Vegetable growing - Does it Save money ?

tenuissent

I love asparagus, and my allotment is supplying more than even I can eat, and it's fun giving it to people who also like it but don't realise how easy it is to grow. £8 a year for the plot (no water) and about £22 for 20 asparagus plants that last for decades.

Not to mention broad beans, onions, leeks, potatoes, beans, rhubarb etc etc etc

tenuissent

Forgot to mention HEAPS of raspberries and strawberries and apples and gooseberries etc etc etc.

aurorahelios

Well my spending on food went down from £200 a Month to £130 a Month from June last year til about Feb of this year, it is now starting to creep back up again as my freezer is emptying.

I did find that I became more inventive with food and part of that saving was displacement of other products because I had stuff to use that i had grown. So not only did we save money but we also ate far more fruit and veg as part of our diet.

kippers

I have had my allotment for 3 years now and i love it. I pay £20 per year for my plot plus seeds & compost. I get most of my seeds from either wilkinsons or wyevale when they have sales on the autumn (i paid 10p each for most of my seed packets last year).

I don't rotovate, i dig and i share a load of manure with my neighbour (we paid £25 together and there is enough for next year as well).

I don't have raised beds as the wood would cost me too much and my family bought me a shed for my birthday.

My tools are from wilkinsons and as cheap as possible (as things get stolen a lot at my lottie).

The organic fruit and veg i harvest pays for my allotment and the above easierly. I have strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, rhubarb, bramley apples, cox apples, not to mention the veggies we have. I didn't buy potatoes or onions again until february this year as i used my own that i'd stored.

Do i save money having an allotment...i think so....but i make use of everything i grow..in fact i'm about the make rhubarb jam in a minute...

and one thing i forgot to mention is the flowers i grow and pick and bring home..they are beautiful.

I love my allotment and i am fit and healthy because of it!

RAS

As per misspenny, whem I look at the price of supermaket or even market produce, particulalry fruit it is terrifying.

Throughout much of the summer and autumn I eat a punnet of fruit each day. The equivalent from the supermarket would be about £2 for raspberries, a few strings of red currents are £1.79 and they do not even sell white currants or logan berries.
Three stick of rhubarb was £1.59 at a time when I could not pick all the stuff on my plot and it was so juicy that the stick snapped if I held them sideways.

And I will be giving away globe artichokes unless something really sad happens.

And I can pick enough salad for two days each week all winter, even during hard frosts, instead of buying packets from the supermarket that are too big and collapse and go off in days.

Talltree_2

Firstly thanks to everybody that responded to the thread

I can report some progress ...... We got the black plastic to cover the unused part of our plot for nothing (from a disused plot) with permission which helps and some French bean and Squash plants on Freecycle, plus a surplus of Cabbage plants from a neighbor. We also got the sticks to hold up the netting for free.

We were "advised" to buy netting at 92p per mtr ... (9 mts) to cover the cabbages
to prevent pigeon attack. .. This netting we can re-use, along with the canes for the runner beans so it's not all gloom and doom.

Looking at Tesco,s prices ......... 1Kg Carrots .. 50p, £2.39 for 2.5 kg Potatoes, Iceburg Lettice 99p, Red Onions 85p per Kg ,Cabbage 95p

We will still need to go some to recoup our costs in any reasonable time.

I think Timber frames for raised beds are too expensive .. so it's a no for now.

From the threads here and from my investigation I think fruit is the way to go ..... rhubarb looks good (although personally I dont like it) and soft fruits.

If we had'nt hired the rotavator ... we could have dug it by hand, but it would have taken an age and we most likely would have been behind ... it was our biggest expense .. .

We shall see .............

pinksleepybear

I've been building my raised beds from timber I got from the local wood recycling centre. Some of it was free, some was a £1 a piece. Other people on my site are getting wood from local industrial parks, skips etc. Don't be afraid to ask for it. I always have a look in a skip if I pass one.

Link for wood recycling centres,
http://www.communitywoodrecycling.org.uk/1otherpj.htm

Kantankrus_Mare

It takes time to get your plot as you really want it and producing to its full capacity. Ive had mine for 2 years and just getting it how I want it and hoping for a bumper year.

Just keep your eye out in the local paper for things you need or keep your eyes peeled for people throwing away wood that would be useful.

A lot of things you need to buy initially will last years and years and Im looking at it long term. Im 41 now and hope that my interest will still be there when im retired. :rotfl:

Wouldnt say it pays for itself at the moment but I see it as my hobby and other hobbies can be loads more expensive.

leiela

Ok not counting the satisfaction of growing your own food or the yummyness of homegrown.

From the purely moneysaving point of view is growing your own fruit and veg worth it?? If so what are the best veg's to grow?

Jack's_mummy

Value wise I guess the best thing to grow is the ones you like and that cost alot in the shops.Loose leaf lettuce and mange tout I think I my best "value for money" crops.