Growing ur own fruit and veg, worth it?

Poppy7

I've borrowed a book so am going to look into what and when is the right times to start and get prepared.
I am not a Gardner at all but I'm doing it more or my son as he loves fruit and veg and I want that to continue and have an understanding where it comes from. And a healthy respect for the world and what he eats.
I have arthritis so I'm sure in the beginning it will be tough for me but hopefully in the long run it will help too.

I'm really excited actually. I do hope to save a bit of cash but I'm not sure of that's the biggest motivation or a brilliant result if it's true. Time will tell for me I think.

Leif

realfood wrote: »

It has been estimated that an area of 250 sq ms, should be able to produce some £1500 worth of fruit and vegetables a year, a sum not to be sniffed at in these difficult times.

So if I turned my entire back garden over to growing fruit and veg ...

There are some people who do just that. I recall reading about some Americans who cultivate their entire garden, not that big either, using deep digging to allow close planting. Mind you, that was in a warmer climate, with little or no frost which must help.

I suspect you could grow more than £1,500 worth if you focussed on expensive items. Just a guess.

Badrick

Leif wrote: »

I suspect you could grow more than £1,500 worth if you focussed on expensive items. Just a guess.

Just growing berries would save a good few pounds, and the bonus is apart from an annual prune and maybe the odd debugging, they're pretty much maintenance free. :cool:

katholicos

It isn't just about saving money to me, i find it rewarding and satisfying as a hobby.

Sally_A

2012 was the pantsiest year ever for veg growing, so I've probably lost money on what I shelled out for seeds, spuds etc.

But as a rule, cost of seed is minimal and in a good year it will repay you 100%+, if you don't take hours spent into the equation.

I reckon runner/french beans and mangetout, closely followed by tomatoes & potatoes have the best return.

graspandsave

Sally_A wrote: »

2012 was the pantsiest year ever for veg growing, so I've probably lost money on what I shelled out for seeds, spuds etc.

Couldn't agree more, but even though there weren't many spoils/ bounty this season its still a great way of getting liitle ones involved and have some fun in a bit of muck & dirt

We havent had a lot to show - even the blueberries fizzled, we've had a good time being out in the garden

tomatoes practically sow themsleves year in year out!
only thing we had plenty of this summer : lettuce/salad leaves

too much rain and not enough sun for us , but wouldnt change it , then we enjoy being out and I love seeing stuff coming out that I've sown etc, and definitely worth getting the kids involved

Kitchen_Garden

Sally_A wrote: »

2012 was the pantsiest year ever for veg growing, so I've probably lost money on what I shelled out for seeds, spuds etc.

But as a rule, cost of seed is minimal and in a good year it will repay you 100%+, if you don't take hours spent into the equation.

I reckon runner/french beans and mangetout, closely followed by tomatoes & potatoes have the best return.

AGREED! My spuds were ok, but I plant the blight tolerant 'Sapro Mira'. Onions were a little disappointing (some rotted in the wet weather), beetroot were eaten by sparrows and slugs. Carrots got carrot fly and leeks got leek moth....BUT I still love growing my own veg. I learn more every year I do it and most problems/pests can be overcome with a bit of planning/cunning.....basically I do it because I love gardening whether it saves me money or not.

ALIBOBSY

Something I found this year is what an easy crop globe artichokes are. We grew them from some cheap seeds I got through a magazine offer.
I grew them in empty plastic pots (saved from various food). Then stuck them in the ground and just left them to it. They are really big now and 3 plants have around 6 chokes on them. Despite the weather they have grown like weeds and the slugs don't seem to like them. They are actually quite architectual plants and would look good in a bed with other flowers and plants-so an easy crop, but quite big.
Our toms in the greenhouse seem to have been fine although they started to ripen later than normal. The beans and peas did pretty well, but the lack of sun meant the strawberries weren't very good at all, and the sweetcorn is stood only 3/4 grown and unless it stays mild for a few weeks will likely rot with the frost. The cukes and various squashes have been rubbish, I think we got about 10 courgettes and that was it .

Our beets and carrots have been ok and lettuces and chard great (both these seemed to prefer wet to dry). The problem with the lettuces was the slugs so I stuck to planting in pots to use as salad leaves rather than hearting up.

The brassicas aren't doing too badly and at least the weather cut down the number of cabbage whites.

I think we would have struggled to get much without the greenhouses though as alot of stuff was better grown on in pots then transplanted as there were so many slugs.

Re the price comparison if you include your time obviously it would be financially better to work extra hours in a job and buy in your produce. But for me I love the gardening itself and what job can fit around 4 kids and a husband lol.

If you ignore the time element and take a heath robinson approach-use those empty plastic pots and toilet roll inards, make your own compost, get free seeds (save seeds) spot gardening bargains etc the output will be much more than the initial outlay.

TBH given this summer and the way food prices are already shooting up it is getting more and more a viable moneysaving option. Plus your kids get to see where food comes from and what real veg looks like-its amazing the things they will eat when they have grown it. You get to grow stuff that wouldn't always even be on sale in the shops and you know exactly what has or hasn't been sprayed on the food.

Ali x

[Deleted User]

It is definitely worth it. I grow organic and enough for the whole year for two of us on a plot only 8` x 60` for veg. I do 4 rotations and use compost and comfrey bocking 14. To get the most out of it, I sit down and plan my rotations and I use a dehydrator to help preserve my crop eg I had large leeks in july so I dehydrated all of them, before being hit by resident leek moth and then I planted swiss chard and winter spinach. All my beds are 8 x 4` and I do rest some over the winter

As for fruit, the area is 8 x 30` and I grow rhubarb, gooseberries, blackcurrants, raspberries, apples on M26 rootstocks and two loch ness blackberries, also strawberries at home elevated off the ground. All fruits are only in their second or third year but I have had huge amounts of soft fruits and the freezer is full. Comfrey has a bed in that 30` area and allows about 4 cuts a year

re cost and value for money: taking veg alone and comparing to the riverford box that I used to get weekly, then I save £850 a year and spend about £40 a year now on seed and sundries, I take spare seed over from year to year. I haven`t calculated the soft fruit and rhubarb but I would say that I have saved a large amount by using our own. We eat about 7 a day in total of fruit + veg

wallbash

re cost and value for money:

And now factor in your time? I am as keen as anyone on my veg plot , but am under no delusion that I have to say , in simple cash terms , the OP asked 'is it worth it ' the answer is still no.

Ps will spend a delightful afternoon clearing out the green house.