Allotments on a budget

[Maddiesaur]

Hi all,

I've just taken on a relatively easy 5mx5m plot. It basically only needs a turn over and some tidying up and I'll be all set to plant, a days work and I am all set to go, how very lucky!

I'll be trying to do things as cheaply as possible. Having absolutely no income at the moment means no heading to B+Q for new tools or fancy online seed orders. I'll be looking into ways of using seeds from the food we buy, friends and family have and so on. Very much re-purposing anything we can. It's going to be a fun project!

I'll be looking into how I can maximise the growing in my plot space to include at very least potatoes.. filling when there is little food in the house! Some longer lasting veggies that won't mind hanging out in the fridge for a good couple of days and some fun treats along the way too.

The land used to be the vegetable garden to a large manor house and has always been worked, though it has sat idle for a few years. It is slightly sloped so the drainage is good and even after a few weeks rain it was not boggy, no problematic rampant weeds and has sun from sunrise until early evening, when trees provide some shade.

Any advice anyone has would be great. Any money saving tips? Any tips on harvesting seeds from every-day foods or pre-growing seeds to young plants on windowsills before taking up to the allotment?

A major set back we have is that we do not have a car. Getting to and from the allotment requires a bus journey, so no humphing manure, lots of tools and such all in the one go!

[Mr Bones]

Congratulations on getting your new plot Maddiesaur. Sweet dumpling squash can be grown up a frame (two sticks and some string) so would maximise your space. The cricket ball sized fruit is quite prolific, tasty and stores well on your sideboard. Runner beans and climbing French beans might be good for you too.

[Maddiesaur]

Brilliant, thank you, I shall look into those!

I was thinking of a small area for some tasty herbs to spice up some of the more boring pasta dishes we've been surviving on. Rosemary, thyme, mint, that sort of thing. I'm looking into stacking ideas. A few ground planted, a small wooden frame above to hold a couple of potted plants. With the sun reaching my plot the way it does, the ground planted herbs would not be shaded overly much. Two crops for the one small patch

[Two_Sheds]

It basically only needs a turn over

why does it need turning over? You'll only expose more weed seeds to the light, which they need to germinate

Getting to and from the allotment requires a bus journey

Or a cycle ride? You can get a surprising amount on a bike with rear rack & panniers. I go up the lotty with 2 dogs in the bike trailer

It helps if you can leave your tools on the plot. I used to hide them under netting or cloches, moving them around frequently

[Maddiesaur]

Well, it's not been used in quite a while, so whilst it isn't over grown, it's quite clumpy and solid in places. I thought giving it a once over would be a good thing?

Yes indeed! Luckily there is a communal area where tools can be locked up once they are there, so that is a massive benefit

[Bren In Pots]

If you have either a Lidi or Aldi near-ish to you they're are worth a visit because they both sell cheap seeds if I remember right it something like 29p or 4 for a £1.

[Two_Sheds]

it's quite clumpy and solid in places. I thought giving it a once over would be a good thing?

Apart from the weed issue, you tend to compact the soil by digging it, and any worm tunnels get destroyed. Sure, you introduce an ooomph of oxygen into the soil with the initial dig, but as the earth settles again you lose that. Better, in my view, to let the worms do the aeration.

Your plot is well-worked, so I don't imagine it "needs" any digging at all. Digging is just a habit that gardeners have picked up from farmers.

All you have to do is dig a little planting hole with a trowel, and pop your plant in.

[Maddiesaur]

Thanks Bren =D

Music to my ears Two Sheds! In that case.. I'm going to tidy the edges for a more defined line and then.. I'm done! That was remarkably easy lol.

[polc1410]

I'll be trying to do things as cheaply as possible. Having absolutely no income at the moment means no heading to B+Q for new tools or fancy online seed orders.

If you need tools try free-cycle.

I'll be looking into ways of using seeds from the food we buy, friends and family have and so on. Very much re-purposing anything we can. It's going to be a fun project!

The snag is you rarely know much detail about what you buy. A Tomato that grows well in spain may not be great here outdoors. Added to that if its an F1 variety the seed will only produce an identical fruit 1:4 times...
Is your aim to save money or just not blow the budget while having fun. I do believe you can save money but you need to think about Return on Investment. Are you wanting that return as money, return as fitness / health from the gardening, return on carbon emissions (I think I used all my carbon savings up yesterday with my bonfire!), return on food quality / flavour.

I'll be looking into how I can maximise the growing in my plot space to include at very least potatoes.. filling when there is little food in the house! Some longer lasting veggies that won't mind hanging out in the fridge for a good couple of days and some fun treats along the way too.

Spuds take up a lot of space on a 5x5 plot. But they are very easy, require little in terms of care which costs money and good for getting soil worked up. You can use old supermarket spuds that have gone to shoots. OR I know some people have used the peelings! I'd favour a cut the potato in 2 model if I was on a budget.
Pound shops sell packs of seed potatoes.
Shops like Lidl sell seeds for 29p a pack.
Since you are on a budget...
I'd create a list of all the things fruit & veg you like. Delete anything that can't be grown (easily) outdoors in the UK - so no melons etc.
Then I'd work out roughly what I spend the most on per year.
Then I'd see how much / how cheap I can get some seeds for that. Work out my potential ROI and then work out how I can plan that so I don't need to invest major capital all at once....

So within the next month or so you need to sort spuds. How many rows? 5m rows of spuds planted every 18inches (45cm) - so 11 seeds per row. Would cost £2 for a row from pound shop (buying bigger quantities elsewhere may be cheaper - I have a local nursery that sells loose which means I can experiment with varieties but she is also cheaper than pound shop!) You wont get that money back though until June/July when you stop having to buy potatoes.

From a row of 11 potato plants I'd expect at least 15kg in return. At current prices the cheapest you'd get potatoes is about £0.60 a kilo. So a £9 return (£7 "profit") on a £2 investment. But bear in mind that will have taken about an eighth of your whole growing space. If that is the best ROI you can get you'll get £56 back at the end of the year - but still have bus fares (?), rent etc to cover.

If you could secure £3 this month would that be achievable? That gives you enough for 3 packs of seeds from Lidl. Other than a little seed compost and something to plant in (yoghurt pots will do) you don't need to spend any other money this month.

If you can find some outdoor tom's you could get 2kg per plant and lets say you had three plants, you'd probably want some grow bags for them as they like fresh soil. You'll also need some feed (£1 shop). I'd work on 3 plants costing you £4, although THIS MONTH you'd only need £0.29, the grow bags come May, the feed later. I'd estimate you'll get 5 or 6 kg of tom's off that lot. At current prices (I know I'm off season) thats maybe £9 worth. Only £5 'profit' but for a ground space of about 1/25 of your plot (scaled up to your whole plot the ROI would be £125 pa). If you get a non-F1 variety you could keep seeds for next year too.

Peas - nothing nicer straight from the plant. Not sure if Lidl would be £0.29 but you probably don't need till next month or the month after? Certainly get them for £1 a pack. 1msq area could get you 2kg of peas which costs about £2.20 frozen. I'd think you'd have left over pea seeds for next year. Not a great ROI however. But flavour is amazing.

Herbs Have you got space at home? They are much easier to pick as you need them...

Digging Two sheds is of the belief that you don't need to dig soil at all as it may actually be harmful. Pretty much two divided growing communities.

[alldigging]

Covering the soil with cardboard (or newspaper, or tarp) is an amazing way of dealing with weeds. The worms come up and make the soil quite friable too.

I covered the patch where my outdoor tomatoes had been with thick wodges of newspaper at the end of the season and the bed still has some bits left on but the now exposed soil is looking very nice.
Once it's got wet it doesn't go anywhere. Mine were pre-soaked having been sat on the plot until I used them.


And freecycle for tools. You probably don't need much though. A fork can do an awful lot of things.

[Maddiesaur]

Wowee, thank you so much for that reply. You have given me much to think about

In turns of what I hope to gain throughout the year..
Health and fitness is big up on the list for sure, a great excuse to be out of the house and in the fresh air and some healthy, tasty food to put on our plates. Now, we can currently survive on what we can afford food wise but I get very bored of the few meals we switch between and having some extras in terms of extra veggies and herbs would be amazing. Growing some of the "bulkers" such as potatoes would mean the money otherwise spent in-store would be used either to put into the plot again or be spent on other things not being grown on the plot. Also some fun, a fun project to cover all of the above and while I am at it, working out just how much I can save in the long run, gain from spending very little etc. I live in an area where many people are, well, skint, and know plenty of people who would benefit from doing as I am but they are not motivated to do so or can't currently see the benefit of it. I reckon after trying some freshly harvested veggies and fruit that cost pennies to grow, they will be surprised.

Breaking it down, to spend on seeds or grow bags etc, I reckon if I can spend £2 a week in the first two months and £1 a week thereafter, I'd be a happy chick.

I can get to Aldi and such no problem, so cheapy seeds will be on my shopping list this week.

[Dorothy rouse]

Just to add a wee comment, most of the Supermarkets seem to have 'seed offers' at the mo, 4 for 3, etc, and I planted a glove of 'supermarket' garlic and every one has grown successfully.

[Jakejakeyjakejake]

Wowee, thank you so much for that reply. You have given me much to think about

In turns of what I hope to gain throughout the year..
Health and fitness is big up on the list for sure, a great excuse to be out of the house and in the fresh air and some healthy, tasty food to put on our plates. Now, we can currently survive on what we can afford food wise but I get very bored of the few meals we switch between and having some extras in terms of extra veggies and herbs would be amazing. Growing some of the "bulkers" such as potatoes would mean the money otherwise spent in-store would be used either to put into the plot again or be spent on other things not being grown on the plot. Also some fun, a fun project to cover all of the above and while I am at it, working out just how much I can save in the long run, gain from spending very little etc. I live in an area where many people are, well, skint, and know plenty of people who would benefit from doing as I am but they are not motivated to do so or can't currently see the benefit of it. I reckon after trying some freshly harvested veggies and fruit that cost pennies to grow, they will be surprised.

Breaking it down, to spend on seeds or grow bags etc, I reckon if I can spend £2 a week in the first two months and £1 a week thereafter, I'd be a happy chick.

I can get to Aldi and such no problem, so cheapy seeds will be on my shopping list this week.

Hi I'm in a fairly similar situation to you and ergo this is something I'm incredible passionate about hence my desire to create and set up a communal farm resource centre to people on low or no wage more aware of how to grow and cook on a budget and a few other projects that one day will come I to fluition if you ever want to message me we can share ideas and tips I've got a few … out of curiosity do you have any space at home any garden ?


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[rhonsal]

If you're on a budget would be worth getting to know others on the site who might have extra seeds/plants to share - also put a message on social media or recycling websites asking for tools/pots/seeds that others don't want.

Good luck and enjoy!

[sparrow100]

or share seed buying with neighbours? I've never got the yields per potato plant that were outlined earlier, and I only think they are worth growing if you have more space. Personally I prefer growing things that yield a lot and are expensive in the shops. For example I've had nearly £20 of purple sprouting broccoli off 6 plants over 2 months, and they are still going strong. For the space you have it might also be worth looking at square foot gardening, or googling vertical veg to see how much you can pack in.