounts. Here’s what I found:
Live in New York?
Check out the daily discount offered by Hewitts.
Stationed in Ohio?
Get 10% off every Wednesday at Pettiti.
Snag 10% off waterscape plants and materials from Hoffmans.
Boyerts offers 10% off any one item every Wednesday.
Have PCS orders to southern California?
Get 10% off every Wednesday at Armstrong Garden Centers.
Live in the middle of the United States?
Orshlen offers 5% off every Tuesday.
Stationed in northern Maryland?
Homestead Gardens offers 10% off every Thursday.
Live in Oregon?
Wilco Farm Stores offers 10% off every day.
For military families stationed in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee:
You can save 10% at Marvin’s every day.
At participating Southern States Cooperative locations, you can get a 10% discount every Tuesday.
Need grow lights?
Want to do a little hydroponic gardening? HTGSupply offers a 10% military discount for veterans. You need to register for a veteran account with HTGSupply to receive the discount.
Live in Arizona?
Summer Winds Nursery offers a 10% discount on any one item every day.
Do you have a large yard?
John Deere offers a military discount for all current and former service members.
Live in Washington?
Jason’s Greenhouse offers a 10% discount.
Logee’s offers a 10% military discount.
Didn’t read anything about N.C. I have no commissary near me so why don’t local stores give a 10% off groceries to us. My husband was in 22 years and died over 12 years ago. So it’s not easy for me to buy things. No base near me.