300 hours of well spent time

[allaboutliverpool]

I am often asked via email on my YouTube videos how much time I spend on my allotment.

Here are the times over the last 12 months put in Month order

January        8.5 
February      8.5 
March         33.5
April           36.0
May           40.0
June          46.0
July           46.0
August      19.0
Sept          23.5
October     25.0
November 10.0
December   5.0

Total         301 hours.

That does not include trips to garden centres, B&Q, or the stables.

http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments1_homepage

[allaboutliverpool]

[Kepouros]

If you cost yourself out at £10 and hour, and add in the cost of seeds etc your veggies are costing you at least £60 a week.

[Robert_Brenchley]

On the other hand, the same amount of exercise at a gym would cost several hundred a year, and be a lot less fun.

[pippy]

... and the same amount of time being entertained in any way / hobby would have a cost too!

[compothefirst]

... and add to all this the extra "quality of life"...

[kt.]

Not counting working in the lottie shop, I dare not even try to add up my lottie hours.  Does that include seed sowing and potting on at home?

[Digeroo]

Saw a lady on TV the other day who said that all she spent on growing vegetables was about an hour a week.

It seems to take me a great deal longer.  

Certainly the allotment is proving expensive at the moment.  Fertilizer, canes, fleece, seeds, water butt, compost bin, spade, 99p cloche, piping, more seeds, more space more seeds, seed compost, soil improver, plants.  Etc etc, but I am enjoying every minute.  

I has been hard work digging, I do not think £10 per hours is very good.  Please can I have a pay rise? ;D ;D

[Lauren S]

I'm at my lottie five or six days a week from 7:00 to 5:30 everyday, I still don't seem to get everything done  ::)

[allaboutliverpool]

How does one price a hobby?

I am a GP and assuming that I could get the work, then at a going rate of £50 per hour then 300 hours equates to £15,000 pa.

The problem is that, like this morning when I went to the allotment between 6am and 7am, it is impossible to get work at those times.

The pleasure of being down by the Mersey at that time, surrounded by wildlife and enjoying the early sunshine cannot be counted in money.

That £15,000 lost has also cost Mr Brown £6000 in tax but I do not seem to lose any sleep over that fact.

My cholesterol is 3.5 and my blood pressure is 120/80 and requires no medication to achieve that. I have fresh vegetables from the allotment every day of the year and look forward to retirement when I can really put the hours in.

[asbean]

When I first got the allotment I wrote down everything I spent, and we recorded in a diary everything we did and how long etc.  That lasted less than a month.  To be honest, it is a hobby where we get the benefit of fresh veg, we get to try unusual varieties, the exercise is excellent, satisfaction is high (usually), wouldn't get that from taking photographs of trains or birds, now would we???  ??? ??? ???

[telboy]

allaboutliverpool ,
I'm missing the point here.
As a doctor 'if I could get the work'.
Is there a problem there!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[saddad]

As a pair we probably put that amount of time in...  :)

[allaboutliverpool]

Yes Telboy, you have missed the point.

Work is available in shifts, a few hours at a time.

I slot my visits to the plot into free time, for example as mentioned, one our this morning, and hopefully another hour tomorrow at 6am.
It helps to be  5mins walk fronm the allotment and 10minutes walk from the surgery which means that I can slot another hour in tomorrow lunchtime as well.

Result- I enjoy work because I can enjoy the rest of my time.

[elvis2003]

we would find it too difficult to count our actual work hours at the lottie,so much time is spent eating meals,drinking tea,chatting to friends,welcoming family visits etc etc,we would rather be there than stuck indoors,esp at this time of year!
allabout,we can just see a glimpse of the mersey from our plot!

[powerspade]

£10.00 a hour - I have never worked for that amount in my life. The most I have ever worked for was £80.00 for a 40 hour week

[davyw1]

DOC why don,t you set up a surgery at the garden then you can slot a patent in, inbetween gardening.
Take a seat till i get this row of spuds in.

[betula]

That is a good idea davyw1 ;D

[betula]

£10.00 a hour - I have never worked for that amount in my life. The most I have ever worked for was £80.00 for a 40 hour week

You can not be serious? :)

[kitty]

ha!betula-perhaps powerspades an arist like me-i aspire to £2 an hour-but i dont compain because i wouldnt swap my job for anything-i live very cheaply and the lotties a great source of food and inspiration.
having a lot of money doesnt equal happiness(as you know i'm sure ;D)and so long as i dont owe anyone any money and can pay my bills i'm as happy as a pig in poo-i dont seem to go without anything-well,apart from holidays i spose-but then-i got the lottie! ;D ;D ;D
i think western cilvilisation would be a lot 'richer' if it took no more than it needed -from wages to food.....and the first people on the list for downsizing would be m.p's.......
think allaboutliverpools got his priorities right....
kitty#xx

[Borlotti]

One is never bored if one has an allotment.  Went up today at 12 am for a short walk, and couldn't believe it was 7.30 pm on the way home.  Time flies when one is enjoying it.  Meant to clean bathroom but will do tomorrow, unless the allotment beckons.  Wish my blood pressure was as good as yours, but you are a doctor, I had better keep taking the pills, which seem to work.  I save loads of money because I hardly ever go shopping, apart from food, and don't buy new clothes, and luckily seeds are hardly that expensive.