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The great, good and not so good bits about growing your own dinner 2017
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Hi LondonLydia
I would honestly say - dont waste time or space growing what you don't eat.
Fruit restrictions vary, I'm sure our site has rules of no more than 30% of the plot to be given over to fruits/trees. But if you're keeping on top of your plot, there regularly etc then they are probably flexible - is always worth asking. The site rep on ours said its because some people just whack in trees and blackberry and raspberries and then you dont see them again unless its June-September when they 'pick and run'.
On my plot I have a pear tree, plum tree and cherry tree. Plus 2 gooseberry bushes, about 15/20 raspberry canes, and 5 blackberries (thorned and non thorned), plus red,white and black currant bushes. And that takes up about 20% of the lower half of my plot and they are plenty in together (raspberries are under the trees along the border path).
If you buy them a lot then most definitely plant some
Even if it means you buy in 50% less, that's still a huge saving.
I've also just noticed you're not that far from me, I'm down in Medway, Kent Manifesting Abundance in 2023Fashion On The Ration 2023 36/660 -
londonlydia wrote: »Thanks CAFCGirl. I'm not intending to grow many flowers on the plot, I do want to grow veggies and some fruit... But I've not done it before so am a bit overwhelmed! So I'm pleased to find this thread on mse.
You mentioned a restriction on fruit, is this just trees or does it include berries? This is something I want to grow as we currently buy berries every week when available, and it's so expensive. Especially the blackberries, and I object to doing so having spent hours with my friends as a kid picking them from the edge of the estate to make blackberry milkshake with.
One of the things I'm confused about is whether you have to grow brassicas? Every book I've seen puts them in the rotation plan. But I'm not really that much of a fan... I'll eat them but there are other things I'd prefer to use the space for...Hi LondonLydia
I would honestly say - dont waste time or space growing what you don't eat.
Fruit restrictions vary, I'm sure our site has rules of no more than 30% of the plot to be given over to fruits/trees. But if you're keeping on top of your plot, there regularly etc then they are probably flexible - is always worth asking. The site rep on ours said its because some people just whack in trees and blackberry and raspberries and then you dont see them again unless its June-September when they 'pick and run'.
On my plot I have a pear tree, plum tree and cherry tree. Plus 2 gooseberry bushes, about 15/20 raspberry canes, and 5 blackberries (thorned and non thorned), plus red,white and black currant bushes. And that takes up about 20% of the lower half of my plot and they are plenty in together (raspberries are under the trees along the border path).
If you buy them a lot then most definitely plant some Even if it means you buy in 50% less, that's still a huge saving.
I've also just noticed you're not that far from me, I'm down in Medway, Kent
I also don't really grow brassicas although we did try again with Kale and cauliflower last year as a soil correction crop. I do follow a sort of rotation, avoiding planting potatoes in the same place and usually putting them in after legumes. I use onions and squashes to keep it more of a rotation but interested in what you do CAFCGirl if you don't grow anything you don't eat?
We eat most things but go for crops that are more expensive in the shops or simply taste so much better when grown ourselvesSave £12k in 2024 - #2 target is £5000 only £798.34 so far
OS Grocery Challenge 2024 31.1% spent or £932.98/£3,000 annual
I also Reverse Meal Plan on that thread and grow much of our own premium price fruit and veg, joining in on the Grow your own thread
My Debt Free Diary Get a grip Woman0 -
Morning all
Good to see you got your allotment LondonLydia.
Yes I agree with CAFCGirl only grow what you like to eat. But surely you must like some greens and remember if you get a little green house on the plot you can grow plenty of winter salads in it.
I don't like this wind very much - and my tomatoes which I'd left out took a bit of a battering yesterday. I was hoping to put some out for sale but not in the wind.
I took a visit to the garden centre yesterday and couldn't resist buying some shallots which were marked down to 30p instead of £3. I also had a £10 off £50 voucher. So I was tempted to spend it - most of it went on practical things like the rat bait I needed but I also picked up some seaweed fertilizer which I can recommend and next years compost.
Whilst there I looked at the seeds (I usually wait until the sales and then buy) they seem to be really pricey this year. A packet of 5 courgette seeds for £2.80! How ridiculous is that?
I think I'll wait for the sales.
I still have my brassicas in pots at the mo - I must really get them in this week but I still can't dig anything with the leg. Hopefully I'll get a bit of help.
It would be good to start hardening off the tomatoes about now - mine get planted out in the 3rd week of May and they are about 10 inches tall now.
Happy growing.0 -
Dizzy_Ditzy wrote: »
Everyone is welcome. Come and tell us about your growing shenanigans
What do you like to grow?
Hello all, I've lurked but thought I could post for some tips. I'll answer the questions in the OP of this thread as a stater for 10!
I like to grow fruit, and easy veg
Currently I am growing:
veg: mangetout and perpetual spinach, wild garlic
Fruit: apples (grew just under 600 not including thinnings last year, pears (these fruited once and then not again for 2 years
, gooseberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants and I think whitecurrants, blueberries (one died) only 10 fruit grew last year.Dizzy_Ditzy wrote: »Are you going to try anything different this year?
less perpetual spinach as it proliferates! I'm going to thin the apples and gooseberries earlier and cook with them.Dizzy_Ditzy wrote: »Did you try anything different last year? Did you like it? Would you grow it again?
The spinach was new last year and also the first year the currants fruited. All good!
Also fairly newly trying 'lasagne composting' into existing raised beds.Dizzy_Ditzy wrote: »Do you have any tips for growing?
No, I'm not very good! :rotfl:
Yes. I make pesto with the wild garlic and spinach, and multiple baking things with the thinnings and regular harvest of fruit. I hope to make a cordial from my lilac tree.Dizzy_Ditzy wrote: »Do you make anything with what you grow?Dizzy_Ditzy wrote: »How much does growing your own save you?
It's hard to know for sure but I supplied my family of 6's '5 a day' for 5 months of last year, so that pleased me immensely. I also forage, which is much more lucrative/moneysaving and I have made 25 x 6 person evening meals of wild garlic pesto so far this year.Save 12 k in 2018 challenge member #79
Target 2018: 24k Jan 2018- £560 April £26700 -
Had a couple of hours at the plot this morning. I put my courgettes in the ground last weds and was wondering if I had made a mistake as weather been windy and a bit chilly. They seem ok though and I know courgettes are quite hardy.
Got more digging done and now have probably 3/4 sessions of digging to finish it off.
Dad potted my two remaining cucumber plants into their final pot and strawberries are looking healthy with lots of flowers. The ones in the greenhouse have fruit on already and with a bit of sun we might be picking just before I go on holiday on the 23rd.
Onions have all sprouted but still nothing happening with the carrots I planted. Hey ho....cant win them all.
Welcome LondonLydia :hello: I'm another who doesnt grow many brassicas with the exception of my poor attempts at cauliflowers and sprouts.
My allotment isnt strict about flower to veg ratio as the plots aren't in demand so this year I am making a real effort to get some colour into my plot.Make £10 a Day Feb .....£75.... March... £65......April...£90.....May £20.....June £35.......July £600 -
Welcome LondonLydia, I love flowers but so do the rabbits and deer, roses are like chocolate to deer!! I'm afraid its vegetables and fruit for us all protected with wire, netting, or undercover.
On a high note, I was at the other end of our place in some woods and it's obviously where a hind leaves her baby all day as it was curled up in the undergrowth trying not to be seen.
Welcome Stoozie1, yep we all have our successes and failures, at the moment my failures seem to outweigh the good bits.
Spent a good few minutes with my new acquisition - leaf gatherers in the shape of a large hand. So far brilliant, I'm using them in an effort to tidy up. The only other thing I did today was water and check on all the seedlings. Melons are starting to germinate, I expect they will be a failure somewhere along the line but I can live in hope and dream0 -
Suffolk_lass wrote: »I use onions and squashes to keep it more of a rotation but interested in what you do CAFCGirl if you don't grow anything you don't eat?
We eat most things but go for crops that are more expensive in the shops or simply taste so much better when grown ourselves
Much the same vein as yourself, I like to try to grow whats expensive for me to buy (so fruit is a good one there), and what I like to eat.
I quite like most things tbh:rotfl:
Its more the sense that I wouldn't grow things like asparagus as I dont eat it so it seems pointless to me to give it the space, when I could grow more of what I do eat, or grow more of what will help me to grow more of what I eat (i.e green manure).
At the moment though I'm thinking of becoming a bindweed farmer so I'm not exactly the best for advice LOLManifesting Abundance in 2023Fashion On The Ration 2023 36/660 -
Much the same vein as yourself, I like to try to grow whats expensive for me to buy (so fruit is a good one there), and what I like to eat.
I quite like most things tbh:rotfl:
Its more the sense that I wouldn't grow things like asparagus as I dont eat it so it seems pointless to me to give it the space, when I could grow more of what I do eat, or grow more of what will help me to grow more of what I eat (i.e green manure).
At the moment though I'm thinking of becoming a bindweed farmer so I'm not exactly the best for advice LOL
Thanks for that insight.
Yes, tell me about it. bindweed grown up through four layers of railway sleepers in our strawberry bed. We've also got periwinkle, ground elder, nettles, brambles and those giant variegated leaf thistles. Plus the usual wood sorrel and sticky willies everywhere.
Thankfully no giant hogweed or Japanese knotweed but pretty much everything else! In the last three years we have also had various forms of pestilence with giant lupin aphids, Rosemary beetle, red spider mite, black-fly on blackcurrants and some sort of brown fungus on the apricot tree that we sacrificed and burned to stop it spreading.
And still we keep going!Save £12k in 2024 - #2 target is £5000 only £798.34 so far
OS Grocery Challenge 2024 31.1% spent or £932.98/£3,000 annual
I also Reverse Meal Plan on that thread and grow much of our own premium price fruit and veg, joining in on the Grow your own thread
My Debt Free Diary Get a grip Woman0 -
Morning all and nice to see some newbies joining in. I'm sure everyone has something to add.
Tomatoes are doing well but I'm getting a bit tired of keeping moving them in and out of the kitchen - I'll be glad to get them into their proper growing ground - maybe next week.
Peppers are now in big pots and ready to go down to the allotment greenhouse. So there's a bit more space. I have a lift down there later this morning.
Did I mention that I've used one of the raise beds as a square foot oriental growing space - well it's doing very well. Six different veg all packed in nice and tight. Wong bok, pak choi, choi sum, radish and something else but they are delicious in a stir fry and growing very well.
All the potatoes are showing through now. So quite pleased.
I must get a bit better at recording the savings I'm making - so far self sufficient in kale, herbs, radish, lettuce, spinach, orientals and rhubarb.
Only cucumber, tomatoes and avocado bought this week. So £4.50 on the veg bill and around £18 saved.
It sounds as though you save quite a bit on the mange tout and the wild garlic Stoozie 1 it's £2.99 for 75grms in Ocado! I have to forage for mine but I know a nice little spot where I can rely on it. And mange tout is £1.60 for 200grms at the mo - so it all adds up - I'm a keen forager to. I managed a short walk to the field where the St George mushroom were but sadly the cows were back in and the whole circle had gone. Oh well I need to find another source for my free mushrooms.
Happy days.0 -
Hello everyone - long time no "see"
It's great to read everyone's posts and fab to see so many newbies!
Busy busy busy this weekend - 150 ish beetroot plants all out, the first lot of cabbages and loads of stuff sown - I'm trying courgettes for the first time. I think they're probably the only thing different that I'm growing this year.
Between the two plots we've got 42 potato plants going :eek:
We've had one day in the last three or four weeks with significant rain so we've been watering lots.
I thought I had tons of strawberries last year but this year looks even more bumper :j I planted up loads of runners from plot A and replanted them at B and I have a new strawb planter in my garden which is painted a very bright pink colour :j
Greenhouses still both full of various plants - it seems that as we get stuff planted out, their spaces are replaced with other stuff lolI’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Health & Beauty, Greenfingered Moneysaving and How Much Have You Saved boards. If you need any help on these boards, please do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com
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