[ljdrusilla]

Could any one help me ?

I am doing a maths course and have to work out what to grow in my garden. comes in handy actually as I'm about to turn my old garden that was used as an allotment when my father was alive back to an allotment.
can anyone answer the following :

1. How can I determin a crop yield from a seed?

2. How can I work out how much my crop has cost me vs the supermarket eg how much did my lb of beans come to and how much would the same cost me at the supermarket ?

3. If you have any more information that you think that would be relevent please state it


ta very much

[mattwragg94]

the only way to know how much yield you will get from each seed is to grow it as the yield varies each year - due to the climate.

the only way i can think of finding how much your product has cost you is to work out how much your seed has cost you i.e. 10 seeds a £1 - then at the end of the growing season tally it up to see how much you have harvested from the plants ( by weighing it)

- so if you have 10 plants at £1 - you harvest 10lbs of produce from the plants that would cost you 10p per 1lb of crop produced!

whereas it may cost you 50p per 1lb in the shops

i hope that wasn't too confusing?

[Yorkie]

I think that the Dr Hessayon Vegetable Expert book contains some figures on yields, if you can find a copy of the book or the pocket version in a charity shop or the library.

[sazhig]

I have the Hessayon book and yes it does have yield estimates.

In calculating how much growing your own has cost I should think that would be a difficult figure to calculate as it's not just the seed packet that costs, you'd also need to factor in the cost of pots & compost if you used them for seedlings, the site rent in the case of an allotment plot, water charges if you're on a meter, canes & string to support climbers etc

[ljdrusilla]

Thanks I will do a bit more digging ( no pun intened ) and look for the book

[ilan]

I think someone posted a link to the witch guide vegetable planner , this will also give you a good average yield per mtr row of crop . The cost of home grown veg is a bit like asking how long a bit of string is , dont forget to price your time in , fair rent on the land cost of any manures hire/cost of any equipment Then you may find just how cheap supermarkets are