[ytyynycefn]

In the summer, we are pretty much self-sufficient on veg, and try to freeze/jam/pickle as much as we can.  Only started this gyo lark last year though, so very early days!  Haven't bought any pickle or jam since we started, though     We're still eating some of the beans, peas and sweetcorn we grew last year.

I did spend a bit getting stuff together, but I've treated it as I would any other hobby, ie bought lots of stuff ;-)  but we'll only spend money if we can't make or get it for free.  I bought my shed with the proceeds of a load of dodo I sold on eBay, for example.

You can get some great veggies with nothing more than some ground, a fork, spade, hoe and seeds - I'm seem to get given lots of spare plants, too.  Pallets can always be had to build bins and other wooden things - a bit of ingenuity can save a huge pile of money.

On the whole, I've probably spent more than I've saved, but I've tried to obtain the money in a cheap way - by selling stuff I don't need anymore!

[sclarke624]

Well I reckon I have saved a bomb on orange sweet peppers, which we like best.  New potatoes are quite expensive to buy as well.  

Anyway for some reason this year salad goes off within four days for me, so that means the inconvienience of another trip to the shops.  OH eats salad five times a week he loves it and its good for his diabetis, bizzarely I can't stand it, just grow it.  I do like spring onions, new potatoes and peppers though.  

Think it will take a couple of years three maybe to recoup money spent though, i.e tannalized wood for high risee in garden, compost to fill it, pots, tubs etc.  Seeds are no price worth worrying about get cheap from lidels, b&Q or when T&M do half price.

[pepper]

I started in April and fortunately inherited a well tended plot -even so I have been alarmed at the money I have had to spend until my husband said to treat it like a hobby. We wouldn't think twice about spending money on a hobby, would we?
I have frozen enough gooseberries, black and red currants to last the whole year and the whitecurrant crop is looking excellent too. In fact I have had to give some away I have so much!
The veg are a different matter and I haven't produced much. I started late which may be a contributing factor. However, the few potatoes, spinach and lettuce I have had were wonderful and far superior to bought.
I'm hooked - I just have to figure out how to get a variety of crops and the right number throughout the year for my husband and me by continuous sowing - this may take some time!!!!!

[David.]

Don't forget the cost of extra freezers (I've got 4) the shed in the garden to put them in, the electrical connection to the house, the preserving equipment (I've got a pasteuriser & juice extractor costing £265), the homebrewing equipment (£125 for just the fruit press), etc.

[wellingtons]

... I was already a keen gardener, so had all the tools I needed.  I inherited my plot complete with a shed and some tools.  I was also left quite a decent supply of nails, string, old bricks, glass and large pieces of wood.

So my costs have really been seeds, some farmyard manure and then things like netting and fleece ... oh and bamboo canes.

I've been encouraged to enter the local competitions by other plot holders, which nets me about £25 a year in prize money ... not to be sniffed at.

I was given an old greenhouse, which got nicked, so I did buy a polythene one but that was in the sale at £19.99.

I try though, to get the plot to provide me with fresh veg all year round, and apart from a bit of a lull in January - March I do really well.  I prefer to eat the veg fresh, rather than freezing masses, but I do make batches of chutney and jams and dry chillies for later in the season.

I would say that it pays for me.  It gives me a healthier lifestyle both in terms of diet and exercise.  The cost doesn't give me a headache, and I've never bothered to work it out precisely, but I would say over the year it's just about the same.

[ClaireMc]

I don't know yet either whether I'm saving money on veg, and suspect not because of the cost of the War on Pests.  The price of chicken wire was a bit of a shock.

But what about planting lots of extra seeds next year and selling your seedlings to friends or at a car boot sale? I was happy to pay 8p each for brassicas and a bit more for courgettes and strawberries.  I reckon there's scope for a nice little earner if you've got time.

[chrissie B]

i think its not so much the money you will save growing your own stuff but the friends you make down the allotment ,and the choking feeling you get when you pull up that first veg and get to eat it ,well what can i say , i still get that choking feeling in the back of my throat and still polish my first tom off the vine , ok get the hankis out my keyboard is getting soggy .
it gets better every year.
chrissie b

[fallen angel]

Sadly the chances of me getting an allotment seem very far away as im number 51 on the list  :cry:  but it has made me think if i can afford a big field someday maybe i could be an allotment owner  

I like the idea of selling surplus plants at boot fairs and so on and i suppose if you did it right you could have quite a nice income to support you that way, its definatly something worth thinking about cheers  

Kind regards Nicky

[mushroom]

Interesting topic. If we're just talking financially, and given that I'm starting from a plot that has *never been farmed*:

1. shed £370 incl fitting (8x6ft)
2. foundation for shed - 16 400x400mm flags, sand, cement, delivery = £60
3. roundup (not used yet) £20
4. spade, fork, rake, edger, shears, gloves, wd40, trowel, hand fork, hoe, dutch hoe,  3-pronged thing whose name i can't recall ~ £150
5. potting compost, pots, netting, seeds (various, loads) £20

so that's 720 quid to get started, with new stuff, from scratch. A lot of these are one-off purchases. I could have done it a lot cheaper had I bought secondhand tools rather than new. I budgeted about 1000 quid to get started and up and running. Theres still more stuff to get, like the water butt.

What offsets this is:

1. save money by staying out of the pub ~ 200-300/mo
2. using part of allotment as small bbq area - £??? - money spent here is offset by what we would speng going out eating.
3. broccoli is one of my favourite vegetables, and I plan on growing a lot of this. Currently, broccoli in the shop is about £1 a head. I could save about 30/month on broccoli and tomatoes.

non-monetary:

I live in a flat above a shop. it doesn't have a garden. The allotment is my garden. There's the extra excercise and it is relatively quiet compared to where I live.

[gregmcalister]

I would say that with a bit of forward planning it would be possible for me to grow pretty much everything I need from my allotment.  This year was my first on the allotment and my main outlay has been seeds, compost, fertilisers, slug pellets, roundup and some tools.  The tools I bought from Tesco at minimal cost and the rest of the things didn't cost a great deal.  I have also been buying some weed suppressant fabric to cut down on work and the future cost of weedkiller.  My shed is falling to bits and I need to hunt around for pieces of timber to rebuild it but I don't plan on buying anything from the shops for it with the exception of corrigated pvc for the roof and maybe concrete for the floor.  I got a load of pots off Freecycle which saved a bit of cash and I've been making pots out of newspaper which again saves a good few quid.

Looking back on the year so far there are a lot of things I can do to improve yields, reduce gluts and vastly reduce the amount of veg I would need to buy.  A big compost heap is key and by next year I should be doing alright.  I got my compost bin from Waste Aware Scotland for £8 and I'll be getting another couple for next year.  At the end of the day you need to put the hours in to really see the results and unfortunately I haven't been able to do that so far this year.

If everything had grown as it should have done without being eaten or drowned then I would be self sufficient in carrots, parsnips, potatoes, onions, mange tout, French beans, borlotti, red and green cabbage, globe artichokes, romanesco cauliflower, celeriac, cavalo nero, tomatoes, chillies, strawberries and courgettes.  Hopefully I'll get more autumn/winter crops on the go and next year I would hope to grow all my own veggies.

To sum it up I think next year I will be in a position where I'm saving money while at the same time eating better food.

[mushroom]

Having limited time, I also wanted to get underway rapidly and to a stage where the allotment would be ticking over. The 'rapidly' part costs money.

[diggerjoe]

Don't forget carboot sales - I picked some good equipment including a sowe that I wouldn't be without and my lottie neighbour got her bean plants at a car boot sale and they are loads better than mine grown from seed - i reckon though that you can't put a price on the pleasure or the taste from home grown

[mandycharlie]

At the end of the day, all you need is a fork, hoe, spade, packets of seeds, watering can and possibly a flask to keep a drink hot.  And you can grow something from just that.

Though, I have spent rather more, brand new rotovator, second hand greenhouse, brand new shed.  etc. etc.  I reckon if I totalled it all up, with cement etc and anything I've had to buy rather than scrounge it would be well over a thousand pounds.  

But it is both of ours hobby, which is proving very enjoyable and we Reeally enjoy, just yacking about the plot.  Their is always something to talk about,  which isn't connected to work, housework, kids or money... which is (after nearly 19yrs of wedded bliss!!) quite refreshing.

[Celtic Eagle]

Doubt if I save money but who cares to me it's not a bout cost it's about choice and pleasure.  I enjoy working the Lottie and seeing plants grow . Being able to eat the produce is great as I choose what I eat and how it was produced. Anything I do save is a bonus but like I say probably lose money

[Aidy]

We have never really looked at the savings, but I am in my 5th year and yes I think we are saving a few quid, we have not bought salad since end of may, so far I have taken around 25 little gem lettuce of the plot, the seed cost 59p at wilko's for 2500 seeds, kept in the fridge these will supply next years as well as the rest of this so that must be in pocket, ground rent was 32 quid this year, probably got that back on spuds alone, dare I say we are living off courgettes at the moment, again the seed very cheap, if you can adapt to seasonal veg as someone else has stated and be prepared to live off winter greens in the hungry gap then I reckon within a few years you are saving money, however if you organic produce and not the cheap mass produced dodo then you will see a much bigger saving. I reckon it is not any dearer and the quality is far better.