Is it really cheaper to grow your own ?

cootambear

Dellers wrote: »

Thank you for all the reply s. I have no tools what so ever so I would really be starting from scratch. I have a large south facing back yard and I also have a balcony that has the sun in the morning. I have a garage that would be able to keep anything cool. Soil I dont have a clue about I live in Liverpool if that helps I think ill be popping to the library later to get a book on gardening.

You`ll be plagued by beetles (groan).

deeds

Not if you're on a water meter its not, we grew our own this year and have ended up with a £300 water bill for the privilege.

Mallotum_X

One aspect to the GYO debate that often gets overlooked is the hobby side of it. If you are outside in the garden/allotment then you are not spending money in the gym/pub etc etc. The produce is almost an additional benefit. If you dont enjoy it then its unlikely to be anything other than expensive.

Robboseven

deeds wrote: »

Not if you're on a water meter its not, we grew our own this year and have ended up with a £300 water bill for the privilege.

Assuming a 50/50 split between water used and sewerage charges that equals around 125,000 litres (or 125 tonnes) of water. That's why we never grow rice ourselves. You need to get yourself a nice big butt!

Sambucus_Nigra

deeds wrote: »

Not if you're on a water meter its not, we grew our own this year and have ended up with a £300 water bill for the privilege.

That's hardly the fault of the veg! You need to get organised.

How do you think we grow on lotties? No water let alone water with metered water :eek:

Could have bought bottled water cheaper.....

SallyForth_2

There's also the convenience factor as well. I quite liked popping into the garden and picking a bit of this and that, not having to worry about going and buying it. Also for some things, there's the not having to worry about using things up because they will go off, as you can just harvest as needed (doesn't apply to everything though)

Hermoine

If you like salad leaves - then they're a brilliant thing to grow. They can be grown in seed trays or pots and you can find nice mixed packs of seeds. One of these will cost about the same as one salad pack, but will go on for months - you can snip leaves off and then they'll grow again.... If you have a sheltered balcony or garden you can grow them outside for most of the year - but you can also grow them on your windowsill over the winter

WhiteHorse

Salads and herbs are the best example. Hard to go wrong with those really. This year I bought supermarket Basil and Parsley plants. Split them and planted them in containers. Coriander and lettuce I grew from seed. Poked them into the soil and did nothing else but water them. Pounds worth of salad and fresh herbs for pennies.

Dellers

RAS wrote: »

is yu yard concrete or does it have areas of soil?

Our yard is apx 15x30 ft all turfed. We got the turf on it about two years ago.

Dellers

cootambear wrote: »

Its cheaper if you;

a. grow stuff like courgettes which are expensive in the shops

b stuff like again, courgettes and strawbs which taste far better home grown (though the variety is critical - avoid the supermarket variety elsanta which is hard and flavourless and try mara de bois or albion, cambridge favourites are good too and also cheap, see my strawb threads.

c stuff that is easy and less time intensive like courgettes and strawbs = think about it, the time you spend in the garden could be spent working or being with your family - but balance that with the fact that most here find gardening very enjoyable - my little pleasure is pulling up weeds.

I am a stay at home mother. My daughter is a little gem helping me so I hope she would enjoy it . My husband is strawberry crazy and he spends so much each summer in Asda buying them. So I hope to cut the cost by growing them. I have been looking at the strawberry barrels.