Allotments 4 All

Are you self sufficient from your plot?

What vegetables or fruit are you able to grow and store in the quantities you need?

We have only had our allotment for 2 years. We have been just about self sufficient in potatoes up till feb/mar. Throughout the summer season we probably supply 50% of what we have eaten. We are hoping this year we can put together what we have learnt to be near self sufficient for the summer season. I don't think we have the storage space to be self sufficient in all veg throughout the winter, but that is the aim for long term.

Difficult one to judge. Some things we are totally self sufficient in - potatoes, onions and garlic usually for about 11 months of the year and the beans and soft fruit that I freeze always last until the following year when they are ready again. Also we eat as seasonally as we can so there may be some things we don't have for months and I find that often makes them more enjoyable when time comes round again. And no matter how many peas I grow it never seems to be enough and I always have to resort to packets of frozen ones for most of the year.

But there will always be things that you just can't grow and that I'm not prepared to give up - bananas and oranges for example - so I guess I will never be truly self sufficient.

hi Ant
where you been hiding,

self sufficient, well now it depends what you mean.
we ran out of carrots so we dont have carrots till next season but i will still not need to buy them.
i might have a problem with onions i'm not sure i can manage without them (hmm i guess i can cook with spring onions though)
we do grow fruit and again eat what we have and store but when its gone its gone,

lbb

I think the only things we won't run out of before this year's crop is ready are garlic and peppers. Just using the last onions and leeks this week.

Quote from: littlebabybird on January 11, 2009, 14:01:46
hi Ant
where you been hiding,

lbb

New job, been working on some things at home and Sparklys got me slaving away at the plot  :)

Quote

New job, been working on some things at home and Sparklys got me slaving away at the plot  :)

haha! He is normally reading under my username too as it is logged in on the computer  ;D

Quote from: Ant on January 11, 2009, 15:13:22

Quote from: littlebabybird on January 11, 2009, 14:01:46
hi Ant
where you been hiding,

lbb

New job, been working on some things at home and Sparklys got me slaving away at the plot  :)

phew, been worried that there had been a split but i dont know either of you enought to ask that!
glad your ok though Ant
lbb

OK for the main things like Potatoes, Onions and Greenery...
Garlic/Chilli/Capsicum
Things for Stir fry... Sweetcorn (Cobs) Still got frozen peas and BBeans. Not freezing CFB and Runners anymore but still got dry beans.
Some Wintere Saladings but not enough.
Leeks, Carrots, Parsnips still holding up.
Apples in store, soft fruit in freezer...
Pumpkin (processed as soup etc) and still stored whole
Doing alright I suppose.
;D

We have stored potatoes beetroot,, carrots garlic, No onions or leeks cos the fly got em. The freezer is still stacked with cauli's and beans and romanesco and tomato's(for making soups and stuff. Mange tout and of course loads of fruit from last years harvest. I'm just hoping we can eat it all before the next lot comes in. My peppers were a failure so I do have to buy those and fresh tomato's and lettuce. We are not huge meat eaters so we tend to eat a lot of veg.

I'd say somewhere between half and three quarters, but could be better with proper planning. We can't grow all the fruit we like - especially bananas! - but most of the fruit we grow freezes well and lasts a long time. Garlic, onions, various kinds of cabbage and beans (including those I freeze) and various herbs (parsley, sage, rosemary) last pretty well all the year round.  Ran out of potatoes, parsnips, beetroot and carrots in early December, (should not have given so many away!). Lots of seasonal things - especially salads, tomatoes, kale, brussels sprouts, peas, asparagus - help to fill gaps. Still plenty of leeks, sprouts, jerusalem artichokes and red cabbage in the ground.

Have no more spuds but they lasted till Dec, but have January King avialable about 6 left. Parsnips will last till mid Feb.Have brussels and lots of onions and reasonable amount of garlic.Have onion seed in so might make it, not sure. In cages i have purple and white sprouting ready in maybe 5-6wks (assuming things warm up ever again) along with spring cabbage. I looked at them this AM and they looked very sad for themselves i can tell you !
I have started some Calabrese seed to see if i can get an early crop.  Marshalls were selling plants to plant in late March so i figured i'd try early brassica seed as well. I am no where near self suffiecent in fruit so i reckon i cant get any better. As some veg doesnt freeze well and taste any good i try to be as  seasonal as poss by successional planting.

All I've really got is potatoes and leeks. I'm very sad that I finished my onions recently. I've got very tough kale standing on the plots. Soggy frozen beans in freezer. Raspberries. Loads of garlic. Dried beans. Flat leaved parsley just about surviving and some coriander (big surprise, will plant more next year). Some un-named "Chinese leaves" and "spinach" which I have to remember and repeat. Jerusalem artichokes. MUST do better next year.

Oh yes, forgot the JA's!!  :-[

we did better this year than we have in the past, still got stored spuds, onions, garlic..carrots, beetroot and parsnips in compost, lots of pickles, frozen..runners, calabrese, sprouts, beans.lots of different ones, herbs, strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, cherries, black and red currants, rhubarb and apple, pears and plums...chinese leaves, cabbages and sprouts on the plot..so, we should be ok until the overwintering carrots, psb and spring cabbages come in  :)
oops, forgot still got lots of squash and all the frozen tomato /pizza sauce and soups made from home grown veggies  ;D

I would say I am 1/4 at maximum for self sufficiency, possibly a little less at times.  Though this varies depending upon my job workload.  We usually have enough spuds for around 4 months and onions for about 10 months of the year.  My hen house takes up about 10% of my plot so I could grow more but then I would not be self sufficient in eggs 8) 

My main reason for lack of self sufficiency has to be lack of room, and I also give some of my stuff to the outlaws.  I need another plot.  I have put a lot more effort into planning for 2009 so hopefully I will have greater success for the year ahead.  (Weather and pests permitting :()

I'm not going to vote because the question is too ambiguous but I am 100% self-sufficient in flowers, about 90/95% sufficient in veg, 60% or so with fruit and 0% with meat milk and eggs.

Having several plots helps too... freezer drawer full of processed tomato slop..
No eggs  :(

thanks, kt, forgot about the eggs  ;D

I've got some PFA's, carrots, cabbages, parsnips, swede, celeriac, kale, onions and leeks left.  ;D ;D ;D

Ive got plenty of potatoes and onions.19 boxes of apples in the garage a really good year for them, other fruit in the freezer.   Brussels, cabbage and other greens still on plots.   Carrots will be dug up this week but i dont think they will be much good.  Ok with eggs, one a day at the moment which is enough. Just wish we had a cow as my son loves milk! ;D