It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

[Deleted User]

Thank you so much for sharing your top 5 items/tips, it’s been brilliant reading them all.

I had a lift to the supermarket today and got an amazing yellow sticker haul; it made me realise just how much money you can save timing it right for YS goods. I got 4pints of organic milk for 53p which has been stashed in the freezer. 

I agree about winter bills. I am still using the fire here as it’s currently 1 degree outside, I had hoped I would be able to ‘stash’ the coal I had delivered recently and save it for winter but alas no, I’m having to use it.

I have sown lots of seeds; what do people find particularly easy to grow? I’ve done the obvious easy ones - courgettes, potatoes, herbs, kale, tomatoes -

Any other ideas? We already rhubarb and some apple trees too

Xx

Slinky

If you like soft fruit, ask around if anybody has some strawberry plants you can have, if you can get Elsanta, so much the better. They are really easy to grow and fantastic to eat. Raspberries are lovely too, we have a variety called JoanJ which are big dark fruit in late Summer/early Autumn.

The best things to grow are things you actually want to eat, and if space is limited, go for the things which are most expensive to buy where your savings by growing it yourself are biggest.

Jellytotts

@Deleted_User I've got peas/mangetout/beans (French and runner), broad beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, courgette/squash/pumpkin, chard, pakchoi, kohl rabi, carrots, sprouts, sweetcorn, leeks, onions, beetroot, radish, spring onion, peppers/chillis, lettuce (mixed leaves) all on the go in the greenhouse currently.  Beans are so easy and so prolific and a couple of chard plants will keep you going in greens for a couple of years (they last 2 years if you keep cutting from them).  I have an allotment to fill so plant as much as I can and then deal with it when it's ready to harvest. Lots of chutneys/jams (have a fruit cage full of various berries) and I freeze a lot of stuff down.  I do huge batches of roasted veg which I portion into various sized tubs, bigger ones for a main portion, smaller ones to add to a risotto or soup. 

I've given up on potatoes here due to blight, all my tomatoes copped it last year too but I'm trying again this year but only growing them in the greenhouse.  

otb666

my apple tree and peach tree seem to yield a lot of fruit which i will use this year  Previously left them for the birds and insects.

otb666

my apple and peach tree always yield well and dont take up floor space.  For my sons birthday this year we gave him the house for 24 hours and slept elsewhere, but he is in his mid twenties. He had a party

ZsaZsa

Deleted_User said:

Thank you so much for sharing your top 5 items/tips, it’s been brilliant reading them all.

I had a lift to the supermarket today and got an amazing yellow sticker haul; it made me realise just how much money you can save timing it right for YS goods. I got 4pints of organic milk for 53p which has been stashed in the freezer. 

I agree about winter bills. I am still using the fire here as it’s currently 1 degree outside, I had hoped I would be able to ‘stash’ the coal I had delivered recently and save it for winter but alas no, I’m having to use it.

I have sown lots of seeds; what do people find particularly easy to grow? I’ve done the obvious easy ones - courgettes, potatoes, herbs, kale, tomatoes -

Any other ideas? We already rhubarb and some apple trees too

Xx

I bought some reduced autumn fruiting raspberry canes last winter and even though it was their first year they were abundant and the canes have doubled for this year if you’ve got some ground space? Autumn fruiting are a little less work than summer types.

Brambling

Deleted_User said:

I have sown lots of seeds; what do people find particularly easy to grow? I’ve done the obvious easy ones - courgettes, potatoes, herbs, kale, tomatoes -

Any other ideas? 

I'm another fan of French and runner beans, both are so easy to grew and usually crop really well, I usually grew climbing French beans and grow on the same wigwam as the runners.  Last year I had two varieties of each and was still picking in October, they also freeze well.  Pattypans also crop well if you have the room.  I would also add spinach to jellytots list 

Courgettes can be very prolific but don't freeze that well raw, so I tend to make and freeze ratatouille or pasta sauces and courgette cake freezes really well 😁 

[Deleted User]

Fabulous tips thank you all so much. 

@Jellytotts - are leeks easy enough? 

@Brambling - we love spinach so will definitely add that to the list, thank you. I do have some runner bean seeds but have never done a wigwam before and am weirdly nervous?! 

QueenJess

Don't forget salad leaves including rocket.  You can get some seeds to grow leaves very cheap for types that are really expensive leaves from the shops.

Brambling

Deleted_User said:

Fabulous tips thank you all so much. 

@Jellytotts - are leeks easy enough? 

@Brambling - we love spinach so will definitely add that to the list, thank you. I do have some runner bean seeds but have never done a wigwam before and am weirdly nervous?! 

Wigwams are very easy I put two in the flower bed last year. You can pick up bamboo canes cheap, I split 10 between two wigwams and either use string to secure the tops or I was given a couple of these last year which made it really easy.  It's well worth trying for the beans