I'm going to try harder than ever this year to spend as little as possible on my allotment and garden. We are likely to have less money coming in so want less to go out and I'm an avid recycler (and freecycler) anyway so it should be fun. I'm going to try to keep a record of everything I spend and see what it adds up to at the end of the year. No doubt I'll forget or give up at some point but anyone else fancy joining in? Maybe we can compare how we're doing every now and again.
Two days into the year and I haven't spent a penny yet. ;D
Blown it already.... :-[
Sometimes you need to spend to save.
E.g. spend £0 and you may get £0 but spend £1 and you may get £10 in produce.
Sounds interesting.......but the only reason I haven't spent anything is because I'm working nights at the moment! I'm going to have to pay out for some manure sooner or later, lots required....plots to sort......but hopefully I shouldn't need to spend much more.....in theory! ;D I am trying to keep better records, which shouldn't be too difficult with the 'new' half plot we are sorting over the winter and OH & son's clearance of the very overgrown one.
It would be interesting to keep a tally on what we spend to get them up to a productive level....nothing so far except labour (and a bit of savlon for the bramble scratches)!
My main expense is compost for seed sowing so I'm on the lookout for bargains if anyone has seen any.
My first spend this year will probably be on seed potatoes and onion sets.
I'm not counting money already spent so am hoping I won't have to spend too much on seeds this year- must get into seed-swapping!
Ah yes, seed potatoes.....hoping to go to the Ryton Potato day later this month for the ones I can't get locally/cheaply, do I have to count the few I ordered from Tuckers last year but haven't been delivered yet?! ;D
Agree with the seed swapping....oh yes! ;D
I've just written a cheque for £74, which is a year's rental for two allotments, total of 25 pole (plus a locker & affiliation to NSALG) - sounds like a bargain so far.
Sat 24th Jan for Members Deb... want a car share again? To keep down the petrol costs.
Quote from: saddad on January 02, 2009, 18:00:12
Sat 24th Jan for Members Deb... want a car share again? To keep down the petrol costs.
Okey dokey! ;D I will remember to wear my thermals this time after last years freezing conditions!!
Plot rent....again, paid it last year, so do I have to count it in this years 'accounts'!!?! :-\
Just kidding yourself Deb if you don't as it will come up again in October and it will cost more!! ;D
I have spent £70 on seeds so far for this year, plus the seeds from opened packets from last year. I also spent £40 of my B&Q vouchers on 3 cloches. I still have about another £20 of seeds to get yet......
An article in January edition of GYO magazine reckons if the EU get their way and ban some farming pesticides then a 5kg bag of spuds that cost £2 today could cost as much as £5.94 y December 2009 :o :o
Quote from: saddad on January 02, 2009, 18:04:40
Just kidding yourself Deb if you don't as it will come up again in October and it will cost more!! ;D
That is true, I'd better include last years figure then!
;D
Oh yes, forgot about plot rent- due this month, waiting to see how much it has gone up his year.
I think my biggest expenditures will be on manure, potting compost and grow bags for the greenhouse toms...even if I use the cheapies that will still not be cheap!
My rent, due in September is only £6.
Thanks to the swaps, which are on their way again, I will not need to buy any seeds this year.
My only expense will be spuds as I don't grow maincrop onions due to white rot and japanese onions, garlic and shallots were all brought last year in a sale and are already in.
Coldframes thanks to the lovely Purple Sprouting - so free.
Manure from neighbouring farm, so free.
Extra manure for compost heap thanks to the guinea pigs and hamsters.
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
I am a cheap date!!
Good Value, possibly... cheap, Never! ;D
I grow in my garden plottie but I've never DARED put a cost on what I spend, cos I know the answer but don't want the bald figures.....buying prime produce at Birmingham Market wins hands-down.
So far I've got to recoup £60 next year on horse manure, spent during this winter, for starters...
So.....it gets me in the fresh air & keeps me fit? Errr....me job does that, actually :-[
Feeling of satisfaction? When my carrots have fly, my spinach bolts after the first two true leaves, my fennel remains anorexically thin and my tomatoes get blighted.......not a lot. But just enough to keep me keen to try again next year.
Oh, Mother Nature is such a Tease 8) ;D
Quote from: caroline7758 on January 02, 2009, 17:48:28
My main expense is compost for seed sowing so I'm on the lookout for bargains if anyone has seen any....
I have not tried it but if you have the ingredients you can easily make your own seed compost from either pure leaf mould or equal parts loam and leaf mould according to my book from Gardening Organic.
G x
what a interesting ideal! I'm game altho my rent is paid in sept and the seed order was paid for in oct and can't remember what else I'v bought, so as these things happen every year will count them at the end
nothing so far but it is only the 2nd lol
marg
I make my own seed/potting mix from 3 part sifted topsoil, 3 part sifted garden compost and 1 part sharp sand. Good enough for me. No shriveling, no flies, no expense apart from some sand. I use about 3-4000 litres of it each year with most of it ending up dug in the plot.
As for overall costs;
Rent < £60.00
Seeds <> £120.00
Sand I usually win but say £10.00
Manure free but petrol for collection <> £10.00
So I need to not buy £4.00 of veg every week to balance the books.
120 pounds on seed! That's scary- you've obviously got a lot more space than some of us! And once you start adding in petrol costs... I'm beginning to think this was no such a good idea! ;D
I'm hoping it will be cheaper this year, especially as i did not start until late in the year.
It cost me well over £500, but the beds and shed should last for years and the 10 fruit trees and 6 fruit bushes will not cost anything else again.
I am so looking forward to my first year on the plot.
Neil
£120 for seed is nothing. Nothing I tell you. Na fing.
Bear in mind that I do not have 30% spuds, 30% cabbage and the rest turnips like the other old codgers but I enjoy a wide variety of produce.
Bear in mind also that I save my own seed stock wherever possible and am self-sufficient with peas, broad bean, runner bean, radish, beetroot, parsnip, chard, jerusalem, oca, yacon, mirabilis, potato. tomato, pepper and a number of flowers. However there is always something new to try.
Petrol is a difficult cost to evaluate as I rarely go direct to the plot from home and usually divert from nearby work locations and would be lots cheaper than the bus. Bicycle is not a viable option until such time as the van is no longer required. Most of the running cost of a vehicle is the static costs of keeping it legal due to the low mileage so it might as well be used.
Last year was not cheap for us as we bought a shed and greenhouse. I have probably spent £50 on seed, plus £40 on seed potatoes, onions and garlic.
My main seed bill was £16 ish discounted from Kings! will get 2/3 lots of seed potatoes ( bought blight busting ones last year from T/M but regretted it)
need to buy some new canes and perhaps netting if I see it cheap
what about pricing the veg that is harvested? this is getting complicated isn't it ?
marg
I'd keep it simple-all the veg harvested is free, just trying to keep costs of production to a minimum. Must get better at skip raiding, although I suspect there will be less put in them this year. :(
I hate to think what I've spent in the last few months! Maybe
£500-ish on tools and other gardening stuff eg incinerator, wheelbarrow, weed fabric etc.
£60 on seeds/plants
£100 on clothes/shoes
£120 on the shed - timber treatment, roofing materials, glass
Im sure this isnt all! But it beats spending the weekend in the pub.
You forgot the most important items. Gas ring and kettle. 8)
Well, paid my 20 quid allotment rent today, so with my 1.99 for postage for the T&M seeds, that's 21.99 so far.
I like your style! I'm keeping the costs down this year too.
So far I've spent about £15 on seed and plan about another fiver.
Then I need potatoes and onions which I reckon on spending £10 on from local sources!
My rent is £30 - comes up end of March.
Then I will need about a tenner for seed compost, multi compost and a couple of grow bags, a fiver of chicken manure pellets and £2 for a box of Blood fish and Bone. Our wonderful local shop does a bag of lime for 35p so I will be patronising him again ... and a few new canes (say £3?).
I have lots of home made compost to dig in and will get a few trugs of manure for free from another local source. Also I have spied out some abandoned timber to make a few raised beds in a neighbours garden so have asked nicely if I can remove it for them! Looking forward to skip diving too, and I "reclaimed" some old secondary double glazing to make a top for an old cloche. Quite cheap really!
The big question is .... when I get the compost etc. from the garden centre, will I manage not to be tempted by anything else??? ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: pippy on January 09, 2009, 13:36:10
The big question is .... when I get the compost etc. from the garden centre, will I manage not to be tempted by anything else??? ;D ;D ;D
Absolutely! Now I've started this thread i hope I'll have the motivation to resist! ;D
So far only £3.15 on seeds, I get them in the sales all year round so have a good supply for the next two seasons, it pays to be a tight git sometimes, ;) I only have to get some spuds and onions and thats the plant side sorted. I will do as Eristic does and mix a mound of topsoil with the compost in my daleks and I'm sure I have some sand in the shed. I aquired some wood from work, some blue piping from a neighbour, netting from a mate, caging from work, and all my canes are in good order. I haven't had my rent form sent to me yet but I caught the bloke from the council measuring the plots and reminded him that mine was much smaller then my neighbours because I'm on the end, he measured mine at 6.5 poles and he's at 9.0 poles so I expect a reduction this year, Borlotti have you had your bill sent to you yet. ;D ;D ;D
Free Brussels seeds in the post today- thanks, northerner! :D
Quote from: caroline7758 on January 09, 2009, 17:40:11
Free Brussels seeds in the post today- thanks, northerner! :D
Seeds arrived from the tomato seed swap today..........do I have to count the postage?! ??? :-\
Otherwise doing quite well so far, have now got a little notebook split into 3 for the different plots/parts of, taking this very seriously! ;D Of course it will all go to pot at the Ryton Potato Day, Alan Romans will have a seed stall as well........oh no!
Be strong, Deb! ;D
Only two weeks to go Deb... start saving some pennies!! ;D