Its cold and Dark so i am having a bit of a whinge about grow your own

[Jardiniere]

Just to set the record straight ...I wasnt whinging about the mag - i like it and would probably buy it say 6 or 7 times a year if i lived in engerland. BUT i live in france and if i want the mag i have to subscribe - and its very expensive (postage i suppose) and i now just think its not value for money for me anymore so i've stopped subscribing...if i thought this forum would go down the pan if i failed to subscribe ...or if it were only open to subscribers - then i would have to rethink....i love you guys...aaah..

[bearded bloke]

No worries there Jardiniere,I read your first post as a cancelled subscription due to inhibitive cost beyond any other consideration.
The same inhibitive cost that stops Fez from subscription to the printed magazine,I believe there is a downloadable version but am unsure of cost or what platforms (windows,apple,android,etc) it works on.
Maybe Admin could advise fully on this please.

[zazen999]

Having been in the position of teaching gardening; it really is incredibly difficult to come up with new things when most gardening is seasonal, and what needs doing one January will also need doing the next January; there's alot of repetition from year to year so...not quite sure of the solution to that one. and if you leave out the basics, then new gardeners will miss out on alot of crucial info.

And the seeds/giveaway issue; it's going to be obvious that giveaways are going to be popular stuff; if it was more rare stuff it would cost alot more to source the seeds. Which would in turn put the cost up.

[Shroomy]

And the seeds/giveaway issue; it's going to be obvious that giveaways are going to be popular stuff; if it was more rare stuff it would cost alot more to source the seeds. Which would in turn put the cost up.

Now i disagree with that statemant entirely the buying power of grow your own is big enough to get anything in bulk cheaper the may not have as many seeds inside . Thopmson and morgan for example do trial packs of seeds for 99p quite often and they are all new products .
As an example from thompson and morgan site
Tomato 'Moneymaker' - 1 packet (75 seeds) £1.99
Tomato 'Glacier' -- 1 packet (30 seeds)£1.99
Same price not so many seeds but something different i believe it just takes a little bit of thinking about
Sometimes things go stale and needs a bit of freshening up
A lot of comments on here are right and there is only so much you can put on paper so if this is so then do other things to make it intresting
If your going to put seeds on the front cover get people involved and let them all post their results etc little compitions for people that grew the biggest Courgette from the free seeds
Most importantly get the youngsters invovled after all they need to be involved

[SarzWix]

I may be wrong, but I think that the seed companies themselves probably decide what is given away rather than GYO. It may be possible for GYO to ask them to choose different varieties, but I think it's likely that they have no say in the matter.

I think the interaction with the readers on what they've grown from the seeds is a good idea though

[Shroomy]

I may be wrong, but I think that the seed companies themselves probably decide what is given away rather than GYO. It may be possible for GYO to ask them to choose different varieties, but I think it's likely that they have no say in the matter.

Would be intresting to find out

[zazen999]

Now i disagree with that statemant entirely the buying power of grow your own is big enough to get anything in bulk cheaper the may not have as many seeds inside . Thopmson and morgan for example do trial packs of seeds for 99p quite often and they are all new products .
As an example from thompson and morgan site
Tomato 'Moneymaker' - 1 packet (75 seeds) £1.99
Tomato 'Glacier' -- 1 packet (30 seeds)£1.99
Same price not so many seeds but something different i believe it just takes a little bit of thinking about
Sometimes things go stale and needs a bit of freshening up
A lot of comments on here are right and there is only so much you can put on paper so if this is so then do other things to make it intresting
If your going to put seeds on the front cover get people involved and let them all post their results etc little compitions for people that grew the biggest Courgette from the free seeds
Most importantly get the youngsters invovled after all they need to be involved

As Sarz says, the seeds are more than likely packed from excess stocks, and the varieties chosen by the suppliers...I imagine the seeds need to be very cheap if they are being given away for free....and I know it's important to get kids involved, that's what I do for a living! I've spent 3 years building kid friendly activities that we hope will be made into a publication at some point.

[Alison]

Over the years I've subscribed to a variety of mags on a variety of subjects. Without exception, after a while (sometimes a year, sometimes longer) they've become repeatative to me although would have been fine if I was picking them up for the first time. It has got to the point that I've no longer been looking forward to receiving the mag and won't have got round to reading more than the odd item by the time the next edition arrives. There is a limit to what the publishers can do about this, there are only so many ways you can sow seeds, cook a piece of lamb, decorate a bedroom or make a skirt! As said above, gardening in particular is seasonal so at a given time of year certain topics are bound to be in the mag. I've never found that freebies on mags are worth having much and have sown practically none of the free seeds (have enjoyed giving them away to friends though and in some cases this has been the catalyst for them to start growing their own ) but appreciate why it's the varieties it is and don't really have a problem with it. To use GYO as a specific example, I do think that they stick very much to recommending the big suppliers but that's probably where the advertising revenue comes from and a quick google will usually point you towards cheaper alternatives. I stopped subscribing to any mags a few years ago and haven't really missed them and have saved money. I do however buy an individual mag from the newsagent based on what is in it especially if I'm going on a long train journey or on holiday as a treat. I appreciate this far more and also ensure I have the time to read the articles but think it's unlikely I'll ever be that loyal to one mag again. GYO is certainly one of two gardening and grow your own mags that I look at first and I think gets the balance reasonably right.

[Florence Fennel]

I think it's my 6th subscription this year and I still read every word until the print's off the paper! However, my usual gripe as you all know is that there is no loyalty incentive for regular subscription - yet there are many offers for new prescribers.

[Alison]

I think it's my 6th subscription this year and I still read every word until the print's off the paper! However, my usual gripe as you all know is that there is no loyalty incentive for regular subscription - yet there are many offers for new prescribers.

That's always the way with these things, the way round it is to resubscribe rather than renew

[Piggle]

I've been a subscriber for a few years - sometimes I find it a bit child heavy and family friendly for my tastes but understand that I'm probably in the minority .

One thing that did really annoy me though was when the allotment guy built his raised beds out of those woodblox things .... it came across as an advert for a product that is way out of my budget. To be honest his column is the one I find most un-inspiring, too many articles about building tables/BBQ/bootscrapers and not enough planting.

Sorry but it's the one I skip the most where it should be the one I devour!

[Laura Hillier]

Thank you to everybody for your comments. We are always looking to put out the best possible magazine for both new and long-term readers and try to ensure that the content can span this gap from novice gardeners onwards, while also sticking to seasonal, relevant topics.
We have a budget for free seeds and within this we pick crops which have come out as the most popular in polls and surveys on the forum, as we feel that it is very important to be giving away things that people enjoy growing and eating.
Thank you again for the input and we hope that you all enjoy the next issue!

Laura
Editorial Assistant Grow Your Own