Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Chatting => Frugal Living => Topic started by: KT on July 03, 2009, 10:14
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Ok my OH is not as struck with this whole "veg gardening" idea as i am just yet.
tbh he's always been a man of fast food and convienience and he just doesnt see the point in going to all this effort for "a few veggy's he could buy in asda".
I don't have an allotment (YET!!) but i am blessed with a huge south facing garden. The OH hasn't let me dig it all up *sulk* but i have been afforded as many pots as i can squeeze onto the side patio and 2 (3ft by 30ft) raised beds.
We are financially struggling as a family and i came up with this idea to initally try and save a few penny's but i must say im hooked i love watching all my little plants grow.
My OH wasn't convinced and was concerned it was gonig to become a money sink we couldn't afford, so in order to convince and calm him down a struck him a deal.
Year 1 (this year) i would start with a budget of £50 to buy EVERYTHING!!!
When harvesting started i would put 50% of the value of the veg/fruit(comparible to asda) in a pot. This way we would be saving 50% straight away by not buying these items in asda hence bringing our shoping bill down.
The other 50% that was going in the pot would slowely mount up allowing us to watch our savings grow so we'd have something to track.
The deal is that this saving pot isn't touched untill next years sowing season starts (feb) in feb i will count it up.
Hopefully we will know a) how much we saved (ie how much we didn't spend in asda) and b) i will have enough money in the pot to finance next years growing!!! in the hope that in a year or two i can convince him that an allotment is a good idea :D
I guesstimate that so far this pot has about £15 in it, not bad concidering most things haven't cropped yet.
What did everyone else do to convince reluctant OH's?!
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I've got raised beds in my garden (1st year for me and late starting as well), plus new tates in tyres. OH not said anything - I think he thinks it's just another fad I'm going through :lol: :lol:, he has helped with any heavy lifting thats needed doing and reaching things that are too high for me like putting netting up for my beans though as I'm only 5 feet tall. So far we have just had new tates and he thought they were delicious. I got chickens without telling him first which he wasn't over keen on having but now he loves watching them and loves the eggs as they are far tastier than shop ones.
Like the idea of putting money saved from food bill into a pot - might try that myself :D
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I'm sure The Dobbys won't mind me posting this link - but have a look at their budget sheet - they cost out and weigh everything on their plots [bigger space but same principle].
For me; If I buy a bag of leek seeds at £1.50 - only 3 have to be harvested to make a profit on the seeds - and probably only 10 to pay for the whole year's allotment rent. That's how I look at it - then I just get on with the fun of growing my own.
Anyway - the linkie to the Dobbys' blog
http://dobbyspumpkinpatch.blogspot.com/2008/10/time-for-update-methinks-sorry-i-havent.html#links
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hi kt,
my oh didnt need any convincing,but however he's not so keen on the chickens.he reckons they get treated better than him.
if you have any seeds left at the end of sowing this year,offer them up for swaps,its a greatway of trying different things.
or if like me things are tight try gardenbymail.co.uk
they have organic veggie seeds from just 19p,(p&p 99p)
i had my first delivery this week,they are very good value,i think
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Courgettes are 50p each in Tescos at the moment
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Get a divorce and turn the whole garden into a veg plot. :D
Why not get an allotment just for yourself? Does it matter what the OH thinks if he won't be required to help?
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Courgettes are 50p each in Tescos at the moment
so i'm saving £2/wk :ohmy:...........nah i wouldn't buy this many ever........still 50p counted as saved everynow and then, though!
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Get a divorce and turn the whole garden into a veg plot. :D
Why not get an allotment just for yourself? Does it matter what the OH thinks if he won't be required to help?
Oh if i get my heart set on it i'll get my allotment don't worry :D
I think he's just concerned it's something im going to end up pumping loads of time and money we can't afford into.
I've explained that there is a HUGE waiting list for these things and that if i put my name down i might not get one for a couple of years so we have plenty of time to see if i get bored with it haha.
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My OH suggested I go and get a hobby. I got an allotment and the rest, as they say, is history! Allotment, greenhouse, front garden growing veg, chickens in the back garden, where will it end!
I think some things you save money on and others you don't. One of the things I have saved most on is not buying bags of salad leaves. I always used to buy them, eat about a third and throw the rest away. Now I never buy them. Even in the winter I use my spinach in salads. Have saved probably £30 this year just on that! Not bad for seeds which cost less than £3 (few varieties of lettuce and a spinach!)
If you are looking to save money though, buy seeds cheaply too. Half price sales in lots of the garden centres at the moment, and sites like Alan Romans are very cheap if you are looking for standard varieties without fancy packets.
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I'm with Ice. :D
The fast and convenience food must cost more than growing your own. We are both mad about fresh and home-grown food and have dug 3 beds in the lawn plus the veg plot and bits in teh borders.
We're very cash-strapped (as are many on here) and there's no comparison. Next step is home-brew although I spend about £10/year on booze so it won't actually save anything :D
Rob 8)
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Well how much would my salad for lunch cost and my dinner, if i'd bought all the veg.............Sorry don't keep sheep in the garden so couldn't do the lamb mince :lol:
But i did do the peas, green beans and charlotte potatoes. 4 raspberries and 1 strawberry for afters :) Luverly!
Don't it make you feel good, hope it does my body good too
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I don't think you can really look at is as a way to save money - yes you'll save cash if you would actually buy the amount of courgettes your plants will produce but who buys 180 courgettes a season? I would never dream of buying fresh peas Id just grab a packet of frozen - far cheaper.
From a purely financial side I very much doubt its cost effective. I would love to see figures to the contrary.
Having said that my shopping list had 3 items on it last week cheese, bread and milk. Everything else came from the garden/chickens - or (like rice & pasta) is bought once in a blue moon.
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From a purely financial side I very much doubt its cost effective. I would love to see figures to the contrary.
Right.....next year we'll all have to turn into accountants :blink: and cost our veg growing out, to proove it one way or another...what do you reckon? :)
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Right.....next year we'll all have to turn into accountants :blink: and cost our veg growing out, to proove it one way or another...what do you reckon? :)
Don't joke about it - THEY could be listening and there will be a "home grown produce" section on my tax return next year !!!!
I just don't think that for the first couple of years theres any way to make it pay. Im sure my diet is better :D but my wallet isn't. :(
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I know..but it's cos we buy stuff we want......not really only the stuff we need :unsure:
Well i do anyway :lol: :tongue2:
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From a purely financial side I very much doubt its cost effective. I would love to see figures to the contrary.
Right.....next year we'll all have to turn into accountants :blink: and cost our veg growing out, to proove it one way or another...what do you reckon? :)
i agree with with mumofstig,we are all so used to going into the dreadful supermarkets and loading our trolleys its become a habit.
veggie growing in basic terms doesn't have to be expensive.i'm new to it all and really havn't spent much at all.we only have hard standing,and a lovely lawn.the lawn is now half its size.
cheaper to dig that,than to buy pots,raised beds and compost.
seeds have cost me 19p a pack.have swapped with others for things i havent got.
i suppose its all a matter of how far you want to take things.like your shopping trolley really.
either you settle for the basics or go for the finest.
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Eating the produce grown by me and my small band of children at school ( too much even for them to eat :lol:) has given my OH a strangely proprietal air when he tells people we mainly eat home grown :lol: :lol:
His contribution in seven months:
1. One watering trip
2. Carrying six bags of compost
3. Taking spare cabbage and fennel plants to work to give to his colleagues
He's not done bad out of this and doesn't grumble ..... not now anyway ;)
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Interesting discussion =
got my plot last August and a rough tot up now seems to say that I have spent about £230 (inc rental). I doubt I have saved any money yet but as others have said it's not about that alone. For starters, I would never buy fresh peas or raspberries because of the cost. The taste of most things is far superior. And what price the relaxation, the exercise, the friendship and the chance to contemplate your navel in company with nature.
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Just because you wouldn't buy them doesn't mean they don't have a value :lol:
It means you have been able to 'upgrade' ...for free :lol: Don't you just love it :)
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I don't think you can really look at is as a way to save money - yes you'll save cash if you would actually buy the amount of courgettes your plants will produce but who buys 180 courgettes a season? I would never dream of buying fresh peas Id just grab a packet of frozen - far cheaper.
True i know im bound to end up with Waaay more courgette's than i would normally use, but i do actually use alot of courgette's. normally i would say that i use 1 pkt of 3 courgette once a week thats 156 courgettes a year at a cost of £82 a year. (wow thats sounds bad when you write it down haha :tongue2:)
Granted the ones i am growing have a limited shelve life fresh but i plan to make them into the sauce i normally use them in a freeze on bulk so im certainly hoping that once they are in full production mode i'll be able to make enough pasta sauce for the entire year and enough courgette for stir fry etc (other foods i use fresh courgette) for the summer months, not to mention a whole host of other foods i don't normally make regually because of the price of courgettes (marrow chuckney, courgette tea bread etc)
for what cost?? .... erm seeds where £1.50, soil is free, alittle tom feed so maybe £2 worth in total over the season. 1 bag of compost that used to start the seedlinds off in £1 (asda smart price), a couple of pots so maybe another £1. thats pretty much it really.
total cost of courgettes = £5 if i get more than i can eat it really doens't matter, because £5 is still alot better than my usual annual cougette bill of £82, infact all the better because then i can feed friends and family out of my food bill .. yay.
I could go on and on really ...... i probabally use 1 bag of frozen green beans a week, 52 weeks = £52 a year. this year i've replaced those with french dwarf, french climbing and runner beans.. cost of seeds about £3, feed and neting canes etc pobabally takes it upto about £5 total.
Granted we could start costing up my petrol time etc ... but i till thats going alittle ott, infact i guess i should factor in the cost of the new freezer i bought just to keep these things in to store for winter :tongue2: but really i think i've done pretty well out of my inital £50 investment. i've recorded £15 savings so far and my foods been cropping for less than a month and most of it is no-where near ready.
True enough its not always like for like comparisons but as long as my family eat i concider it a saving on something i would have bought.
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Just because you wouldn't buy them doesn't mean they don't have a value :lol:
Actually for the purpose of the discussion I think thats exactly what it does mean. If you won't / don't normally buy the item, just because you have it that doesn't mean you have saved its value. Much the same way a pair of shoes in the sale is only a bargain if you were going to buy them anyway.
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But Lardman.....what i mean is......if you are eating fresh peas, what would you have eaten instead, frozen? Then you have given your fresh peas the same monetary value as frozen ones, but got fresh ones.
You would still have to replace your homegrown fruit and veg with something (that you would have to buy) even if it was a 9p tin of value beans and a reduced loaf of bread!
So no matter what you eat from the garden, it must have a value, cos it replaces something else you would have bought and eaten :)
Can you see what i mean :unsure:
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Can you see what i mean :unsure:
Yep I understand and its a very valid point, but the items value is limited to the item which is replaces, in your example 9p not £1.80 pack or whatever they're charging. So while you're diet is better your wallet isn't.
Should I then decide that I'd like some fresh beans with my fresh peas the combined value again can not exceed the 9p beans I would have bought if I had no garden produce.
If we look at something like fresh strawberries, they don't and never will make it onto my shopping list. I do however have a few plants in the garden. As such they don't replace anything on my list - what monetary value can I assign them? Having them is not saving me anything.
I think however this is at a slight tangent to the OP question regarding saving money by growing your own.
I better leave it there though otherwise Aunty will send me to the naughty step for being cantankerous.
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Yep I understand and its a very valid point, but the items value is limited to the item which is replaces, in your example 9p not £1.80 pack or whatever they're charging. So while you're diet is better your wallet isn't.
That's why i said you got a free upgrade ::) :lol:
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There has been a discussion on allotment produce recently down the plot. I raise for me and for one other household. We are into year 3 on the plot and have learned which things grow on it. No - make it that I'm into year 3 working and both households are into year 3 in eating.
We've made a list of things we like and decided to grow the expensive stuff that we like. So that will be salad produce then, fennel, calabrese and broccoli, dwarf beans, leeks, parsnips, peas, red cabbage, courgette, marrows and carrots as you can get so many out of one packet and pick them young for eating raw.
Add in that we have a large variety of herbs, strawberries, raspberries and tayberries (all expensive). So all in all, the plot should cover its costs plus some next year. There will be a few pink fir apple potatoes to go with the salads (try buying those down the supermarket then).
Seems the way to go as it fits with our eating habits. Oh and I factor in my time as working on the allotment is my major hobby.
The other side of the coin is that gardening for food never really pays in the first or second years with collecting the tools and getting the ground into good heart. After that you really begin to see the benefits. Probably year 4 is where you really begin to make savings (allowing for flood, famine and plague of course as all gardeners know). You work up to saving money because you learn to grow and preserve what you will eat.
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And of course. Not only do you save on like for like fruit and veg btu while you're trying to eat all that produce, you aren't buying other things to try and make a meal from.
It's def a win/win situation. :)
We only have limited garden space but we are eating stuff we'd have to buy and have freezers full of produce that will substitute for other things later (fruit for puddings, etc) that may have been bought off a shelf.
If that makes sense. :unsure:
Rob 8)
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Let's face it, however you look at it it's just great to GYO :D
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Let's face it, however you look at it it's just great to GYO :D
I totally agree.
Regardless of the cost of what you are growing, anything you eat from your garden is money saved, because every meal is something you didn't need to buy. If the green beans replace the 9p tin of value beans then so be it, 9p is saved and franky home grown beans are better for you, taste better and give you a nice sence of achivement to boot.
I agree with the people who say that you can't save you've saved XXX amount on things you wouldn't buy, when i factor what go's into my pot i don't factor in posh fresh beans when i harvest my green beans i factor in the money i would have spent on the cheap frozen ones i would have bought. As it happen's everything im growing is something i would normally buy to one degree or another. Though as someone else said i concider the fresh stuff a free upgrade from the frozen veg i used to live off.
I do figure though anything i eat (even if it's not a direct replacement ie bean for bean) is a saving, ok so i might not buy courgettes for teabread normally, but teabread eaten still has value as it replaces "something" i would have eaten mostlikely cheap packs of bickies or cakes after all growing my own doens't mean im eating more.
So really the only things i don't concider some sort of saving are anything i give away or throw away.
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this is interesting, if theres a lidle close by seeds only 28p a pack and its well documented on here that you can can get very cheap if not free tubs to grow in from round the back of supermarkets, and if you have the room maybe some chickens.
you cant get fresher or tastier, good luck :)
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Very fortunate here as OH was the main instigator of the GYO thing,
went to have a look at various sites and 3 weeks later we were on :D
now to the other half of this thread
Strimmer £60
fuel £10
seeds £5
canes £15
netting £4
shed £100
total so far in first year £194
and nothing from lotty yet (had some stuff from pots in garden ;))
ok the shed was a wedding aniv prezzi to ourselfs but we aint gona see any "profit" for a few years, and then theres the green house to build yet???
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yes but what would you be doing if you were not at the lotti??
tv perhaps- so electric, going out even- petrol and admissions etc etc
looks like a win win situation to me plus you get a free workout so no gym fees. :D
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dont get me wrong
I love gettin out on the plot, and dont do it to make any money.
its a life style thing, just dont like being indoors ever, quite happy working in the rain as much as the sun, not keen on the wind (? ooweer) as its unpredictable.
what would I be doing otherwise?
walking the dogs
fishing
shooting (told you I dont like indoors :D)
and I still do all this and the plot,
busy old life init?
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My wife would just go and do it hahahahhah, she would not ask me if she wanted to do somthing a bit different within reason of course :D She was not to keen on getting a plot but i got one anyhow and she loves spending time down there and even goes there while im at work.