[stompy]

I think that is only true if you charge for your labour 

Thats why i said time wise mos! 

if i discount my time then it works out far far far (you get the idea) cheaper 

[mumofstig]

sorry but I read that as

it works out monetary (and time wise) to be slightly more costly

meaning that it's more costly money wise, and the timewise being another point 


There are some old thread/links here, if anyone fancies reading them

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=74356.msg846092#msg846092

[stompy]

Sorry i meant them one and the same 

[DD.]

You start to cost things that come out of your ears on the plot that you'd never contemplate buying from a supermarket, such as rhubarb, runner/french beans, asparagus and you'd get a better idea!

[engineer]

I wonder what would be the most cost effective harvest? I think onion seeds and sets would be a front runner. I sow all my seed into modules three into each if all three germinate i remove one, then plant them out in april, max 2 to a module and let them grow on. The sets are started in modules as well then i can remove any that fail, so that i am only planting good stock. Then sit back and watch the thousands flourish

[stompy]

I would think it would be a fruit tree/bush or something like asparagus.
Something you pay for once and harvest for years!

[mumofstig]

I wonder what would be the most cost effective harvest? I think onion seeds and sets would be a front runner.

compost and modules to be costed in there, and with onions @ a £1 a bag, I'm not so sure about them being good value for the space they take up. Courgettes are more value for money for most of us - assuming you like them 

[DD.]

I agree with mum re onions. They're cheap as chips and unless you eat 3 a day, there's no point growing 1,000's!

I'd still grow sufficient for myself, though.

[engineer]

Costs, modules--cut down toilet roll inner placed on large tray, home made. compost recovered from compost heap seived of course, i only need to start them off not to grow them on Then comes the family i have an oulet to four of these

[JayG]

I don't think you can put a price on freshness, taste, freedom from chemical pesticides and herbicides, and the sheer pleasure and satisfaction of having grown it yourself.

However  , a few crops stand out as being quite "profitable" in their own right, often because they are difficult to harvest mechanically or have to be prepared by hand when grown commercially.

Runner beans tops that list for me, also on it would be salad leaves of various descriptions, and the humble courgette (which are always quite expensive in the shops, although I've never known quite why.)  

[p00rstudent]

When i did the costings last year the ones that came in Top for me were Rhubarb and Globe Artichokes, asparagus not far behind.

But I had stopped recording the veg value, before the Fruit harvest, which considering 2/3rds of my plot are dedicated to fruit it would have been a lot. So i would hazard a guess and say blueberry's, raspberry's or strawberry's. blueberry's were a £1 each raspberry's runners dug out of a garden for free, strawberry's i cant remember what i paid for them but they always through out plenty of runners. some years i pot the runners and sell those at work, i am sure the runners have long since paid for the original plants. As for the grapes they cost about £3 each.

So for cost of seed/plant too price of crop in supermarket i would imagine it is one of these.

[shokkyy]

Another value of growing your own is that you eat fruit and veg that you just wouldn't have eaten otherwise, either because you can't buy them in the shops or because they're too expensive or taste horrible if you do. I know I've greatly broadened my veggie repertoire since I started growing them, as well as my cooking/preserving skills, and the veg have now become as interesting and tasty a part of the meal as the meat.

[BabbyAnn]

Another value of growing your own is that you eat fruit and veg that you just wouldn't have eaten otherwise, either because you can't buy them in the shops or because they're too expensive or taste horrible if you do. I know I've greatly broadened my veggie repertoire since I started growing them, as well as my cooking/preserving skills, and the veg have now become as interesting and tasty a part of the meal as the meat.

I couldn't agree more.  Everyone always tell you to grow fruit and veg that you like but I also started to grow things I wouldn't normally buy at the shops ... more of a gardening project than culinary, and found after all these years that I actually like them.  I can't believe how fussy I used to be.  Now I always grow something weird and wonderful as well just to see what they are like.

As for fruit - how many times did I buy bag of apples with good intentions only to throw most of them away.  Since growing my own I certainly eat much more healthily so is a good thing, and now we have compost bins so nothing is ever wasted.

The price of seeds is really quite small compared to what you reap both from the garden and knowing how they were grown 

[rowlandwells]

my seed spuds arrived two weeks ago £55.00 veg seed to date £20.00 other seed ordered about £35.00 arriving Feb

couldn't resist buying some more seed spuds on offer at the local garden centre £12.00

plug plant family order £235.00 still got to buy onion sets 

then there's the tractor oil and diesel and various other bits we need to buy?

[mumofstig]

£235.00 on plug plants Oh My! You must have a very big garden