Topic: Allotments - paying for themselves?

[Si D]

I realise that most people take allotments because they want a better quality of food and also because they enjoy having an allotment, but I'm sure that a few go into it thinking that it's going to save a bit of money on their food shopping too.

I'm just wondering how long it has taken people before a return is seen on one's investment (if ever)?

I'm vaguely doing it on the cheap (skip foraging, freecycle, etc), but I've still had some outlays - the plot itself plus deposit on keys, a few tools, some weed killer, seeds and a few plants to get started.  This has already probably crept up to around £50-£60.   I'm sure that some people spend a lot more if they get all their tools new, decide to have a shop-bought shed, buy a composter & water butt, etc etc.

So, are you in the red or the black?

[Esre]

Just for a rough idea, I get a weekly seasonal organic veg box delivered by Riverford. I pay £9.72 a week inc del for a small box with 10 items in it which doesn't include fruit.

Thats £505.44 a year  :o

(wish I hadn't worked that out now!)

[Suzanne]

I haven't really totted it up. But I think in the black just about. Seeds and tools tend to be gifts from family and friends - I converted them long ago on what was a useful gift. I scavenge quite a bit - my first cold frame was £1 from the chaps at the Council dump. The fees on my first lottie appear to be zero at the moment as we had to do a mega clean up the first year. When they do charge I am told it will be in the region of a £5 per annum as only half size. My second lottie on a seperate plot is £10 pa.

I am just about self sufficient in veg for 9 months of the year - when I have a glut my wider family and friends benefit which does encourage them to buy me more seeds. So we go full circle.

There used to be a really good article in Organic Gardenining Magazine where one of the chaps kept a balance over a 12 month period who showed that a lottie does sav money - if you eat everything you produce!  :o even I get bored with courgettes!

[asbean]

Probably in the red, financially.  We skip-forage, but also buy stuff (water butts, strimmer etc).  We'd like to be self-sufficient completely, but it doesn't seem to work that way, because we give away a lot of stuff, crops fail or don't do as well as expected.  Slugs snails and pigeons get their share as well.

However, we don't buy any veg from supermarkets.  We only eat stuff that's in season, grow ourselves, or buy from the farmers' market.  In Winchester there is NO independent greengrocer.

On the other hand we don't have to pay gym fees, we get all the exercise we need.

And, of course, there is that great feeling of pride when harvesting veg we've grown from seed.  And the camaraderie from fellow allotment holders and forums like this 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

[quizzical1]

I'm sure we WILL be in the black as soon as we start harvesting this years crop. Especially potatos, onions, garlic and beans. Then there's the autumn/winter crops to come.

You're correct in that the initial outlay (tools etc) is substantial, but if you get a good harvest, then I would think it would pay for itself pretty soon.  Not forgetting all the other advantages of course.

You KNOW what's been put on your produce, and on the land it's grown in.

You get plenty of fresh air and exercise, making you a much healthier person.

You get to meet some really nice/good people. (I find fellow allotmenteers are always friendly, and always ready with local advice (and physical help if needed)).

Admittedly, most of the crops become available when they are at their cheapest in the shops, but the above still applies.

Oh, and not to forget the marvellous people,help and advice available right here.

[David R]

I gave up my lotty at the start of the year but moved to a house with a decent sized garden where i now do my growing and obviously anything i eat is pretty much a saving.

However, I must have spent at least £500 over the time when i did have the lotty and spent most of the time converting overgrown land rather than harvesting, so mine was probably a minus result. I dont regret it though as i had intended to keep the lotty for a good few years and did not forsee moving too far to keep it. I got good exercise and the therapeutic value far outweighed any monetary figure spent.

[newbies]

I think that I'm probably in the red at the moment.  It's my first year on a new plot, and tools and new shed were gifts.  However, if you tott up the time spent there weeding etc., bits n bobs, I'm at best breaking even.  As the last poster though, the theraputic value still out weighs the rent etc.  I feel so at peace there, that I don't actually care whether I'm saving money or not, with my (and probably most other posters) hectic schedule, it probably saves my mind! ;D

[Jeannine]

Money wise, there is no doubt at all we are definitely in the red,but finance was not the reason we took the lotties.

We moved into a house with a tiny garden after living for years on acres, growing our own was way of life so we needed to be able to do that.

Erecting greenhouses,raided beds,filling them, buying pavers etc is not cheap but we needed them so they were purchased.

With the lotties, we eat safe,fresh food most of the year which we have grown ourselves.

We get exercise and the fellowship of other lotties  owners.

I am able to indulge a squash and tomato hobby that I couldn't do with out it.

All in all we get what we needed from the lottie,I think in time  we would be in the black but it will be a while for us.

XX Jeannine

[emmy1978]

Probably in the red but not by much.  :-X loads of stuff freecycled like the shed and roofing felt to reroof the shed, glass for cold frame and big bag of leaves for leafmould, pallets for compost bins. Not bad. Some skip diving planned - good round here with all the development going on. Tools were all presents from friends so I've done quite well really. The rent on the plot is only £20 a year, £40 for me now I've got 2 but still feels like a total bargain! Until we can afford to buy a house the plot is our garden and that is priceless.  8)

[Old bird]

I have spent a fair bit on my lottie - I am mostly vegetarian now so I live off it and   I  sell surplus plants and fruit (currently raspberries & tayberries) and give away loads which covers my seed bill and a bit towards the rent, and I get a fair few brownie points into the bargain!

I bought a polytunnel this year so am well into debit but the fun I get from it and all the food that will grow in it - it will probably pay for itself inside 3 years - if and it is a big IF the Council allow me to keep it!  At the moment not looking good!

 ;D

[Deb P]

I don't know, and to be honest don't really care! ;D

The enjoyment I get out of tending the plot can't be costed, let alone the de-stressing value of a vicious bit of weeding when I've had a bad day!

I don't spend a lot; re-used as much as I could when I took over the plot, utilsed free materials (pallets etc), but have a pretty bad seed habit, so that probably negates the financial savings.....  :P

[e-mushroom]

as others have echoed, part of the reason for doing an allotment is the therapy :)
and that bit i can't really put a price on. For people like me just starting out on an allotment,
it's expensive, because I had to start out with nothing, and it's impolite to borrow.

So I've spent about 100 quid on tools (spade, edge trimmer, shears, secateurs etc). I've gone
for stuff with a guarantee.. now I've got to buy a shed or a strong lockable box, and before that, either concrete some space or lay slabs to stick the shed or box on! but it's an investment.. i'd say 'break even' would be maybe 5 years down the line, if you buy high quality tools you usually only have to buy them once, unless they get pinched... so it's money well spent.

[Tee Gee]

I think there will always be a cost to pay but in the long term I think it must pretty much cancel itself out.

For instance apart from my spade(which I broke) I have had all my tools for over twenty years so these must have paid for themselves. Add to this the greenhouses which again I have had for many years in which I grow stuff that otherwise I may not have eaten because of cost in the shops.

Then there is bedding plants I grew over 1500 this year, so at around 10p each that is £150 then there is all the veg which is quite expensive to buy as plants.

Plus when I buy seed I buy the best simply because I get them at discounted rates so I use the discount to offset the cost of the better quality seed.

So all in all I never consider cost as such just the growing and eating and enjoying what I grow makes it worth every penny.

Then of course there is what I give to my son & daughter and the harvest home so they benefit as well.

Around ten years ago I once kept a running tally of cost and gave up counting when I got to around £300 which put another way is around £6 per week.

Now what can you get for £6 per week?  As I said its worth every penny.

[manicscousers]

to us, during spring, summer and autumn, we use all our own produce, most of the winter veg is our own, sometimes we have to buy potatoes or onions if there's been a disaster, so..for us, financial stuff doesn't come into it
lots of people pay ridiculous prices for hobbies, season tickets, stuff like that, the returns we get feed us, our family and our friends , priceless  ;D

[Jeannine]

I often think about our veggies like this:

Look  at a tomato seed,then compare to to fully laden plant.

We did that, with a bit of work, a bit of love and some time.

I can never figure out why everybody doesn't get a kick out of it.

That too is priceless,  Manics you are so right.

XX Jeannine

[Zippy Seale]

I spent a bit on my plots in first year but last summer picking sweetcorn as I left, walking in and dumping it straight into a pot of boiling water the other half put on before i arrived after i called her.
sinking ones teeth in to that first cob,  dam it was unlike anything you can buy;  sweet, fresh, and just so god dam yummy. 
as the credit card ad says
priceless
this year i have had bumper crops of first and second earlies.
still got loads to dig up and main crop to come...:)
peas got ravage by the birds,  so one minus  , but onions, courgettes, sweet corn, runners and french beans doing well.   leeks in this weekend, and cabbages and cauliflowers will be transplanted up to the lotty from seed bed at home.
so this year hardly any money spent, save rent for 3 plots 70 quid and seed potatoes, and a few other packets around 30-40 quid. 
I have already got my returns
Good food and a relaxing hobby that is probably the cheapest over 12 months

[grawrc]

Our local golf club costs over £700 a year and half the year you can't play cos it's raining or snowing or it's dark when you get back from work.  Or you don't have the time. And that's before you get the buggy and the clubs and the golf balls that always end up disappearing down a rabbit hole.

My two lotties cost me £30 a year in rent. The rest is sweetie money compared to golf and I'm so much better at growing than at golfing.  ;) ;)

Plus there's an end product which makes you realise how much junk gets sold to us as fruit and veg.

[Uncle Joshua]

I must be in the black, sure seeds cost money but you can't but 200 cabbages for £1.99 and with 5 kids we do eat almost everything we grow. (200 cabbages was just an example :) )

[powerspade]

I keep a record of all that I grow, I charge myself the prices that I would be charged if I bought my fruit and vegetables in Asdas. Last year my harvest on that basis came to £973. My year rent for my two plots are £13.00, new water barrels -free from skip, Seeds onions sets,shallots, seed potatoes £67.00, composts, organic fertilizers £8.50, replacement tools £35.00, second hand shed £20.00 Total outlay £143.50. So I make a profit but only if I do not take into account the labour involved. Its not about profit to me but a passion a way of  life, having great food for the table and knowing how it has grown.

[beckydore]

everyone elses plots seem cheaper than mine - mine is £27 per year for a half plot.