Does it really save money growing your own?

littlechezza

Really want to be saving some food money this year by growing our own but feeling a bit disapointed, didn't have a massive amount from our home grown veg and fruit but only started growing our own last year, we have the following but would like some advice on how often to plant and what we should be planting that we can grow plenty of, we have:

Raspberries in the borders (going to buy some more)
Plum tree (only problem all ready at the same time)
Apple tree (only planted last year and only had one apple)
Pots of strawberries, these have come back again this year.
Herbs in the borders, mint, rosemary.
Planted some tubs wth potatoes (these seem to be doing okay, could do with planting some more)
Made up 2 veg boxes last year (these are quite big) and have planted some lettuce, beetroot, parsnips and carrots.

Have also been offered a started plot at a local allotment site - the plot is small but if we keep it going we will have the chance of a larger plot when available, only problem is the plots are available to the public to walk around, I think we should be planting potatoes etc., things which are not so easy to pick by the passing public.

We also need a greenhouse to get things going for the starter plot but only want one of the plastic type, any idea where we can get a cheap/good one?

Any advice would be appreciated.

balloo_2

You dont really save money because all the farms and growers lower thier prices when they know the gardens are producing but if you can store it freeze it whatever it works out fine the other thing about growing your own the taste and flavour is much better than the commercially grown stuff.:D

Rummer

I think initially when you are getting started then things can be expensive but there are ways to cut corners. It sounds as if you have quite a few different things growing at home so I would agree that if you were to take the plot then root veg would be the way to go and then people can not take your food away!

Think about the kinds of fruit and veg you would eat the most and make sure that you sow plenty of them. Over the last few years we have planted everything at once and had gluts and droughts so successional sowing is important. This year we are planting plenty of salad crops and are are sowing them every two weeks to keep us going.

Look into way that you can preserve your foods that come at the one time so you can enjoy them throughout the year. We sowed a couple of runner beans and they kept us going all summer and left loads to freeze too.

As for the greenhouse why not try freecycle and gumtree for freebies.

Lotus-eater

If you want to save money, forget potatoes and go for things like salad leaves, you get 100's of seeds per packet, at a quid a supermarket lettuce, that's a big saving.
Courgettes, you get alot of courgettes per plant.
Beans, possibly after lettuce the next best saver, get some good french or runner climbing beans going and you can have fresh beans for ages and freeze loads.

Carrots, parsnips, you aren't going to be saving money, because when the veg is in season the prices drop and things like that are dirt cheap.......... or they are, but not like for like. If you want a fresh organic carrot or parsnip, it's going to cost you alot more than the std supermarket offerings.

You're not going to save money if you want to be able to eat courgettes in winter, because they cost a fortune, learning to eat seasonally is the best way to cut costs.

Tomatoes, you want to buy beautiful ripe organic local tomatoes? Well the chances of you even being able to buy them are the slimmest of slim. You want to buy varieties that taste better than normal? Well good luck, because it will cost you an arm and a leg (if you're lucky enough to find them).
BUT, you can grow them. For little cost really.

I grow things I can't buy in the shops, even rarer than the above toms, how do you put a price on that?

Talk to the other plot holders on the allotment to find out the level of theft and vandalism, no point pouring your heart into it, to find out you can only grow potatoes.

amcluesent

Not for basics like potatoes, root veg etc. when bought in season (which is when your crop will be ready too!). If you could grow mange tout in February, I guess it would be cheaper than Kenyan stuff, but you can't.

It would just about make financial sense to grow stuff like pink fir apples which are expensive anyway. Madness to grow soft-fruit where chavs will help themselves.

Same reason I don't bother growing from seed any more, and just buy in plugs. Far simpler, better outcomes and cheaper when counting my time faffing about.

irishwexford

Its expensive to start with as she have to feed the soil, netted cages to keep birds away, wheelbarrow comes in handy and lots of other things. Last summer I lived on salads and things like cauli cheese, carrot soup and stir fries. It was nice to just walk past veggies in supermarket. It was not cheaper so much it was the taste. We've got used to tomatoes and carrots as we've never tasted them. Runner beans and peas just picked. Cabbages and caulies from ground to table in a few hours. Fresh rhurbarb just picked and baked. Need I say more. I can't believe how I have taken to growing veggies. Our allotment is fenced in so have lots of fruit bushes and squashes grow right at the front near the patch.
Perhaps you should start off in a small way and just build up each year.

littlechezza

We do have all the basics we need and my parents have a large allotment so can help us out, the area where we will have the starter allotment has a few more plots next to it and if the public want to come in to the centre they have to pay, I guess there will always be the worry of things going missing even if you have veg in the garden, might go with the option of keeping the salad leeaves etc., at home and planting the potatoes etc., at the starter plot.
Thanks

wallbash

If you factor in the 'cost' of your time , growing your own makes no sense .

But who ever said gardening had to make sense!

Lotus-eater

You'll never save much money if you keep to your standard diet and cooking regime.

Growing your own, is as much about the harvesting at the right time and the using up of whatever crops are available, learning to appreciate fresh vegetables that taste better than the stuff you can buy most of the time.

The amount of times I've had someone eat one of my tomatoes and say "Now that's a real tomato, takes me back to my youth", same with my cucumbers, peas...etc

Sweetcorn off your plot and straight onto your plate, honestly has to be tasted to be believed.

BUT, it's about equal with the amount of people who don't know what to make of all the taste and don't like them because of that. It's our palate, it's been dumbed down so much by the picked before ripened and cold stored fruit and veg, we've mostly become a nation of people who know nothing about food.

Growing your own is also a part of that, it's rediscovering your taste buds and how food can taste, it's excitement and optimism, hard work and enjoyment. It's not easy, there will definitely be disasters, it's a hobby, will make you fit, it's almost a lifestyle.

There is alot more to it than saving money, You have to enjoy it, if you don't you will find yourself resenting the time you spend in the garden.

</rousing GYO speech off>

conradmum

littlechezza wrote: »

We do have all the basics we need and my parents have a large allotment so can help us out, the area where we will have the starter allotment has a few more plots next to it and if the public want to come in to the centre they have to pay, I guess there will always be the worry of things going missing even if you have veg in the garden, might go with the option of keeping the salad leeaves etc., at home and planting the potatoes etc., at the starter plot.
Thanks

It's a good idea to think about what should be at home and what should be grown at the plot. Some things need picking frequently or taste best eaten straightaway, so I think it's a wise choice to keep salad leaves at home (where you can also keep a better eye on them).

I think that, even factoring in the time you spend, there are still a few things that are financially worth growing yourself. Three that spring to mind are asparagus, blueberries and garlic. They're all pretty much trouble free and not cheap in the shops either. Rhubarb too, come to think of it. Most fruit trees, once they get going, only need maybe three hours' attention a year.

I agree potatoes, onions, carrots and so can be bought very cheaply so may not be worth it, especially if you're just growing the bog standard types. However you can grow varieties that are unavailable or expensive in the shops. You can also steal a march on the seasons sometimes by growing things such as Japanese onions.

Other things that spring to mind are seakale (impossible to buy around here), strawberries (I can't eat shop bought ones anymore as the taste is incomparable) and herbs.

The thing is, if you're concerned about value for money, you need to never spend money where you can possibly avoid it and this is fairly easy to do in gardening. Many things can be got for free, such as manure and seeds (by saving your own) and recycling things such as newspaper and yogurt pots for seed pots. You should also never expend effort where you can possibly avoid it. I don't mean to allow your plot to become weedy. This creates more work in the long run. But neither does it have to be pristine and perfect either.

Also, it's worth asking for opinions before embarking on things. For example, a classic new plot holder's mistake is to create beds with grass paths between them. Tending such paths is incredibly time consuming - time that would be far better spent growing food! Of course, you will get conflicting advice but at least then you can make better informed decisions.

balloo_2

Keep an eye on the Gardening forum theres always loads of hints and tips flying around, like Wilkinsons/Wilco and others all have a great end of season sale I had loads of flower pots cheap as chips and a hose reel normally selling for £15.99 for £3.75 hope this is some help for you.