Do you actually save any money gowing stuff?

[quanglewangle]

While saving money isn't primary aim I thought I might do a bit of a review...

Comparisons are to Sainsbury's. We are fairly perfunctory shoppers, certainly not avid value-seekers (except for wine - spend ages in the wine aisle tracking reductions)

These are the highlights I can think of, in no particular order. For a year.

• Fresh parsley, compared to "living herbs". £1.50 a pot for say 30 weeks/year - £45
• Raspberries for jam, 5kg at about £7/kg £35
• Spinach compared to £1.50 a bag for 30 weeks/year - £45
• Aubergines maybe 15 at a disappointing 80p each £12
• Melons maybe 10 at £1.50 £15
• Potatoes vs various Taste the Difference at about £1/kg say £30
• Tomatoes - hard to quantify, guess at £15

I've left off sweetcorn, which is very cheap in season, but doesn't compare with home grown so not a money issue. Same for peas and beans.

I wouldn't dare to set costs against these savings....

[greenishfing]

While saving money isn't primary aim I thought I might do a bit of a review...

Comparisons are to Sainsbury's. We are fairly perfunctory shoppers, certainly not avid value-seekers (except for wine - spend ages in the wine aisle tracking reductions)

These are the highlights I can think of, in no particular order. For a year.

• Fresh parsley, compared to "living herbs". £1.50 a pot for say 30 weeks/year - £45
• Raspberries for jam, 5kg at about £7/kg £35
• Spinach compared to £1.50 a bag for 30 weeks/year - £45
• Aubergines maybe 15 at a disappointing 80p each £12
• Melons maybe 10 at £1.50 £15
• Potatoes vs various Taste the Difference at about £1/kg say £30
• Tomatoes - hard to quantify, guess at £15

I've left off sweetcorn, which is very cheap in season, but doesn't compare with home grown so not a money issue. Same for peas and beans.

I wouldn't dare to set costs against these savings....

I know you also grow asparagus. What about salad crops?

[Small pumpkin]

There have been so many threads on this topic!
It’s always a good talking point.
I’m in the no money saving camp. I’m also in the I do it out of necessity as well as enjoyment camp ( because what’s available on the island is usually expensive, little choice & **it )

[quanglewangle]

I know you also grow asparagus. What about salad crops?

It's very cheap during it's short season. Certainly doesn't save any money!

[quanglewangle]

Actually should have included cut flowers:
£4 -5 a week for maybe 12 weeks, say £50. Perhaps the biggest saving of all.

[Babru]

I think if you grow sufficient quantities at your allotment, seed sharing with others, making most of your own compost, then possibly. A vegetarian friend of mine is almost self sufficient in organic veg, she buys very little (rice etc, as Edinburgh is not known for its rice growing).

Someone like me, in my back garden with a mix of flowers, veg and fruit, no. However right now I don't want to go to the shops, and in the next while I wonder if some fresh veg prices will rise steeply through lack of pickers, so the opportunity to harvest at home will be priceless.

[Guest]

I don't save money as I just go without. My family does however eat better for me growing it.

What about fruit?

I must have eaten a tenners worth of rhubarb already. I also like a summer pud but couldn't afford to do it with supermarket diddy tubs of berries at £1-2 each.

[Penellype]

On a like-for-like basis I think the answer would have to be that you don't save money, particularly with costs of even basic things like seeds and compost added in. When you include the inevitable extras such as feed, nets, canes/supports, cloches or other covers, tools, propagators, raised beds, nematodes, lights, greenhouse.... the costs are never going to be covered by something as cheap to buy as veg.

However, you have to look at the bigger picture. While you may have gone shopping and bought a courgette or a bag of spinach, a pack of tomatoes or a tub of raspberries, you wouldn't have bought the amount that you would get in a glut. So if you can make use of your gluts by freezing or preserving them this goes some way towards mitigating the costs, as you will be buying less veg out of season (when it is likely to be more expensive).

Also, you have to factor in what else you might be doing or needing to do instead of gardening. You might spend the time doing another hobby, which would entail costs. You might have a gym or sports club membership for exercise with fees to pay. Nothing is ever as clear cut as it may seem at first.

[Chestnut]

Saw some chard in our local supermarket, £10/kg. So, growing my own lets me enjoy veg I would never have bought - but my carrot yields make supermarket prices cheaper than the seeds!

[Guest]

I think if you grow sufficient quantities at your allotment, seed sharing with others, making most of your own compost, then possibly. A vegetarian friend of mine is almost self sufficient in organic veg, she buys very little (rice etc, as Edinburgh is not known for its rice growing).

Someone like me, in my back garden with a mix of flowers, veg and fruit, no. However right now I don't want to go to the shops, and in the next while I wonder if some fresh veg prices will rise steeply through lack of pickers, so the opportunity to harvest at home will be priceless.

Now they have advertised I am not sure there is still a lack of pickers. Friend applied for a job got a response back saying they had 10000 places but were overwhelmed with 80000 responses. That was only a couple of weeks ago.

[Containergardener]

I know for what I grow , no I'm not saving money, but I do because i like doing it.
I like picking homegrown salad for tea, tastes better.
I like having too many runner beans and making OH eat them each night .
I grow flowers and enjoy picking them for indoors.

[quanglewangle]

On a like-for-like basis I think the answer would have to be that you don't save money, particularly with costs of even basic things like seeds and compost added in. When you include the inevitable extras such as feed, nets, canes/supports, cloches or other covers, tools, propagators, raised beds, nematodes, lights, greenhouse.... the costs are never going to be covered by something as cheap to buy as veg.

However, you have to look at the bigger picture. While you may have gone shopping and bought a courgette or a bag of spinach, a pack of tomatoes or a tub of raspberries, you wouldn't have bought the amount that you would get in a glut. So if you can make use of your gluts by freezing or preserving them this goes some way towards mitigating the costs, as you will be buying less veg out of season (when it is likely to be more expensive).

Also, you have to factor in what else you might be doing or needing to do instead of gardening. You might spend the time doing another hobby, which would entail costs. You might have a gym or sports club membership for exercise with fees to pay. Nothing is ever as clear cut as it may seem at first.

Spot on, except I wouldn't be seen dead in a gym.

[Babru]

Now they have advertised I am not sure there is still a lack of pickers. Friend applied for a job got a response back saying they had 10000 places but were overwhelmed with 80000 responses. That was only a couple of weeks ago.

I read in the paper yesterday that the numbers of applicants following through have been very disappointing. Also, they're flying in six plane loads of staff from Bulgaria, first one has arrived already. I think the logistics make it difficult. The farms aren't near centres of population, so lot of the growers put pickers up on site, and you have to be prepared to go and stay in a caravan for the summer. Apparently not many British people want to do this.

When we first heard about Scottish fruit growers needing assistance, OH looked up the locations, and the nearest to us was Fife, not anywhere nearby as we're in east Edinburgh.

[Bonjour]

There have been so many threads on this topic!
It’s always a good talking point.
I’m in the no money saving camp. I’m also in the I do it out of necessity as well as enjoyment camp ( because what’s available on the island is usually expensive, little choice & **it )

Ah, island life Same here. It significantly alters the economics of veg growing when you have no Aldi, Lidl, Sainsbury or Tesco.

In addition, it keeps my vegetarian wife very happy. Happy wife, easy life.

[Runtpuppy]

I don't know if I've said this before, but I like to grow stuff because witnessing the transformation of a seed to a plant, and the plant then bearing something that I can eat is amazing to me and I love it. It's a hobby, and if I can get something useful from this hobby, what could be better?

I probably don't make any savings because I don't grow quantities, and I am not organised enough to store or save. It's likely that I spend more on growing stuff than I get out of it, as I've never calculated. I just enjoy it and that's enough, I guess.