This Year's Balance Sheet - 2010

[chris]

I'd like to do this, but rather than do it from my garden (which I've already spent over 3.5k on this year) - which is all for growing in (rediculous) - fence + greenhouse = 2k of that!!! - I'm going to do it from when I get an allotment.. hopefully I'll then be able to break even in my lifetime

[SarzWix]

I agree with Mrs D - your first year or 2 is very heavy on costs. I think we spent well over £1000 in our first year but that included shed, greenhouse, weed control fabric, Enviromesh etc which are all one off costs. If shared out over the years you have them, they don't seem quite so steep

[binley100]

I think I'm going to give this a go. Starting from Jan 2011, but I'll have to include money I've just spent on seeds as they are to be grown next year.

[Ruth M C]

Hmm.. I've been working my plot for seven seasons and have most landscaping 'big' items in place, including three compost bins. Since reading your thread yesterday I've thought a lot about what you said and have come to the conclusion that as gardening is my number one hobby I'm bound to spend money on it. This autumn I will at last be able to afford a shed so will conclude the landscaping of my garden with a big spend (unable to build my own due to a back problem). I'm still happy and will probably continue to spend on the garden but will look at it in a different way after reading all these wonderfully interesting threads.

KR
Ruth

[Mrs Dobby]

Balance Sheet Update - 2nd September 2010

Total Veg Plot Costs 2010

Rent + Subs for 2 full plots £100
Seeds £20
Seed Spuds £20
Onion Sets £6
Growbags £15
Chicken Manure Pellets £8
Plastic 'wannabe' Polytunnel £61
Bamboo Canes £8
Flower Plants £28
Scaffolding Boards £100
Watering Cans £8
Soft Fruits £16
Clematis £10
Arbour materials £ 40
Cold Frames (2) £30 (1/2 price at Argos)
Redcurrant £7.50
Birdhouse £7
Birdfeeders (for arbour) £10

Total Costs £ 504

Next years costs should be significantly less than this year, as we wont be building the arbour, buying the polytunnel or cold frames or scaffolding boards! Costs will go up next week tho, as we're off to Wyevales 50p seed sale to stock up ready for next years growing season!

Total Veg Plot Harvests 2010

Rhubarb £ 35
Fartichokes £ 4
Volunteer Spuds £15
First Early Spuds £15
Second Early spuds £15
Lettuce £14
Radish £15
Garlic £85
Strawberries £65
Raspberries £35
Blackberries £25
Peas £40
Broad Beans £60
Courgettes £100
French Beans £80
Red Onions £20
White Onions £50
Cabbages £17
Peppers £14
Chillies £9
Tomatoes £55
Turnip £13
Runner Beans £50
Broccolli £35
Apples £12
Plums £5
Sweetcorn £10
Chard / Spinach £2
Aubergines £5

Total Veg Plot Harvests £ 893

So, a total nett profit of £ 399 so far this year, with a large amount of harvests still to come!

[Suky]

How have I missed this thread!!!! I haven't kept such a detailed tally for harvest and no record for outlay either but I will start now. I did keep a record for the whole harvest by weight, mostly, which has just topped the 90kg mark. This hasn't included cabbages, cucumbers, apples and the like which were counted as individual items but will from next year.
How do you all record it, just in a note book or do you use a spreadsheet?

[Croila]

I've found this a really interesting thread! This is my first year growing stuff (doing it in my back garden which is not very big) and although I've not costed any of it up, I feel the initial outlay has been fairly steep. However, I can't see me buying much next year other than seeds and compost ... Compost because I grow quite a bit in containers.

But it HAS been lovely not buying any bags of salad to rot half-eaten in the bottom of the fridge! And I've not bought any tomatoes for a while either. Or herbs. Or tatties.

The big challenge for me next year is to grow the right quantities of the stuff we actually LIKE eating (kohl rabi? UGH!), and to get the greatest yield from a relatively small space.

Happy days ... This is addictive!

[Mrs Dobby]

7th October Balance sheet update!

Balance Sheet Update - 7th October 2010

Had a big harvest today, 150 cobs of sweetcorn, lots of pumpkins and squashes, 15lb of grapes, broccolli, runner beans another 12 courgettes, so the total has gone up a bit!

Total Veg Plot Costs 2010

Rent + Subs for 2 full plots £100
Seeds £20
Seed Spuds £20
Onion Sets £6
Growbags £15
Chicken Manure Pellets £8
Plastic 'wannabe' Polytunnel £61
Bamboo Canes £8
Flower Plants £28
Scaffolding Boards £100
Watering Cans £8
Soft Fruits £16
Clematis £10
Arbour materials £ 40
Cold Frames (2) £30 (1/2 price at Argos)
Redcurrant £7.50
Birdhouse £7
Birdfeeders (for arbour) £10

Total Costs £ 504

Next years costs have already started, £59.50 for seeds (Wyevales sale), £7 for onion sets (3 varieties, 200+ sets in total), £12 for dual plum tree, so a total spend for 2011 of £88.50 so far, with only rent and subs + seed spuds to come (should be a total of £120 ish to add), so unless we decide to undertake any large projects on the plot, next year should be a relatively inexpensive one!

Total Veg Plot Harvests 2010

Rhubarb £ 35
Fartichokes £ 4
Volunteer Spuds £ 15
First Early Spuds £ 15
Second Early spuds £ 30
Early Main Spuds £
Late Main Spuds £
Lettuce £ 14
Radish £ 15
Garlic £ 85
Strawberries £ 65
Summer Raspberries £ 35
Autumn Raspberries £ 15
Blackberries £ 35
Peas £ 40
Broad Beans £ 70
Courgettes £ 150
French Beans £ 110
Red Onions £ 20
White Onions £ 50
Cabbages £ 25
Peppers £ 40
Chillies £ 35
Tomatoes £ 210
Turnip £ 25
Swede £ 5
Runner Beans £ 100
Broccolli £ 60
Apples £ 12
Plums £ 5
Sweetcorn £ 150
Chard / Spinach £ 2
Aubergines £ 5
Cucumbers £ 11
Blueberries £ 5
Caulieflower £ 6
Grapes £ 35
Sprouts £ 1
Jerusalem Artichokes £
Summer Squashes £ 20
Pumpkins £ 20


Total Veg Plot Harvests £ 1579

So, a total nett profit of £ 1065 so far this year, with a large amount of harvests still to come!

[Munch]

Silly question, what on earth do you do with all your harvests?

[Mrs Dobby]

Lol, not silly at all! We tend to eat a fair bit fresh, and some is ok to store for later use, but for any gluts, them we preserve as much as possible, some gets dried, some frozen! Some goes to friends and family, but in the main we manage to find a way to use it!

Then with the rest we make soups, passatta, tomato sauce, tomato puree, chilli sauces, branston pickle, jams, chutneys, pickle some veg, sauerkraut, and wine! I've got 3 freezers that get filled up every year with produce from the plot, and it usually sees us through for most of the winter! Nothing better than frozen home made pasta sauces in the depths of winter!

[chris]

That's amazing. Do you work? Not being rude, just curious as to how you find the time to do it! I find I have to stay up late to keep on top of the 5 beds of veg + 2 of fruit just in my garden - and they're by no means big!

I'm starting my diary now, for next year.. I'm going to skip the GH, fencing, wasted tonnes of earth and stuff I bought to make a chicken coop/run because erm... I'll never get out of the red then!!

The main thing we've been buying this year is staple veg and tinned toms! First time starting out properly, so fingers crossed we can get some good use of the veg over winter.

My costs so far for next year are £5.94 Bag of onion sets, shallot sets and a bag of garlic.

[Mrs Dobby]

Hi Chris, yes, I work, Im a manager of a car parts / accessory and bicycle superstore, hubby is a .com delivery driver for a supermarket, so we both work full time, and before anyone asks, no we dont employ anyone to come and help us!

Normally we spend a couple of days at the plot a week, when we get our days off, plus hubby has a couple of half days that he works, so some of that time is spent on the plot, the rest is doing mundane stuff like housework! (Through the growing season the house is a mess, as we dont have time to do much housework, looking after the 2 plots and beekeeping pretty much takes all of our free time)

Atm the plot looks a mess, lots of weeds, but as we are in harvesting season, we arent too phased by them, its more important to harvest the crops than do the weeding atm!

The other thing you have to realise is that you dont have to spend lots of time tending your plots, especially if you grow wisely, use weed control fabrics, mulch beds well (cardboard is an excellent resource for this) and keep things covered, it takes longer to plant stuff, but then you save time in looking after it all!

[Munch]

Lol, not silly at all! We tend to eat a fair bit fresh, and some is ok to store for later use, but for any gluts, them we preserve as much as possible, some gets dried, some frozen! Some goes to friends and family, but in the main we manage to find a way to use it!

Then with the rest we make soups, passatta, tomato sauce, tomato puree, chilli sauces, branston pickle, jams, chutneys, pickle some veg, sauerkraut, and wine! I've got 3 freezers that get filled up every year with produce from the plot, and it usually sees us through for most of the winter! Nothing better than frozen home made pasta sauces in the depths of winter!

Wow, that is exactly what we are aiming for, however with a 1-2 year wait for a lottie it may take a while.

Good for you Mrs Dobby

[chris]

Hi Chris, yes, I work, Im a manager of a car parts / accessory and bicycle superstore, hubby is a .com delivery driver for a supermarket, so we both work full time, and before anyone asks, no we dont employ anyone to come and help us!

Normally we spend a couple of days at the plot a week, when we get our days off, plus hubby has a couple of half days that he works, so some of that time is spent on the plot, the rest is doing mundane stuff like housework! (Through the growing season the house is a mess, as we dont have time to do much housework, looking after the 2 plots and beekeeping pretty much takes all of our free time)

Atm the plot looks a mess, lots of weeds, but as we are in harvesting season, we arent too phased by them, its more important to harvest the crops than do the weeding atm!

The other thing you have to realise is that you dont have to spend lots of time tending your plots, especially if you grow wisely, use weed control fabrics, mulch beds well (cardboard is an excellent resource for this) and keep things covered, it takes longer to plant stuff, but then you save time in looking after it all!

When planting through weed control fabric, don't you end up having to buy new each year.. as the slots cut are different spacings for different plants? Mind you.. my beds aren't all the same size.

[Mrs Dobby]

It depends, we dropped lucky buy inherriting 2 large rolls of industrial strength weed control fabric, so we've been able to use a lot of it to cover certain beds, usually we use it in the greenhouses and polytunnel to plant through, and also on the brassica beds, which are then covered with mesh. Not only does it retain moisture and suppress the weeds, but it also seems to stop the slugs, or at least it di a good job of it this year!

As for cutting to different sizes, well, none of our beds are the same size, so we cut a sheet, then cut the spacing in and then store it away until the next time we grow that veg in that bed!

Other beds we use large cardboard bike boxes, I get them for free from work, make great paths and good ground cover for the winter!