Topic: Save up to £1500 on your allotment...

[Bean_Queen]

For 9 months of the year, I don't buy (much) food at all. I don't treat veg as a side dish though - it's my entire meal. Beans for protein (homegrown), veggies in season, with a bit of pasta or rice.  Porridge or toast for brekky, but I eat whatever is on the plot for lunch and dinner.  So my food bill is next to nothing.

I also save gym money.

[carolinej]

Bean_Queen,

so are you vegetarian?

What types of beans do you grow?

cj :)

[flowerofshona2007]

Money doesnt come into it, its a hobby and a place to have a chat to friends and make new ones, you cant buy that  :)
I spend loads on seeds ect and love it and swapping them is fun, and starting up new plot holders with seeds.
I dont drink, smoke ect and make-up and clothes dont float my boat so getting dirty and enjoying the fresh air are my fun.
Besides i cant be bothered to weigh all i pick and it would spoil the fun :)

[Borlotti]

I agree, just off to the allotment as it is sunny today, may get some spinach.  I suppose if ones counts the rosemary, mint and oregano (which costs a bomb to buy in little packets) and the pounds and pounds of blackberries I picked all round the vacant plots (gave loads away) it could add up.  Saw the lady in front of me yesterday with two tiny punnets of blackberries and they cost £3 for the two.  Gave loads of courgettes, runner beans away.  Also gave carrier bags of windfall apples away but my friend on the allotment gave them to me.  Kept some for apple pies, blackberry and apple pies and apple sauce, so I suppose all these things would add up over the year.  We did buy a motor mower and rotavator this year (twice as the first two were stolen) but apart from that have tools and don't spend too much on seeds.

[martinrowe]

It wold be nice if the article identified how they got to the cost that culd be saved on the food bill each year.

The cost would depend on the initial outlay that might need to be made, e.g. seed trays, tools, a shed (perhaps) and even a greenhouse.

Also I recon they did not take into account the time it takes, and this would depend what you class as your time costing.  If it is a hobby, the cost should be very little or even free.  I expect that most people with an allotment would class their time as being free.

[asbean]

and don't spend too much on seeds.

WHAT !!! ???  :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o  ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???

[Suzanne]

Never did the maths on this - but I don't have to buy any soft fruit or veg for most of the year (haven't got top or stone fruit sorted ........yet). I grow organically and also lay down chutneys and preserves which also become gifts for friends and family.

Also since having the lotties I stopped my gym membership (£500 plus pa) as I get enough exercise on the plot. If this is taken into account then I probably am up to £1500 pa..................I think. :-\

But I don't count the costs of seed adiction as it replaced a costlier shoe addiction  ;D

[asbean]

But I don't count the costs of seed adiction as it replaced a costlier shoe addiction  ;D

My seed addiction has created a shoe addiction - the boxes are ideal for keeping seeds in  ::) ::) ::) ::)

[littlebabybird]

do i count the price of all the asparagus we have eaten this year?
that isnt saved money realy, i would never have bought it.
lbb

[trinity]

 well of I am going to save that much I can spend some more on seeds ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D without feeling guilty :-\

[Lauren S]

Guilty and seeds should never appear in the same sentence, except for demonstration purposes  ;D  ;D  ;D

[artichoke]

My husband is reluctant to cook and eat most of what I grow (we take turns to cook, one fortnight each). It got better once I learned to wash the veg, put it in a see through plastic box, and label it with name and date picked using a post-it note.

I'm afraid we've had a few rows about his love of the serried ranks of washed, international, perfectly formed season-free fruit and veg in Tescos, and he has learned that I won't eat this stuff now, so he's on his own if he buys it.

He's allowed to buy veg in local farm shops if it is something I don't grow...... He has also slowly, painfully learned that a couple of lettuce leaves or half a carrot is not enough for me; three different veg or a mountain of salad leaves is more the mark. He can't believe it.

It's difficult to know if we save money with just the two of us; but I am unwilling to spend much on the allotments apart from the rent and some seeds. One plus is that I like to give fruit and veg away to friends and relations who appreciate it, and there are three or four charities who ask me to donate things for stalls, so almost nothing is wasted.

[Sparkly]

Perhaps in the long run I will save money, but the initial outlay for the greenhouse, shed, tools, some timber, seeds etc has been quite costly. The ongoing costs as much less though. If I added up all the veg I crop from the allotment it could total a pretty high amount, but in balance I don't think I am saving money at the moment. I don't mind spending the money as it is our main hobby and as a hobby it is pretty cheap!