Do you actually save any money gowing stuff?

[Baldy]

I basically regard it as a way of burning money to little good effect other than to give Mrs B a break from me and allow my fellow plot holders a good opportunity to benefit from my advice on vegetable growing, football and rugby, IT queries, best beer and cider offers,.. Other stuff

[Mark_Riga]

I don't think I save much money but I do eat a lot better than if I didn't grow my own. I put 60g of soft fruit, generally red currants and raspberries, in my breakfast all year round, so that's 22kg of fruit just for breakfast a year. Then I grow all the peas, beans, onions, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, aubergines, peppers (sweet and chilli). quash and pumpkins. Most of the carrots and courgettes.
For example we are currently eating a vegetable curry with onions, broccoli, cauli, squash, aubergine, capsicum, chili and garlic in bought in ingredients are rice, spices, lentils and a little olive oil though I could have used beans instead of lentils. Tomorrow it will be chips (carolus potatoes) instead of rice.

[Containergardener]

i basically regard it as a way of burning money to little good effect other than to give mrs b a break from me and allow my fellow plot holders a good opportunity to benefit from my advice on vegetable growing, football and rugby, it queries, best beer and cider offers,.. Other stuff

:d:d:d.....

[bikermike]

I would never have thought to eat raw broccoli until I tried it at the plot.

[Bren In Pots]

I think of it has a hobby, its just nice that you get some very tasty stuff to eat in the process

I think the same Urban a hobby with added benefits. I grow in my back garden so mines small scale but I'm proud to say I'm self sufficient in lettuce. Winter or summer I've always got a leaf or two for my lunchtime sandwich.

[Thelma Sanders]

I don't think I save money, but I think I get more veg for the money than if I spent the same money in the shop. IYSWIM
Rhubarb, strawberries, Logan Rasp and Tay berries once bought, fruit every year and can be expensive in the shops.
Saving seed from your own crops also saves quite a bit of money, as well

[Greenleaves]

I have never contemplated the cost but I know its cheaper than gym membership

[SarrissUK]

I think I save money from the fruit that I grow - raspberries and strawberries mainly. I eat it by the bucketload in the summer and I love it

I don't save money overall though, because I can't possibly eat everything I grow, so I share with friends

Bikermike, it's the only way I enjoy broccoli - raw! Not enough to grow it though. I prefer purple sprouting broccoli to calabrese

[quanglewangle]

I have never contemplated the cost but I know its cheaper than gym membership

Slightly suspicious that you know the cost of gym membership.

[quanglewangle]

I would never have thought to eat raw broccoli until I tried it at the plot.

You really should warn folks when posts contain references to raw broccoli.

[Soupmaker]

In the current situation, seeing as some imported veg and fruit will be in short supply this year, anything you can grow yourself is a bonus. I love courgettes so growing my own this year and cherry tomatoes, can see them very expensive this year as mostly imported, if they will be available at all. I only have a container garden but having fun working out how it will work.

[woodlouse]

This is my second year trying to grow, and my first full year as I see it. Last year I started very late with wanting to grow my own bok choy. That was it. Simple. I grabbed a multi pack of six "oriental vegetable" seeds and had a go at the other five while I was at it. Within a few weeks some horrifically destructive force took over my brain and I was suddenly digging up my back garden to a horrendous state. Maybe a week later, I was all over the internet looking up crazy (to me) stuff I had never heard of and wondering if I could grow it.

I had/have a dodgy greenhouse that I inherited from a previous owner of my house, and started to get it in shape. I found myself seeking out where to get new panes of glass from, and those packs of metal things that you can squeeze in place. Here's the time to laugh: I was trying to open the window hatches and couldn't figure out how to do so. I went online and realised they had pistons built in that open on temperature. It turned out I had broke at least one in my messing, haha. I should have been at least mildly annoyed, but found myself almost liberated. That was the biggest force, I think, that made me take that very first deep plunge.

Some fixing of my greenhouse aside, I decided to put £150 in a "hey, let's have fun and try to grow s**t in the garden I've already half turned over. That money was spent mostly on plastic pots (the larger ones are way too expensive for what they are), two bags of John Innes (still no idea who this guy is, but two for one and some other bull...) potting compost, and another two of potting on. I was thinking growing your own is 90% to do with pots at this point.

Regarding seeds, I went ballistic with joy and enthusiasm. I already had basic gardening tools, thanks to my grandfather (rest in peace, good sir), but still I had that impression of "all the gear, no idea". Just winging it with blind enthusiasm. And... it generally worked.

First half a year (started early June) and stuck to my initial budget with cash to burn. So early this year I finished my initial budget off: Grabbed a bag of sand, a bag of vermiculite, grabbed a dalek compost thing from a friend in exchange for a pint (good deal there); and closed in on the initial budget with three more big pots for my chili plants.

Have I saved money? No. Not in the least, but last year (going into this) was/is my initial set-up. I did go a little crazy on the seeds, but they were the least expensive part, and c'mon, it's that thing with a new interest. I didn't go as far as buying any crap that is just that. I inherited a spade, a fork, a hoe, and a smaller version of a spade and fork I can hold in one hand. They seem to do just fine. Not spending money on a thing that you can flip upside down and it becomes... nothing I need.

I'm out of pocket going into my second year, but going forward... I'm a cheap swine when it comes to a lot of things. I pick my moments. New phone? Even on finance and some pay package? My latest phone cost £28 as a referb' model (practically brand new but with a scratch on the case, and I stick to a pay as you go... maybe £20 every three to four months. I'll take a one time £150 budget in the garden to set myself up.

The real price is the time and effort, which is free, if you have the right frame of mind. I guess it depends on how you look at life in general. What's the cost of this, what's the value of that. Two completely different things.

[Madasafish]

Apart from fruit, I only grow runner beans ,brussel sprouts and tomatoes.
With judicious freezing, we can eat home grown veg almsot all year and as many tomatoes of different types as we like during season..

Cheaper? yes for runner beans
Tomatoes- we would never eat as many in season if we had to buy them.
Sprouts? - definitely. For the price of 3KG at the supermarket I can grow 20 plants and have free sprouts for six months..

Plus convenience : pick and eat when you want. No shopping needed - a good thing at present...

[quanglewangle]

This is my second year trying to grow,....
...What's the cost of this, what's the value of that. Two completely different things.

That's a great story - thanks for sharing it.

[SimpleSimon]

I'm defo in the don't save money camp. Even if I paid myself only 1p an hour in theoretical wages then the stuff I grow is still very expensive. Some crops do save me money but buying things like poly tunnels and solar panels certainly ensures it cost me considerable amounts of money my allotment. But it's across the road, big and we love being there. And not quite sure what we'd have done without in this lockdown.

The big costs may pay off in the long run but not really bothered.

Mind you I do often question the economics of growing potatoes especially in containers. Vast amounts of compost and expensive potatoe seed. I often find myself thinking what on earth am I doing here.