As an OSer scratch cooking, what ingredients are going to be effected by poor crops?

PhGage

Possession wrote: »

those who can no longer manage their gardens donate their space, and in turn get their gardens managed and have no need to pay gardeners/have the garden fall into chaos. And presumably get some fruit and veg out of it too!

Landshare and similar schemes offer something like this.

Shared Garden is typical of some local schemes that are available.

Possession

PhGage wrote: »

Landshare and similar schemes offer something like this.

Shared Garden is typical of some local schemes that are available.

Thanks, I looked and there is something similar around me. Since I can offer neither land nor gardening skills I'm not much used to them though!

valk_scot

I'm giving up my allotment at the end of this year because of heath issues. It's a big plot so will be split into two halves for new plotholders and good luck to them. I've had it for fifteen years and it's been great but I can't manage it any more, I don't want to go down to a half plot either and have to watch someone else on the other half.

I've still got the garden though and as DD is nearly eleven I'm beginning to be able to reclaim it from the kids and their climbing frames and footballs. I put in five raised beds this year, all three feet wide and from six to ten feet in length. Even that modest amount of growing space (allotment has about x10 that) has kept me in salads, cabbages, carrots, spinach, peas, beans and spring onions for the summer and I'm not really trying for maximum production given I still have the allotment running. Next year I'll be able to produce twice as much, easily, and if I get rid of the &^%$£ climbing frame I'll have room for another two beds at least. It is well worth growing your own, you don't need all these expensive kits to do so either. Just a spade, some scrap wood, a compost heap and some seeds.

Rummer

We have a large garden and have turned it over mainly to producing food. However the last couple of years extreme weather and health issues have meant that it has produced little or nothing although we have spent money on it every year. What is of value in our garden and requires little to no effort is the soft fruit and that has been a treat every year.

When it comes to the stocking up issue I am completely in two minds about it. I have a reasonable stock cupboard and I buy things that cost more when they are on offer but I am now weighing up the value of buying extra pasta, grains and pulses to offset increases that are likely to come.

As a household we cook from scratch and have worked to reduce our shopping bills in relation to food although I am sure there is room to cut a lot more if we really had to. Hmmmm what to do?

Callie22

I have to say that this is something that is worrying me quite a bit. However, I'm not sure what I'm going to be able to do. I rent, and I'm not allowed to touch the garden beyond maintaining it. I do grow things in pots - salad leaves, basil, other herbs - and whilst I'd love to grow more container and grow-bag things, with renting being so unstable I'd hate to plant a load of stuff and not be able to move it, or to end up somewhere with no garden and have to chuck it or give it away. I've thought about an allotment but they're like hen's teeth round here, and you have to have lived here x number of years to get on the list. With moving so much, we don't qualify.

Our house is small and the kitchen is tiny - there's really no room to store 'lots' of extra stuff, or a sack of rice! (Our fridge is in the living room as there's no room for it in the galley kitchen!) And again, the cost of moving a significant stockpile would probably wipe out the saving ... Not to mention that my OH has a hatred of 'hoarding' and only likes me to buy enough for 'now'. Argh, it's a tough one and I am already very worried about what the prices of food are going to be like this winter. I can see my shopping bills creeping up and up and I can see I'm going to have to get very creative!

patchwork_cat

JackieO wrote: »

On T.V.last night at 8.00 the programme mentioned a place in Yorkshire called Todmorden where every spare bit of space is used to cultivate food The scheme is called Incredible Edible It sounds like a brilliant idea and one that perhaps could be copied a bit more in the community.Because of the amount grown its not going to impact much on local greengrocers I would have thought and it seemed a great way to get the spirit of Britain moving again.I am a great believer in the goodness of folk and not all that we read in the papers is accurate ,especially about young folk.Look up the website and see what I mean ,or maybe you live in the area and could comment about how its going.I have a 75ft garden that I would be happy to let anyone grow things in as I can no longer do it myself

Incredible edible, http://www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk/ they pounce on any empty bit of land as soon as they see it! Even in front of the police station! I wish they would plant more fruit trees around here.

adelight

Gigervamp wrote: »

Have a look at Landshare. It was set up by Hugh F-W a few years ago. It matches people who have land (whether it's a garden or field) with people who would like some land on which to grow veggies.

It is a great idea but there are far more growers and helpers than land and few are lucky enough to find somewhere to grow. It is seriously depressing, I read people talking about all these ways they can grow their own to buffer the prices rises and what can I do? Nothing really, I will be one of those spending every penny of their wages on food and fuel.

Incredible edible is brilliant too. There's a lot of empty land around where my family live where buildings have been knocked down and developers given up, seems a real shame it just going to waste. Hmmm...

patchwork_cat

adelight wrote: »

It is a great idea but there are far more growers and helpers than land and few are lucky enough to find somewhere to grow. It is seriously depressing, I read people talking about all these ways they can grow their own to buffer the prices rises and what can I do? Nothing really, I will be one of those spending every penny of their wages on food and fuel.

Incredible edible is brilliant too. There's a lot of empty land around where my family live where buildings have been knocked down and developers given up, seems a real shame it just going to waste. Hmmm...

if you did get permission to grow on land that developers are sitting on then my advice would be to grow in raised beds as then you do not need to worry about potential land contamination of brownfield sites.

kittycatface

great thread I had forgotten about the landshare scheme. For an old job I interviewed a farmer in the Fens about wheat prices etc and it affects everything: if they have a poor harvest the worse quality wheat goes for breakfast cereals and flour for biscuits, with potatoes it's highly processed crisps like Pringles. Once he showed me which of his potatoes goes to Pringles I never ever wanted to eat them ever again! Farmers tend to sell as a co-operative and try to get the highest prices so it may follow that prices of cereals and biscuits go up. The other thing to bear in mind is the fluctuating cost of fuel which I find greatly affects prices. I saw some beans from Kenya in Ts the other day and thought no wonder they are so expensive if they pay to transport them all that way. perhaps we should also try to think about the food miles: local farm shop will be cheaper and fresher in that sense.

sophlowe45

There are food co ops and box schemes, i dont use any but visited a friend once who picks up a box scheme from a drop off point and the salad she made us was amazing, the colour and taste was the veg was way better than what i am used to. She said any left over stuff the co op gave away for free to charities etc. I've just done a google search for London there seem to be a few around.

this one looks great http://fareshares.org.uk/

Do any of you use such places?

What do you all think of things like permaculture and hydroculture? I've only just heard about them and know next to nothing about them.

Hydroculture is when plants are grown in a soilless medium. Plant nutrients are distributed via water.

BBP collects good-to-eat food which is about to be thrown away and passes it to those who need it. http://bestbefore.org.uk/

I know lots of food is thrown away during the manufacturing process, by supermarkets and by us at home.

thats the thing Callie22 imagine if i started a storecupboard, my landlord gives me notice and i end up with lots of food to transport somehow! The cost would be more than any savings. I'd love to be able to go to a community centre or another place where food for a lot of people could be stored and cooked in bulk and buy a meal and volunteer to help cook, wash up etc.