I start my seeds in plain old potting mix in yogurt cups that I also reuse year after year. Don't even bother to screen it. I just pick off any larger pieces that land on top. I grow them under plain old shop lights.

I've never understood why people use expensive seed starting mixes. I get 100% germination off seeds that are 2-3 years old. But I do buy quality seed. It's worth the money.

As for manure, I amend with steer manure because it's the cheapest thing I can get at Lowes or my local quarry. I don't think it matters where you get it as long as it's fully composted. You don't want to buy the fresh stuff from a barn unless you're adding it to your own compost pile and are willing to wait.

Can't help you on pots, as I only grow in ground. I do know many people grow in those Rubbermaid containers.

There is a Frugal Gardening forum that you might like to peruse.

As for how I do things on the cheap. There are certainly quality seeds and vendors, but for the plants that I kind of just want around but don't necessarily care about quality, then I get some seeds from dollar store. Often, it is something like 3 or 4 packs for $1. You can get quite a few gardening supplies here also. Some of the best that I've seen are the jute twine and the green trash tie kind of thing that you can make custom lengths with (buying them at another store usually runs a few dollars).

For seed starters: egg cartons (any kind is fine but cardboard cartons can be planted into ground), cheap paper or styrofoam cups, yogurt cups, etc

For pots: Almost anything can be a pot, but for veggie growing, common cheap or free pots can be made from 5-gallon buckets or cat litter buckets. In fact, there are some gardeners whose entire gardens are grown in 5-gallon buckets. They are cheaper than the actual plant pots, but the bonus is that you can get some for free from various sources.

For cuttings: Also at some dollar stores, you can find the aluminum pans with plastic lids. They work well to create a humid environment for cuttings.

I bring up cuttings because once a person advances beyond germinating seeds or buying starter plants, one of the next steps is to grow more plants from cuttings. Figs, all the berry plants you mentioned above, peppers and tomatoes -- are all good candidates for creating more plants from those originals that you grew or planted.

Once you get that knowledge, then although it would be sad to leave behind some plants when moving, you also would know that you can take cuttings and have smaller plants to take with you to your new place.

Here is a link that might be useful: Frugal Gardening Forum

Wow, not sure how I missed the "frugal" subforum. Never thought of the egg cartons for seed starters. That's a heck of a lot more space saving than the little cups I use too.

I've been thinking about rubbermaid containers for the large plants (e.g. berries), but I'm not sure why I've never considered 5 gallon buckets. The fig is already in a 12-15 gallon pot, and the blueberries are in good sized pots as well (past the 5 gallon stage). Might be good for the blackberries and raspberries though!

My local garden center guy, 3rd generation, with a Masters in horticulture besides, says that until a few decades ago, everything in a pot was in sandy loam soil--soil from the land, not something from a bag.

According to this horticulturalist, the push for those ground wood mixes was due to the development of rapid growing/sales methods. Back when nursery people were not in such a hurry, plants would sit around at the nursery for years, happy in pots of sandy loam. I've tried it for some of my plants, and gotten excellent results. The only down side is that the pots are heavier--you just have to be careful if they need moving.

If you have some decent soil somewhere in your garden--hey, why not try it as an experiment?

I used to get most of my pots from the local dump. We had transfer stations in Florida where we took our trash and recycles. We usually came home with many goodies. If you get to know the attendant and butter them up with donuts or something they will save you pots. Also find a local landscaper, they usually just throw out their pots after a job. Some stores will sell of or give you small pots. You can start fig cuttings quite easily. Just stick them in a pot of soil. Also curbside, yard sales and thrift stores for pots.

HOOVB: I've just recently tried this. I was planting some shrubs in my back yard and ended up with a pot full of excess ground soil. Rather than tossing it in another area for ground planting, I threw it in a pot that was only half full with potting soil. I've got dahlias in there now and am hoping I get those excellent results you mentioned. Personally, I've had good results from keeping things simple, so I tend to agree with your philosophy.

BRETT: The only thing I don't like about egg cartons for starting seeds is they dry out FAST. You have to spritz them daily. And the paper-based egg cartons will fall apart on you, so you have to be careful when handling. The yogurt cups are handy for me because I only have to water them weekly and they're big enough, I don't have to pot up.

I live in an area where composted manure is usually free and advertised on Craigslist. We did have a great source who charge $15 to load our utility trailer. It was a great deal because he threw kitchen waste on the pile and kept turning it during the winter. GREAT compost.

When we first moved, I got free grass clippings from a neighbor to build my lasagna beds.

Start looking now to see if there's a group near you that orders from Fedco. It's a cooperative effort. Fedco packages each order individually but ships it to one person. We got a discount based on size of the total order which was pretty good on top of their already decent prices. We can get soil amendments from Fedco too but it might be only for New England gardeners. Bulk orders go in. Volunteers handle pickup. You have to pick up your order on one day.

The farm and feed stores near me usually put their split bags on sale at 50% off. Typically the tear isn't that big so not much loss.

If you grow in ground, you can get by without purchasing much of anything. Check around (craigslist) for free horse manure, hopefully composted, which is a great soil amendment. If you save seeds and mix a bunch of manures/compost in with your native soil, the garden could be pretty much ready to go. I guess you can trade your labor for cost.

Trays, cell packs, and large landscape containers can be sourced free from nurseries. Ask if they have any containers that they are willing to part with. You should be able to find flats for starting seeds and 15+ gallon black containers this way.

If you grow organically, I've found homemade compost to be one of the better seed starting and container mix ingredients. If you use a bagged potting mix instead, you may have to water with liquid fertilizer regularly for the plants to grow well.

You can get free seeds from Winter Sown and The Garden Hoard. The Garden Hoard took several weeks to mail me my seeds. But free is good no matter what. Craigslist also has curbside ads. They put out what they don't want and you get stuff for free.

Don't know where you are located, but I just bought a very sturdy 25 gal pot from Grow Biz for less than $15. Also, if you can find an inexpensive source of 55 gal food-grade plastic barrels, they are easy to cut in half with a reciprocating saw or jigsaw (just drill a big hole first) and there you have two 25+ gallon pots. I cut two barrels in half this year and have my early tomatoes in them.

Freecycle! You can ask for anything there. I get well composted horse manure though them also. Also Craigslist.
For seeds, there are several seed libraries popping up in this area, and we have a 1x per month seed exchange here.....all free.
Check with garden clubs and nurseries.
Nancy

If you go to the bakery department of grocery stores, you can usually get the large plastic containers that they get their icing in for free. I forget which size they are, but at least big enough to grow a tomato, pepper, eggplant, cucumber, ect. plant in. I picked them up regularly year before last. I even grew Yukon Gold potatoes and Red potatoes in them. Also, you can save the plastic containers that you get salads and lunchmeats in and use them to start seeds in. You'd definitely want to start several seeds in each and they have their own lids to create a mini greenhouse. Like gardenper, I get the different sized foil pans with clear lids from the dollar stores to start seeds in peat pellets or fill with my seed starting mix and plant onion, celery, kale and some other seeds. I plant up in plastics from cottage cheese, sour cream and other little pots like them that I've bought filled with food we eat. Just wash them really good. There are so many things we eat that have containers perfect for gardeners. Oh, almost forgot, save plastic milk cartons to wintersow veggies and flowers. And don't forget plastic pop bottles. Great to grow herbs in and you can hang them on posts as well.

Lowe's often carries the big black plastic pots. I hope to stay in place for a very long time so I just re-use the pots from when I purchase trees. One trick I read about when planting in very large pots is to place some broken branches in the bottom to help take up space, not too much but some in the very bottom would help in very large containers (I am thinking like half barrels, etc.)