Allotments - value for money or expensive hobby?

if you sold the strawbwerries(organic) off our plot last year at marks and sparks prices it would have totalled just above £400 kilo after kilo

our allotment   saves us loads of money and the joy of fresh veg well thats just the wow factor for me and my rent is £5 year for 20 poles i feed all the family from it as well i just love love love it

The joy it brings is priceless

I feel, our allotment is value for money and whilst it has a few draw backs it is peaceful tranquil place, the soil is good and produces good crops. We have a ready supply of Horse Manure delivered whenever our manure bins are empty, thanks to local stables. All in all a rewarding stress free way to relax and spend many a happy hour or three.

Surely when you look at the price of tomatoes, peppers, leeks, garlic, soft fruit and squashes to name but a few, unless you live on beans and white bread all your life - how can you say your allotment doesn't pay for itself? I don't get it!

So far this year i have spent £187.00  on seeds (inc potato and onion sets) compost, manure,chicken pellets, weed fabric, and allotment annual fee (£17).
I have not priced in fuel to and from the allotment and expect to buy bamboo canes and netting in the near future.
So far this year my allotment has produced a few leeks to take home to the table....therefore i am definately out of pocket (financially) so far .
Also alot of the fruit and vege later in the season comes in a glut and i end up giving loads away,especially courgettes,cauliflower,beans,raspberries,strawberries and cabbages. (my freezer can only take so much)
I also know people on my allotment that don't grow some or all of the following onions,carrots,main crop spuds or peas because "its cheaper to buy them from the supermarket"
If i break even this year then great, if not who cares.I love it anyway.

i was talking to my next door lady the other day she was asking me what i would do with the garden i said i wont change too much as i like it the way it is but i do want a little veg patch at the bottom she lit up saying oh no one has done that round here for years and went on to say that the whoe length of her garden was veg when her hubby was alive now its just grass no flwers just grass and a path oh and the shed which the clothes line is holding up but in it is the first cooker her husband had ever bought her and she wont throw it out and its so big they bult a shed round it lol
chrissie b

its a thought Zippy but after one mowing by compost is full old jack left me a full compost bin and a half full one which is now full , her son in law does the garden for her hes dug over the front so he may be going to plant some flowers fingers crossed , i just looked at her shedthis morning and some more wind like this last week and it will be gone i think once hubby goes this morning i will be on with the digging daughter says she will come at the weekend to lend a hand .
chrissie b