Is All The Hard Work Really Worth It?

[Jay22]

I agree with brownfingers...monetarily (if that's a word) it's not worth it, especially this year, but it's the enjoyment of trying which makes it for me. This year, only my second growing edibles, I have had no tomatoes, they are all green, no beans as they are all minute at the moment, cucs died off,no apples, pears, carrots, herbs...I could go on but the few raspberries and plums, onions that I have had (and believe me that is all I have had this year) made it exciting for me. Will I be back doing it again next year? Definitely!

[Nannysally99]

After a sticky start, our crops have all come through ok. Having said that we use our garden as an allotment.
I must have planted my corn early because it's been in our freezer weeks
I salute all of you with allotments, I definately couldn't take on anything as big, but we have been self sufficient in most veg this summer.
Spuds were great early on, but now we have scab on some. Still perfectly eatable.
So, for us, it is worth it. Not in monetary terms, but the pleasure we have picking and eating outweigh that.

[Guest]

You are not alone. I often think is it worth it. However, me in the garden is an escape and I must have done something right as hubby took pics at the weekend.

It is hard to stay enthusiastic when you have a few small wins and lots of disasters, but hay I just want a few nice things I can call my own.

It is embarrassing when the int' kidneys I grew are diseased and inedible, yet the tesco finest I bunged in a pot cropped well and are blemish free.
I struggle to pick 4 apples from an entire tree due to bird, wasp and coddling moth issues.
My 2 figs stop growing
I have had no lettuce as the sparrows have destroyed it,
Squash crop might be hit and miss as it is getting late in the year.
I have had grey mold in one gh in summer as the weather has been so temperamental.
Everything has struggled it the other green house due to the extreme in temperatures
Lots of blackfly at the beginning of the season
Lack of pollinators beginning of the season
All the parsnips I faffed over to make sure I got some, succumb to crown rot......and so on.

Would I stop growing - not on ya nellie

[jackarmy]

I would agree with all the above posts, espescially the "hobby" part mentioned by Hazel.

Im pretty sure that one of your other hobbies, Angling, costs just as much if not more, but Angling is not just about the catching of fish is it.Its about the serenity of sitting by a riverbank/lake/seashore and just breathing in the peace and quiet and taking in all the wonderfull things around you, of course the catching of a fish adds to the enjoyment ( espescially if like me you eat them ) but its not the end of the world if you dont catch .

Id say the two hobbys that go hand in hand

And if i could quote Penellype ( hope i spelt that right )

"How do you feel when you CAN'T do it?"

Im waiting for an opperation ( have been for three years lol) and im dreading the 6 months of "taking it easy" i will have to put up with .

[Small pumpkin]

I love this thread! The passion you all have is amazing. And I agree with most of what has already been said.
Due to "life" I have not been able to play in my veggie garden this year. All I have is a bed of carrots & a bed of spuds. I'm not expecting them to be a great success as they went in very late (June) and over half the bed hasn't even been earthed up .
Anyway to the point. I am lost. I don't know what to do with myself. I wonder round aimlessly looking for productive things to. When I do go to my garden to check things, it's very sad seeing my empty tunnels and my other 5 beds empty . So yes it's worth it, 100% yes.
If your still not sure after everything has been said and do. Just down tool and stop. Just for 1 week, specially if the weather is good. That will tell you in your heart if it's worth it.

Bet you a pint, you can't go a week without

[marchogaeth]

BM you are not alone this year. I know the joke is that farmers are always moaning and I often agree but this year is going to have been the toughest many of us can remember for the industry (@Bill HH probably excepted!) and it's not over yet! Even the polly has been a challenge this year.

The nice thing about the garden is that I don't have to worry about the money (unlike the sheep!). It's not life and death - if I can't grow it I can but it and am lucky enough for that not to be a problem. I also like how it's a challenge to think round problems eg stuff not growing that normally does well - I stuck in lots of quick growing lettuce type plants and slug a row of climbing French bean plants into the tunnel. The tomatoes are ripening very slowly so I'm planning on growing some brassicas on in the house in my grow garden so they can go out in the tunnel later on in the year. I'm going to try just pulling the tomato roots out of the ground and seeing if that prompts them to ripen - otherwise it's a good job we like green tomato soup. Biggest mistake this year Green Sausage tomatoes - WTH are they supposed to be about?

Edit:- AND I yet again didn't get round to summer pruning my stone fruit trees - never thought the weather was good enough except when I was hay making. If we get an Indian Summer is it too late??

[Lumpy]

I suppose for me its a continual balancing act between what I want V what I can do.

Very small growing area plus various pots, tyres etc enable me to grab my packet of seeds, put on my scrunched up super hero face and then embark on the challenge to get something to grow that looks like the picture on the packet.

Without doubt I regularly fail but I have (and still will) fail at many things I try and do whether it be growing, cooking or relationships with others.

Everything in life has a cost attached in one way or another but it is up to the individual to decide if challenge, excercise and friendship out way pennies, loneliness and apathy.
However, if you want a different challenge now that's up to you and whatever you decide to do in the future you will, without doubt face similar highs and lows that are the constant companions of a grower of veggies.

p.s BM me thinks you may be teasing us with your sugary words of quitting?

[Martin H]

Don't be silly, you know it's worth it.

If you add up the value of the crops you eat vs the cost of buying them, it's probably close. If you cost your own labour at minimum wage, it's hopelessly uneconomic. But that's not the point.

At this time of year it's easy to dwell on the things that didn't work out. There's nowhere to hide, is there! The blackfly attack in May that trashed your beans, the cold snap that stunted your corn, the gap in the netting that let the butterflies lay their eggs on your cauliflowers, all these failures come back and laugh at you at the end of the summer. Some years there seem to be more failures than successes! But that's not the point either.

We garden because it's a fun activity, because the successes, however few, are immensely rewarding, because we know we can do better next year (or at least make some different mistakes to learn from), because we can associate with like-minded people either on the plot, on the forum or in a local horticultural group. Roll on 2016!

[rosiepumpkin]

I remember that I have the choice to grow and staying alive doesn't depend on my crop. That experience in itself is worth a bad year. I know I am not in threat of starvation because it's been a bad year and for most of our country's life, it would have been the case.

I buy value produce from the supermarket and biodynamic organic produce bought direct from the farm. It's a clear winner which one has more nutrition has my body tells me. The price of commercially producing that biodynamic organic produce, rather than at what I could grow it for, is a lot higher.

And when I go from my friend's smallholding which is like something out of idyll of countryside life (complete with honeysuckle around the farmhouse door) and to my plot, it's not that different even though I'm in London. It's magical. I don't grow that much but to me that isn't really the point. It's long term healthcare I can eat.

Edit: spelling

[Elfeda]

my greenhouse was overflowing with all crap seedlings in spring and almost few in summer... as moving the plants in out made me leave some out side and not bother about crop...so does it worth bothering about undercover? yes but now i am choosy... only leafy during winter and chillies and cucumber for the rest of the year. 2 or 3 chilli plants giving many green chillies..though i have neglected rest of pepper plants..which still bushy.


found me eating fewer than more basic veg which i was lazy or not bothered to buy from shops. garlic and onions are lovely despite the fact big or small they are...


how to make it worthy????

1. my next lottie friend dug all the soil little by little in weekends... then made fixed beds with lot of clean wide paths... he grow less plants but good crop. like he did good dug of potato patch and planted max of 4 rous of total 20 potatoes include early and later and cared the good..so at the end he got 5 to 6 pounds harvest from each early ten plants and maind grown double to earlies... next year he is planning for watering system on lottie.


like wise i should clear well and plant only as much i want but no lazy planting. minimize the time of weeding and watering by what ever means.



2. make more perenial beds...like all my leafy veg beads are going to be permanant so they should self seed every year and no faf on caring them .. just thin them as and when possible so thiinings could be initial pickings ...

for this I let them go seed and mulch the bed over winter..cover them with white plastic from early spring to speed up..

3. overwinter as many night shade plant so that no much tension with tender seedlings at the start of the year. (trying hard to convince OH to bring in few pepper and aubs in)


4. plant in early spring or late winter to keep watering heck less

5 sow as many beans around the plot and pick partly and leave them to dry..helps soil improving and as well good to plate and cupboards with dry beans.

6.try to resist the urge to gardening at times..so that have some time to self.

[sparrow100]

I think you'll find the overwhelming tide of opinion is that it's worth it BM. It might be a bit of a given, given where you're posting.

My tuppence ha'penny worth is yes, even in a not so good year, it's worth it. Though my year hasn't been bad. I grow to cut the food bills here, and to eat some things you just can't buy (dessert goosegogs, achocha, root parsley, salsify or leaf chicory anyone?). Even after spending more money than I needed to setting the 2 plots up, over 3 years I am more than breaking even on the crops I am taking home.

But as others have said, it's not just about the money saved. It's the health benefits of knowing what you are putting into the food you eat & it's the taste difference (shop-bought padrons are cr@p, and I think my rainbow carrots are unbelievably good whereas I won't eat shop carrots raw.

For me it's also about learning. I started with no experience 3 years ago. I take immense pleasure in learning how to grow & save different crops and in reading up on the history of some of the heritage varieties I grow.

And like muddled says, messing about outside with the sun on your back is hard to beat.

Days like today, with wall to wall rain have me going slightly crazy turning produce into food. So far I've baked 2 cakes, made a garlicky chicory/spinach mix for tonight's piadina, filled the dehydrator with courgette crisps, simmered & strained 2kg of elderberries and am about to turn them into jelly. Later I'll start planning next year's planting and my jobs for getting the plot ready for winter. in the same time OH has had breakfast and played a lot of Gran Tourismo. Even with the rubbish weather I know which day I prefer...

[Potstubsdustbins]

I reckon BM is hiding round the corner having a little snigger, talk about setting a seed.

Sorry to hear of your failures big man but just to make you feel ................worse!!!!

Its been my best year ever for spuds, freezer is full of runners and we are now giving away the surplus. Toms have now come into their own, plenty of puree and soup in the freezers.

The folks that were running away earlier when they spotted me coming with courgettes are now running away from the cumber man. Had loads of salad crops through the season so all in all not as bad a year as I thought it was going to be.

Back to the question 'Is it worth it'. A very big YES from this grape and for many reasons.

When was the last time you saw runners for sale it was about 10 years back for me and they where 80p a pound then. The smile on SWMBO's face when the garden peas come along or she has that first taste of Lady C spuds.

Finally why would I come here for fun and frolics if it were not for GYO!!!!

[Wendie]

Yes I say... The hard work is worth it. I've only been veg growing for about 6 or so years but love the thrill of buying seeds,sowing and watching them grow. This year has been just like the rest, some ups some downs. Can't win them all. The taste is so different to shop bought and how great to eat them within 30 minutes of picking them. The cost doesn't come into it. If it's a hobby you just enjoy it whatever and take the rough with the smooth ����

[jackarmy]

I reckon BM is hiding round the corner having a little snigger, talk about setting a seed.

Have to agree with that , sat on his pond, rod in hand and i pad in other

[maverick451]

I think its important to remember that even if monetary wise it isnt quite worth it in terms of a hobby its still cheap compared to some.

And ive learnt alot, even from failures.