Dig for Victory - Mark II

Larumbelle

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Its true we have loads of land lying bare, that could be used for food growing, you only have to look at HFW's latest tv thing on the housing estate, to see that.
What worries me, is that those who may be going hungry in the future, may not bother growing their own, just take what they need from others that do so.

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. The amount of land that could be put to good use and isn't is depressing. I live on what is colloquially classed as a 'sink' estate, and we have staggering levels of unemployment and relative poverty. And it's not just about money, gardening could also improve the mental and physical wellbeing of some of these people. As someone with mental health issues myself, I am sure that a bit of gardening could be beneficial to other people who have suffered depression. And I've even got as far as talking to my CPN about trying to organise a grow-your-own therapy group, once I am back on an even keel myself.

But for the most part people here have gardens, they have the time to garden, they just have no inclination to actually do it.

And to be honest, I can't believe the H F-W's Bristol experiment hasn't been vandalised yet. Every week I tune in wondering if it has happened, and I did question the wisdom of keeping livestock on what is essentially an unattended plot. Round here the allotments get vandalised regularly, and it must be so disheartening, I wonder how some of the owners have the strength to carry on. I'd say that's a bigger threat than theft.
If there ever was a true food shortage I can see there would be a risk of some theft. But in reality, I don't think all foods would become available, and most people would just change their eating habits to correspond with what the supermarkets have. I mean, nobody ever robbed my mate's asparagus, though they have broken into his shed, tipped over his water butt and thrown paint around all over his plot. If civilisation collapsed and food became unavailable to buy, then yeah, there would be looting. But hey, we're getting into the realms of zombie attack doomsday scenarios a bit now, aren't we?!

mirry

yesturday whilst shopping in somersfield , they had a packet with two courgettes in it for £2.20 :eek: .........but because no one had bought them they were now reduced to £1.10 :rotfl:.

Makes you appreciate your hard work .

Larumbelle

Yeah I know! It's mental what some veg costs. Lots of the stuff I use most costs about the same for a single item as I paid for an entire packet of seed!

But it amazes me how many people think that growing your own is expensive. And sure there are other costs involved in gardening, but they can be minimised with a little planning. Making your own compost, leaf mould and feed saves a ton, as does knowing where to bag cheap/free containers and making your own garden structures. This year we have built a polytunnel/greenhouse and shelving for it, leaf mould cages, two composters, a wormery, a feedmaker, a raised bed, a strawberry frame and a pergola. We have had to buy in a lot of our compost because of the bumblebee nest, but I don't mind that because the bees are far more valuable to me. We have bought or swapped seeds to be growing three types of lettuce, cut and come again lettuce, mesclun salad mix, stir-fry greens, spring onions, regular onions, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweetcorn, pumpkins, squashes, carrots, cabbages, beets, cauliflower, broccoli, peas, french beans, runner beans, garlic, ten or twelve different herbs... that's off the top of my head, I know there are more. We are lucky enough to have an apple tree and well established elder, unlucky enough to have blackberries, and we have some strawberry runners nipped off other people's plants. And our total expenditure has been about £80, of which £20 was the compost. We have enough seeds to carry us through several seasons (or do some swaps with) and will have enough salad and veg to keep us going through the year. Now, being a bit of a salad fiend, I could easily spend that in a month in the supermarket on fresh produce... I frequently did do before.

Now, it does take up a bit of my time (though less than you'd imagine) but I don't mind that a) because the financial gain makes it worth my while, b) because it has become something OH and myself do together, giving us 'quality time' (and exercise) that we might not otherwise get and c) I am getting to quite enjoy it.

I think a lot of people that say they have not got enough time or money for it have little idea of the realities of it.

Lotus-eater

silvercharming wrote: »

And to be honest, I can't believe the H F-W's Bristol experiment hasn't been vandalised yet. Every week I tune in wondering if it has happened, and I did question the wisdom of keeping livestock on what is essentially an unattended plot.

I feel exactly the same, I can't believe they have pigs and chickens on it. Its a shame, but I can see it being vandalised sometime.

silvercharming wrote: »

But hey, we're getting into the realms of zombie attack doomsday scenarios a bit now, aren't we?!

Hell yeah!
But why not, there are so many things to go wrong. Best start learning how to save seeds and stop buying your F1's

Larumbelle

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Hell yeah!
But why not, there are so many things to go wrong. Best start learning how to save seeds and stop buying your F1's

:rotfl:

OH reckons that at the rate I'm going, in ten years I'll be living off-grid in a yurt somewhere. Take that, apocalypse!

Lotus-eater

silvercharming wrote: »

:rotfl:

OH reckons that at the rate I'm going, in ten years I'll be living off-grid in a yurt somewhere. Take that, apocalypse!

I'll be with you. Lets think, we need an underground fully equipped battle shelter, with its own power generation. Big guns to kill all the vegetable stealing zombies....... what else?

Kaz2904

I finally got my garden into enough order that I had dug up all the concrete at the front of the house to put in a flower bed. We then removed the monstrosity of a flower bed in the back garden. We have a much smaller flower bed now but it started from empty and means I can actually use it.
In my front garden I have lettuces, red cabbage, purple broccoli, tomatoes, lollo rosso (which is fighting back from the slugs), garlic, a pot with endive, etc. Out the back I have beans, peppers, courgettes, leeks, cucumber and lots more tomatoes. Oh and year round lettuce. I have masses of seeds left to plant and gave my sweetcorn to MiL to look after.
I always thought it was going to be a lot of bother but it's wonderful. It's so peaceful in the morning going out to check on the plants. I am deciding what to do ready for next year and have been able to bless my neighbours with my over zealous planting.
Next year I hope to have stuff going most of the year round and get even more up together. I plan to have a flower bed on the other side of the garden as I only have pots at present. I am very excited about what we have coming already and tea times are certainly cheap- oh I forgot to get veggies- out to garden and cut some more salad leaves!

ETA potatoes, beetroot and blueberries (my peach pear and plum trees have nothing this year after my excitement at all the pears and all my carrots got eaten)

Lots of my seedlings died one very hot day when we were out and I didn't move them so I'll know for next year.

SEE

If anything will, and should, get people growing, it is this very scary fact.

Britain has a population approaching 70 million, but Britain only has the land capacity to grow for and feed?

17 million:eek:

Get the spades, hoes, and forks out:beer:

ceridwen

Hmmm....noticed one of my previous threads brought up and had a looksee.

I wasnt aware how much foodgrowing land we have available - well that actually matches the population level we "should" have! 17 million is Britain's optimum population.

It does concern me that people tend to say "Oh well...we did it in the 2nd World War - so we can do it again if we have to" for two reasons:

a. As I understand it - a lot of people were feeling rather hungry at that time. I recall reading a book that consisted of peoples diaries (Mass Observation or summat??) and there were a noticeable number of comments about people feeling hungry and lacking in energy because of feeling hungry, etc. So I think its a bit of a myth that gets peddled that people were healthier then than normal. I have my doubts and certainly most peoples food priority is literally filling their stomach - THEN they will possibly start wondering whether what they have just eaten was healthy or not.

b. I dont know what the population of Britain was at that time - but it would certainly have been the case that it was a lot smaller than now (ie fewer mouths to feed) on the one hand and a lot more land would have been available then (as a lot of our land will have been built on one way or another since that time - hence no longer available for foodgrowing purposes).

Hence why I "bang the drum" so loud about the need for everyone to get growing what food they can where they can (errrr....and one of my single strongest concerns is overpopulation....goes off wishing people would listen........).

I'm still experimenting away and making lots of how-to notes as I work this out. The basic idea is to turn my own tiny tiny little bit out back into a "tardis" as regards foodgrowing. I've made my notes on line and left them "open" for anyone to read - so they are as a secondary blog on:

http://mygardeningnotes.blogspot.com/

RAS

Ceridwen

I know the Mass ob books to which you refer. We forget that during the war a lot of fuel and food stuff was imported in convoys from the States. After the war, the States put all their effort into feeding Europe and stopped shipping to the UK. The mass OB books really made me realise how devastating it was for those who had just been through a war then to face a time of even worse food provision. Nothing like the experience of old family friends who had the misfortune to be in Northern Holland during that last winter before Germany finally capitulated, however. Oncle Willi faced transportation to smuggle very small amounts of milk from the countryside where he was in forced labour to the town to try and keep alive tiny children whose mother's could not feed them, and small lengths of copper pipe used to make immersion cookers.

My own families experiences were quite different because some were in rural areas and others in London. Certainly those in big cities had a much tougher time as they were less able to supplement their rations with growing or foraging.

The numbers I have read for feeding the UK are higher. You may have seen Simon fairlie's calculations? But it is probably nearer 30m than 70m. Much would depend on the climate and on how fast we could adjust to low fuel inputs and reduced transport.