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

leftatthetrafficlights

I'm another one who doesn't believe that it's generally financially better to 'grow your own' - the only things that probably come out cheaper are cut and come again lettuce (if you normally buy bags from the supermarket) and herbs (particularly perennials). Once you have factored in the cost of seeds, compost and watering (if on a meter) it probably works out considerably more expensive! 😳 

However, for me it's not about the cost but about the quality, freshness and pleasure of growing veg - we grow a variety of stuff that we enjoy eating and the taste is always superior to the stuff that is commercially available - the flavour of certain crops is incomparable! It's worth every penny for us and it also reduces my dd's costs as we share produce with her 😉

London_1

I definitely think that even if I only grow a few peppers or herbs on the windowsill and some mustard and cress the pleasure I get from doing it, more than compensates for time and effort involved
As there is only me to eat it a small box of mustard and cress which used to be pennies in the supermarket and costs actual pennies to grow, and peppers
 Ok you can buy them for aroud 50p each, but as I like peppers and also chilli's they too are easy to grow in my conservatory.Last year my peppers were from seeds from a pepper I grew, also my chilli plant came from a chilli I had grown .

Before my joints became uncooperative owing to arthritis and age I grew at one time lettuce,tomatoes, beetroot,onions, carrots rhubarb,parsnips,cabbages and potatoes, so although I'm a lot more limited with my gardening I still enjy watching them grow and eating them.

I'm hoping to move either later this year, or some time next year, and once settled will have some of those waist high raised beds to do a bit more gardening.

But no point having them this year as I would be sad to be leaving them behind,but my son-in-law has promised me he will make sure we have them in the new place along with a greenhouse as well.
My greenhouse sadly fell into disrepair after I lost my husband, and there was a spate of vandlism locally with kids smashing the glass on the way home from school down the back alleyway.

Virtually everyone who had a greenhouse in our road had them ruined, I did have some panes  replaced, but they were soon smashed again so I thought its just not worth the cost as glass isn't cheap to get.

JackieO xx

euronorris

Not convinced it's cheaper either, but I enjoy the hobby (bar the pollen exposure), I love eating our own stuff and I want to add as much of my own stuff to our reserves as possible. I also support bio diversity by donating to the heritage seed library. In return, I get to choose 6 (I think) sets of seeds from the seed library each year (what is available varies each year). These are usually seeds that can't be bought elsewhere. It's where I got my mange tout seeds from and fell in love with them.

The raspberries grow in clay. They grow in clay very well! As in, I am often pulling up rogue shoots! Our soil is also clay, and everything else is either in pots, bags or the veg trug.

Florenceem

Woolsery said:

Sayschezza said:

Has anyone seen the vlog of Frugal Queen in France on u tube. The post called getting ready for rationing (or something similar) is well worth a look and is funny in a sad way. Can't do links sorry.

I can:

https://www.youtube.com/c/FrugalQueeninFrance

Elle n'est pas Francais!

Thanks - I loved reading her blog so videos to watch are great.

Florenceem

annieb64 said:

We are in a new build so having to start from scratch with the garden. The builders just turfed the lawn. DH is slowly digging a border around the edge. We've put a row of runner beans against one fence and a couple of courgette plants grown from seeds left over from last year. We have three tomatoes in a grow bag and lettuce, peas and French beans in troughs.  The peas were grown from a packet of dried peas that I bought for sprouting a couple of years ago.

DD has given us a fig tree as a house warming present and we plan to put a couple of raised beds down the far side of the garden.  The main problem is that the ground is compacted and hard as iron.  

Dig in some manure to boost and break down the soil.

Wraithlady

We had solid clay when we moved in - seriously, you could throw pots from it.

One thing that helped was growing 'green manure' (clover) for a couple of years, then digging it in when it died down. After a while, we could add commercial compost.

Now, you have to dig down 6 foot to hit the clay, but it's taken the best part of a decade.

London_1

Woolsery said:

Sayschezza said:

Has anyone seen the vlog of Frugal Queen in France on u tube. The post called getting ready for rationing (or something similar) is well worth a look and is funny in a sad way. Can't do links sorry.

I can:

https://www.youtube.com/c/FrugalQueeninFrance

Just watched it and I wish this was played on TV for everyone to watch. She is a lady after my own heart, and I agree with everything she says Its so true and down to earth common sense .

I especially liked the fact that she said, and I agree we are all going to have to think rationing in some form or another.

I grew up with 1940s rationing until 1954 and because I knew no different, it was just a way of life to everyone .Nothing was wasted or thrown away, and we ate everything put in front of us whether we liked it or not .
(I loathed Tripe and its probably the only thing I honestly think I really couldn't eat today, no matter how hungry I was )

But how my late Mum managed to feed three growing children on a retricted budget for food I can't imagine ,but bless her she did, and her thrifty and frugal ways rubbed off on me, and I have been streetching food for the past 60 plus years.

 Ok so it maybe wasn't the best meat available because of finances, but it was always as tasty as I could make it. Shop bought cakes and biscuits were not in my budget either when I was perfectly capable of making them.
Things will get harder this coming winter, and her first point in the film was very well put across.along with the rest .

An excellent 25 minute film and well worth a look at.You may disagree with some of her points, and say "Well its not for me " but come the winter, and the bill sstart coming in you may think 'Hmm perhaps she's got a point'  

Using up everything you can and streetching stuff to its limits is putting cash back into your purses.

I don't own a dishwasher and never wanted or needed one ,but even today I wash up once a day after dinner, and thats it The left over dishwater gets chucked on the shrubs or lawn as being on a meter I've paid for it so I'm not throwing it away unless I can discard it for another use.

I too only use half the amount of detergent and white vinegar in my washing machine ,and make sure I have a load in there to warrant putting it on. I add some soda crystals to the wash and they keep whites nice and bright.
I don't rinse and repeat with shampoo as my hair gets washed in the shower, its fairly short anyway  .
Her point about advertising is so true its to make you use more, then you will have to replace it again so using less makes a deal of sense.

I'm a good deal older than this lady, but I can honestly say she is almost a mirror of my thoughts and ideas and well worth a look at 

So get yourself a cuppa and take 25 minutes if you can and watch her short film hopefully it may inspire you all a little Let me know what you think 

JackieO xx

Bluegreen143

I’ve just had time to watch the first part of the video but will go back to it.

In service of her first point - about not being fussy - I’ve drawn up a plan of action to tackle my kids’ picky eating.

They aren’t the worst (they do eat a mix of foods and don’t just live on beige stuff!) but I do think their limited diet is causing such annoyance when planning meals, such extra expense (eg I no longer buy whole chickens and portion up the meat as they won’t eat it) and also has an impact on their health and long-term eating habits, so I want to tackle it now.

I’ve been inspired by rereading the “French Kids Eat Everything” book, written by someone who cured her kids of pickiness by going to live in France for a year 😆 I’ve taken notes of some things to try. 

I was also away on a caravan break with another family this weekend and over the course of three days together saw that the other mum was much stricter with her kids’ eating than I am. 

Now the downside of her approach was things like a tantrum in the restaurant when the 3yo was told they must eat their vegetables before they could touch their pasta and chips (I would normally let mine eat whatever they like in a restaurant and they were both having plain cheese pizzas). But she held firm and to my amazement the little girl ended up eating every bite of her dinner by the end including vegetables. 

The thing is, her kids are MUCH better and healthier eaters than mine, voluntarily eating things like raw spinach & cheese wraps for breakfast, olives for snacks etc so I’m starting to twig that being firmer does pay off. 

I’m not one for insisting on a cleared plate, as we need to be mindful nowadays of not teaching overeating habits, but I do want to be able to do a varied, frugal mealplan and have it accepted by the kids! 

Of course adult fussiness is a whole different thing to tackle, as DH certainly has his very firm preferences 🤣 and I don’t think of myself as being fussy, but I am very focused on health/weight loss right now which naturally affects the budget…

JinJinBlue

Thanks for your comments on clay soil. I had no idea that raspberries would grow in clay so mine (only babies) will be transplanted. Also going to plant mustard and cress, salad leaves and take some herb cuttings. Sounds silly but I didn't think about them. 

As to some kind of rationing. I think Jackie O is right. Even if the government don't reintroduce it,  self rationing is something I already do in order to make everything stretch. Will definitely watch the Frugal Queen video later. Also got some brown bananas that I will make into flapjacks with chocolate and raisins. I've found a recipe online so a bit of an experiment. Might be a disaster but I'll give most things a try once. 

ellenvan

I agree re the kids eating - you have to be slightly stricter for their own good.
If they know you will not back down they find it easier to comply.
Growing or helping with growing crops seems to help.
Also let them have 2 choices and that is it. Preferably the choice is given at the meal planning stage or when shopping.