Vegetable growing - Does it Save money ?

leiela

4, 2 adults and 2 kids We eat pretty much anything but im not a fan of open lettuce (BAD experience with homegrown as a kid)

Sun comes in on the back garden in the morning and travels up over the house to the front garden as the day go's on. The planters could be placed in two places, one gets good sunlight for most of the day(direct in the morning and none direct by late afternoon. The other spot only gets direct daylight in the morning, and is quite shady in the afternoon.... dunno if that helps.

Lotus-eater

leiela wrote: »

I've just got a large raised planter off freecycle it's on 4 legs off the ground with drainage in the bottom i think it's intended for flowers.

like this http://www.chicteak.co.uk/teakplanters.asp?gclid=CP7oivHUn5kCFQo1Qwod0ASCpQ

it's a 90cm by 90cm what would be the BEST use for it?? i'm a total newbie i mean seriously i've never even grown cress haha so something easy that i can manage.

Big old pot, the best use would be to grow whatever you like to eat best, there is no "best use" for it.

Have you no ground space at all?

leiela

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Big old pot, the best use would be to grow whatever you like to eat best, there is no "best use" for it.

Have you no ground space at all?

I do have ground space, but im currently trying to convince my husband "veg" is a pretty use of it haha... right now we have a big lawn and he's some what reluctant to let me dig it up but is letting me have as many planters as i like on the patio. (hmm that sounds bad, he's not letting me haha thats all we've managed to agree on so far.. he doens't want to lose to much of the back garden because the kids play in it which is a fair point)

All i've manage to get him to concede right now is giving me 1 border up the fence, my dad thinks green beans would grow well there. (most people fill thier borders with flowers im gonna fill mine with veg haha) gonna spend sunday digging it out because right now it's grass and weeds.

RAS

There is no best use, but if you have a planter of that size and you can get a bit of old copper pipe (freecycle) and nail that round it, the slugs will leave it alone.

Then you can use it for the tender things?

Or - if it is in the sun, then try stuff like chillis and french beans. if it is in the shade, beets, endive, spinach etc.

leiela

I was in B&M earlier and i noticed they had fruit bushes.

Blueberry, blackberry,rasberry, gooseberry and strawberries (though these didn't look like bushes so i assume they where just seeds..bag of mud in a box haha)

Are any of these worth getting?? will they survive outdoors now? it's still pretty wet but its pretty mild now i think?

if i was to get them which pots would i need for them?? they had a big selection none very big, but big enough i think .. they had long thin tubs (about 1ft long by about 9inchs deep) that i think might be ok for strawberries (2 to a pot maybe), and big round ones maybe 2ft deep? 2ft wide at the top, that might house the bushes pretty well... (not that i have any idea how big any of these plants grow :rotfl: )

Also what about "extra" stuff they have big bags of compost for 79p a bag i assume id use that instead of dirt (i know i know im totally clueless) what about fertilizer, plant feed etc etc.

Ok im rambling now!! haha .... are these worth trying? i'll grab them on my way home from work if they are.

angelavdavis

Only buy the strawberries if they are not seeds. Usually they are sold this time of year as dormant plants.

I think your thoughts on pots are about right. They should be OK now outside because they are dormant.

If they are 2ft square, I would plant two raspberry bushes per pot. You will need to provide them with some support so buy bamboo canes, insert 4 around the edge and plant the plants in between, run string around the canes to contain the raspberries.

You shouldn't need quick so large pots for the blackberries, blueberries or gooseberries - plant one per pot in a pot about 1ft square.

You will need compost and I recommend buying Poultry pellets. Natural fertiliser (which stinks!) which you can sprinkle over the surface of the soil and allow to breakdown gradually.

Ensure there are holes in the bottom of the pots for drainage. You will need to initially cover the bottom holes in the pots with either crocks (broken terracotta pots) or polystyrene chips/broken polystyrene. You then over with some compost, put the plant in the pot, then fill the edge/top with compost. Leave a minimum of an inch on the top of the compost so you can put plenty of water in the pot.

Keep well watered as they need a lot of water to produce fruit, but don't drown them.

feefeelalabelle

hi all, seems like some of you are dab hands at this so i would like to pick your brains....please. Im a complete beginner (as in only ever grown cress at junior school !), theres me my partner and baby girl and am wanting to grow our own fruit and veg, ive started today but think ive messed up already, ive planted my seeds in manure!!!! oh dear is this ok or not, i thought it was compost.... mmm not too sure now, maybe they will be super sized with all the goodness??? Im thinking its probably alot easier as im just starting to buy the plants that have started to shoot instead of seeds???

HariboJunkie

feefeelalabelle wrote: »

hi all, seems like some of you are dab hands at this so i would like to pick your brains....please. Im a complete beginner (as in only ever grown cress at junior school !), theres me my partner and baby girl and am wanting to grow our own fruit and veg, ive started today but think ive messed up already, ive planted my seeds in manure!!!! oh dear is this ok or not, i thought it was compost.... mmm not too sure now, maybe they will be super sized with all the goodness??? Im thinking its probably alot easier as im just starting to buy the plants that have started to shoot instead of seeds???

What do you mean by manure? Does it smell like horse poo or is it non smelly, soil type stuff?

If it's the former, it won't be good for the plants until it's rotted down for a while. It will do more harm than good.

feefeelalabelle

its the non smelly! good job as the bag broke on partner haha ! its got alot of twiggs in it though, do you think its ok ?

Penelope_Penguin

leiela wrote: »

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?

I think it's worth it - I can have strawberries, raspberries, sweetcorn, salads, tomatoes, cucumber, aubergine for far less than shop prices. Bearing in mind that veg has gone up loads in the last year, seeds haven't risen nearly as much

I read in today's Guardian that once you're established, an egg costs 10p from your own hens - huge saving :j

I'll add this to the exisitng thread, for more opinions

Penny. x