Great “Easy Lucrative Garden Crops” Hunt: What costly foods can you grow with ease?

RAS

Any soft fruit trained as cordons take up minimal space - red currants, white currants or gooseberries work. A tiny punnet of redcurrants costs £2 and the plant requires a little pruning every year and a bit of muck every few years. Get cuttings from a friend and the plants are free.

Raspberries, particularly autumn fruiting ones. Three free canes have increased in volume to a 5 foot row and provide 2/3 punnets a week from August to November - price £2 per punnet in the shops.

Runner beans - cost £1.50 for 6 things grown far too big. 2 plants per person (someone will give you seed but if not a 49p packet will last 3-4 years) will produce two servings a week until the first frosts.

Swiss chard - I think Lucellus (Lidl 29p) is the best there is. You never see it in the shops as it does not tranport well and it crops all winter and then until May next year.

Salad herbs - corn salad/mache, rocket, salad burnet, land cress all crop all winter in space other wise unoccupied (except burnet which is perennial). Use welsh onions as "salad" onions all winter as well).

Autumn sown mustards for winter greens and salads.

retrocircles

Churchpolly wrote: »

Hi, why not start a seed swopping service on the site? It would save everyone pounds in buying them every spring! I save seed from my runner beans every year, choosing the best ones of course!

I agree. I've bought seeds this year & have loads left which I intend to store & use next year but I would love to swap them instead for something I haven't bought! Even as small as 10 seeds at a time would be wonderful!

retrocircles

SkydiveMacca wrote: »

Hello all,

I work for Garden News (a weekly paper) and Garden Answers (a monthly magazine).

I hope this isn't out of place as I don't want to sound spammy, but want to help out fellow money savers and thought if you want to get into 'growing your own' on a budget you might be interested in this weeks Garden News.

We've just started a series called 'Just Grow It!' which is all about, as you may guess, growing your own. Over the next few weeks, we'll have advice for the absolute beginners, through to the more experienced veg grower, with lots of useful tips.

Even if you don't have a garden, we're discussing how you can grow your own in simple containers or even just a window box, with time related tips to help you get the most out of your growing, even if you don't have much time to do it.

I'm really new to veg growing myself, and i've got to say, it's not just the fact you can save money by doing it, it's also the satisfaction of knowing you grew what you did from scratch. It's also quite nice to know it means a few extra pennies Tesco won't get

To get back onto the topic in hand however, potatoes are by far the easiest thing to grow in my opinion, and rhubarb is always a winner!

p.s not quite veg related, but as the BBC has run out of seeds, I have 6 packets of Petunia seeds on my desk looking for good homes if anyone wants them

You're not spamming at all! I love Garden News, as a beginner gardener to both general gardening AND veg growing, I think it's a brilliant read!

I'll be sure to pick up this weeks!

tomterm8

I think all the soft fruits are probably where you make impact. For sheer money saving, bramble is probably the best though. A single plant can provide you with fruit in the freezer for months.

digitig

MissPop wrote: »

Oooh, I saw goji berry plants in QD the other day - I was ever so surprised! They were only £2 IIRC. Apparently ever so good for you

No better than other fruit, apparently, and worse in some cases because of possible interaction with medication and alkaloid toxin (atropine) present in the fruit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfberry

A whole pile of mythology appears to have been invented for them so they can be marketed as a miracle food, but it seems to all be fiction to separate you from your hard-earned.

smartiepants

Courgettes, tomato, red pepper, garlic, All easy to grow!

Add onions to make a ratatouille, put into kilner jars, cover the jars with cold water bring to the boil, simmer for 1.5 hrs, and store your own fresh cooked garden veg for months and months. Makes a wonderful base for soups, stews, pasta sauce, over frozen fish and bake in oven, add curry paste for a rich delicious curry, or just on its own. Make more than you think you will need, because it is so versatile and delicious.

Hope I haven't gone off topic too much. and hope it helps someone.
xxxx

Lotus-eater

digitig wrote: »

No better than other fruit, apparently, and worse in some cases because of possible interaction with medication and alkaloid toxin (atropine) present in the fruit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfberry

A whole pile of mythology appears to have been invented for them so they can be marketed as a miracle food, but it seems to all be fiction to separate you from your hard-earned.

How cynical can you get?
Honeyberries are the latest miracle berry I think.
Blueberries were the year before goji's.

It will be interesting to see what next years will be.

Rosamundi

Butternut squash & yellow courgettes- cost a fortune in the shops but you can just plant them and forget about them.

Mixed salad leaves are a must as are strawberries.

Fig trees in pots are good value - good garden plant with edible fruit ... yumm

Primrose

Tomatoes (because they are expensive and you can't beat the flavour of a freshly picked sun ripened tomato)
Lettuces, salad leaves (cut & come again) & rocket.
Climbing French Beans and Runners (freeze well if you have a surplus, blanch & freeze them loose & then pack in bags)
Courgettes (especially those expensive baby ones).
Strawberries if you have room to keep them in situ for 3 years.
Gooseberry, Blackcurrant & Redcurrant bushes are attractive enough to be grown in your front garden without looking out of place if you are short of space in a vegetable patch.

Money_saving_Diva_2

Hi everyone!

I grow all my veg in pots as I am slightly disabled and cannot dig or reach to the floor! Not sure about quick turnovers but here is what I grow..

I have grown peppers, chillis, carrots, radishes (all cheap veggies I know though peppers are quite a price these days). Potatoes both summer and christmas in potato bags and blueberries and goji berries in large tubs. In fact I have cultivated my goji berries and have lots of strong plants to sell on this summer to raise some money. Whatever anyone says, people pay silly money for the berries so it's worth a try!

I also have a fig tree in a pot though no fruit yet and usually grow two or three types of tomatoes including tumbling cherry ones in hanging baskets. Also grew my strawberries in a hanging basket to keep the slugs off! Oh and this winter I started off 15 garlic sets and they are all up and looking healthy.

Think that's about it, plus all the usual herbs of course. Garlic chives were new for me last year and really enjoyed them.

Diva.x