Many Americans are trying their hand at gardening this summer for the first time, and many more are vowing to do so next year each time they visit the grocery store. Those first-timers can be in for an unpleasant surprise when, just as those succulent tomatoes or ears of corn come ripe, a rabbit, raccoon, or deer snatches away their hard-earned veggies.

A new product on the market seems like an ingenious solution. The Scarecrow works like a sprinkler, hooking up to a hose. It is activated by a motion detector, running on a 9-volt battery. When the opossum, squirrel or blackbird dares make a lunge toward your berry bush, potato hill or pumpkin patch, the device hits it with a spray of water and a loud buzz, which the manufacturer claims will send it scampering.

For those of you with garden ponds who are tired of feeding your koi to passing herons, the Scarecrow could be an excellent way to shoo the voracious birds away. And if you're pestered by door-to-door salespeople and politicians...

The best price I found online for the Scarecrow Sprinkler was at TJB, on sale for $79.98, a savings of $30 off of its retail price, shipping and handling included.

When you're into decorating, you're always looking for ways to use the things you have or find in ways they weren't originally meant for. Perhaps this is especially true for budget decorators. I've been passing by this little black step stool for a long time, wondering what use it could possibly be put to other than it's original purpose. It's only 7 1/2" off of the ground and about 10 1/2" long.

This year, while contemplating yet another year on my knees planting flowers, I wondered if this stool could stand in for one of those expensive garden seats. It can. I'm not saying that this will work for everyone, but it's a good sturdy little seat and as long as you use it only on grass or pavement, it should serve the purpose admirably. Anyway, for a dollar it's worth a try.

Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer and dollar store diva. She writes free decorating ideas and tips using only items from the dollar store.

My friends and neighbors and I are catching on to the latest sustainability movement: farming your front yard. It's variously called "Food Not Lawns" or "Edible Estates" or "Urban Homesteading" or simply "gardening." But it's not just about growing a little food, eating local, saving money, or helping the planet; it can also be about making money.

And it's not new, or American. In fact, Cubans have been farming urban plots for decades. An AP story yesterday tells of a woman whose government job was cut back to $3 a month. She took advantage of a government program (championed by Raul Castro) that supported urban farming and took over a 1/2 acre plot. Now she makes $100 to $250 a month growing spinach, sweet potatoes and spinach, and selling them to her neighbors. Every penny she makes goes straight to her own pocket, and she's feeding her family in the bargain.

As Americans increasingly grow disillusioned with an economy that's built to work them long, hard hours, far from home, rarely spending time outdoors or with their family, never cooking their food; as consumers demand more and more locally- and sustainably-grown produce; urban farming is becoming exceedingly attractive. A friend recently contacted me with a proposal: a woman she knew was growing food in her backyard to sell to local restaurants. Might I help her?

With a huge, sunny, fertile backyard and a developing interest in gardening, I was all for it.

I grew up working (grudgingly) in my parent's garden. Every year, as I hilled potatoes, I wondered why we grew the same vegetables that were on sale dirt cheap in the grocery store. I still wonder that as I see people plant zucchini, tomatoes and green beans, veggies that are practically given away during the height of the season.

Instead, perhaps gardeners should concentrate on those items that they pay a hefty price for. If I were planning a garden strictly on saving the most money, I'd include--

• Yellow and red peppers: no harder to grow than green ones, and sliced and bagged, they freeze well.
• Basil, cilantro, and parsley: A friend makes his pesto in huge batches and freezes it in ice cube trays, a perfect one-meal size. The cost of buying fresh herbs is many times its cost to grow.
• Brussels Sprouts: An easy crop to grow and infinitely better fresh than frozen, the price never seems reasonable at the grocery store.
• Jalapeno and serrano peppers: Also sold at a premium, these will last a long time in the crisper, especially if stored in bags specially made to prolong the life of greenstuff. Note: keep them well away from your other peppers, so they don't cross-pollinate and provide a hot surprise.
• Sugar snap peas: another vegetable easy to grow but expensive to buy, it is delicious raw or cooked.

What veggies could you save the most money on by growing yourself?

The Daily Deal for January 12, 2008

Dreaming of spring? You could spend any amount of money grasping at the season-to-come. You could take a long weekend trip to the southern hemisphere. You could buy tulips and peonies shipped from Chile. You could get your fill of out-of-season asparagus.

Or you could get an heirloom seed catalog, and fill your long dark afternoons of winter planning a garden that would help preserve biological diversity, combat global warming, and fill your summer tummy full of delicious, fresh, healthful things. Sweet Chocolate Bell Peppers. Cimmaron Red Romaine. Grandpa's Cock's Plume Tomato. (Or Silvery Fir Tree, Zaryanka Sunrise, Whippersnapper Cherry.)

You can shop online, but seed catalogs are full of plenty and far more authentic. Seeds Trust will send you their 2008 catalog for $4.00; Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds will send you a catalog faster for $3.00 (it's slow, for free); Victory Seed Company will send a catalog for $2.00; Territorial Seed Company offers a free catalog.