turn a profit!

[Two_Sheds]

you'll find a couple of spreadsheets ... I think I use the one which 'Two sheds' (i think?) adapted

Nope, not me. I wouldn't know a spreadsheet if it whacked me between the eyes

Local Authorities are now trying to point at the value of the produce coming off allotments when determining rents.

Really? really? Have you got any articles/links we can read? I feel like getting right wound up this morning

[Aberdeenplotter]

Can't remember where I saw it but Birmingham were the last culprits. I'll have a looksee later to see if I can find it.

[Aberdeenplotter]

Remember now, it was an article in Garden News a good few weeks back. I give my mags away once I've read them. Will try to get them back but may be too late

[susieq100]

I started off the year weighing stuff and working it out then thought.....you know what , I really can't give a stuff . I do it cos I enjoy it , I like the challenge of actually getting something to grow. I like coming home with bagfulls of fresh veg that's not been near a supermarket.

Damn right! Well said Binley. My lottie costs me £60 a year. I would pay that a month to join the local 'health club'. I get camaraderie as Snadge said, I can commune with nature and I'm saving some food miles and doing something meaningful that I really enjoy. And lots of other people get to enjoy the fruits of my labours as well - pickles, jams and preserves that I make and give away (cos I can afford to because it cost me very little in 'cash' terms).

[singleseeder]

Whilst I have started keeping a log of what I harvest just for interest, I think it is a false comparison to use supermarket prices for everything you grow.

Whilst I would have to have bought a couple of courgettes this week, there is no way I would have bought the number that I have picked. So have I saved the cost of 4lb of courgettes?

Would I have paid £1 a stick for rhubarb (reportedly the Sainsbury's price at the beginning of the year) for the armfulls picked from the plot?

I like to think of how many 'no spend on fruit and veg' weeks in the year I can get.

[Munch]

Im with Bins, susieq100 and singleseeder. I certainly would not have bought an arm full of courgettes and would never have spent the £60 on raspberries and goosberries that I have "saved" (wish I had that kind of money!!)

However I am doing a spread sheet just for my own curiosity. I havent kept a record of how much we have spent, although I am sure my tight hubby has it imprinted on his mind, but I would like to know roughly how much it all comes to and maybe see if I can do better next year.

[Suky]

Wether you 'would' have bought it or not, for me, isn't the point. I like to know the value of what I grow had I bought it, even though the value to me far outweighs the actual monetary value. I would continue to grow veg wether it 'saved' money or not for all the reasons given above and 'cos I can! Tally so far £324.21, not taking into account spend, but am definately in profit.

[Thelma Sanders]

................ I certainly would not have bought an arm full of courgettes and would never have spent the £60 on raspberries and goosberries that I have "saved" (wish I had that kind of money!!)......................

No but it means you can eat what you want of them, rather than only eat as much as you you can afford !

it costs me about a £1 a week for seeds and compost (netting canes etc bought a few years ago) and I save much more than that with my veg harvest

[snohare]

Ok, you may say your time hasn't cost you anything, but you wouldn't do it for nothing for someone else would you?

Funnily enough, I do, on a regular basis. For friends, and for the NTS. I get healthy exercise, on occasion in the past even paid employment as a result, and of course achievement, which is vital to mental health. If I'm lucky I also get paid in some kind of favour or produce, but I can't rely on it.
That said, when I was starting up my allotment plot in Aberdeen I had to do the cost/income equation, and even normally minor details like calories expended, because I am on an expensive medical diet, were actually quite significant.
What I realised was that when you are really broke you cannot afford to do without one, but nonetheless you also will beggar yourself setting up an allotment from scratch.
The rent has to be pretty damn low to attract those for whom the allotment legislation was designed, because unless you sell your surplus, the dividends come not in money but health. That is something the councils fail to appreciate when treating allotments as a commodity.

[Jono]

I'm the guy with the marrow on my head lol.

I'm keeping tabs of costs etc for this year, out of pure curiosity and as a bit of fun. So far I've harvested just over 300 quids worth of fruit and veg, and saved £218 on supermarket prices after outgoings. My plot is established though, and I have been using up spare seeds.

Like I say, its just a bit of fun, not a scientific experiment. Where it does focus the mind is seeing which veg are most expensive in the shops and provide the best savings (squash, soft fruit etc), especially if you're growing in a small space.

Spreadsheet and monthly updates are here if you're interested: Real Men Sow » How Much Money Do I Save? Introducing the RMS Veg Savings Spreadsheet 2011

[Potstubsdustbins]

Binley, the councils would not have to ask you anything or carryout an audit they would just use the national average figure which if I remember correctly was a saving of just over a £1000 per annum for a full plot.

Colin

[binley100]

well thats just stupid.what about people who've taken on overgrown plots and have to spend time clearing them before they can gyo .........a saving on what?

[Potstubsdustbins]

well thats just stupid.what about people who've taken on overgrown plots and have to spend time clearing them before they can gyo .........a saving on what?

I could not agree with you more but councils have been known to come up with stupid schemes before.

Colin

[Percy T]

okay so I may have worded my orginal post a wee bit wrong, what I ment to says was that every one is always says its cheeper to grow you own etc, I didnt factor in labour as I see it as a labour of love. But you have to spend money on sundries tools and seed so finally I am making savings.

[endymion]

okay so I may have worded my orginal post a wee bit wrong, what I ment to says was that every one is always says its cheeper to grow you own etc, I didnt factor in labour as I see it as a labour of love. But you have to spend money on sundries tools and seed so finally I am making savings.

I'm not sure you did word it wrongly, I think everybody has different interpretations of the cost/income/outlay/profit etc thing, depending on circumstances.

We've done a rough reckoning, but haven't included labour because the ground (our garden) would have had to be looked after anyway, although perhaps not as carefully. I think we'd have done the same if we had an allotment, because a condition of having one is to maintain it properly irrespective of rental costs.

We spent a lot on some Wondermesh, and bought loads of seeds. Everything else we already had - all our garden tools are well-used, some were inherited, some were bought second hand via the dump. We inherited a clump of bamboo with the house, so don't need to buy canes, and we've collected manure locally, free of charge. BFB etc are things we already use, and our canister of slug pellets (probably the only thing that stops us being 'properly' organic ) must be at least 10 years old.

We decided our veg patch could be used more valuably than for spuds, because we can buy a sack for less than a tenner, so we deliberately grew things that cost a fair bit, moreso if they're from a supermarket's organic range or from a Farmer's Market.

We've still got loads of rhubarb, still have purple, yellow and green French Beans, are still cropping Broad Beans and are beginning to crop courgettes and cucumbers. We eventually got some purple carrots, and our red onions have done quite well. Same with shallots and ordinary onions. We haven't bought any lettuce or radishes since late spring. Haven't bought fresh herbs for years, because we always grew them amongst our flowers.

So, on balance, we think we've saved ourselves quite a bit and also given ourselves a greater variety of food than if we'd been buying 'affordable' veg from the supermarket.