Allotments 4 All

I'd also think about what will SAVE most money, for example potatoes are dead cheap to buy so is it worth paying for seed potatoes? Whereas other fruit and veg are ridiculously priced in the supermarket.

This time of year there are lots of things advertised on my local freecycle (seeds, jerusalem artichokes, tools). Remind us where you are and maybe someone on here can offer you something.

I hate spending more than I need to on my plot and  tried to keep a record of what I spent in 2009 and it came to about £120 including £20 rent - the most went on compost. Other people probably spend more on crop protection etc (I don't grow much over winter, don't have raised beds, etc) but every plot is different and I probably get less produce than most so it's hard to come up with an average figure.

Also think about what you might be spending elsewhere in the time you are at the plot!

Quote from: caroline7758 on January 02, 2012, 10:28:08
I'd also think about what will SAVE most money, for example potatoes are dead cheap to buy so is it worth paying for seed potatoes?

Certain varieties are virtually impossible to get at supermarket eg PFA.  I have only seen them once at about £1.50 for a small tray of 5.

You can get away with spending nothing except rent, if you're determined. Because you don't have to have fertilizers or fruit trees or shallots and potatoes, or sheds and polytunnels.

You can get seeds from other gardeners, tools on freecycle or borrow them, materials for hard landscaping out of skips. Or no hard landscaping!

My plot is very low cost, but it doesn't look very gorgeous  ;D It's basically a long narrow strip of field with some food growing in it and sticks with cans on them  ;D ;D

I have spent some money each year, on fruit trees and bushes, seed potatoes and shallots, water pipe and debris netting to protect crops, and I splashed out the other day and spent £3 on wood to make a rose arch   :o ;D

I think I'll carry on spending about £10-20 on shallots and seed potatoes, and then another £20-30 on investments for improving the plot, like netting or timber. Seed is not a big cost unless you want it to be  ;)

My biggest expense is potting compost but you can do without if you sow direct.
I've been really poor once and I know what it means. Work your plot for all its worth.
Dig, clean, tidy and make every inch work for you. Get info from the library shelves. Be careful how you sow. Most people sow far too thickly. A pkt of seed goes a long way. Mix it with sand, or bone meal if you have any.
Go to the charity shop [ or jumble sale if you can find one] for old net curtains to protect your seedlings from birds and caterpillars.
Get rid of slugs by cleaning up now. I chop the big ones up..I'm even uncovering caterpillars as I clear
You don't need to buy seed potatoes- the best crop we ever had was a from a 56lb back of Desiree from the local farmer, we planted the lot. ::)
That would give you a lot of baked spuds or chips..
Garlic only buy one good sort once then save your own.
Plenty of good help available on your site and here if you show yourself keen and ready to go for it. I'm sure there are plenty of spare broad beans without homes at the moment and I can send you some saved peas [Greenshaft] Get digging and get a smile.... ;D

I spent much less on seeds this year as I saved some and got some lovely ones to try from the seed saving circle.  Some of the items I bought this year are invesments for seed and tuber saving for future years.  Last year we invested in Globe Artichoke plants (tried from seed but lost them) and Jerusalem Artichokes.  We have more Jerusalem Artichokes than we can eat and can replant some of the tubers for next year.  One of the Globes fruited last year and we can split it into three plants this year.

Excluding potatoes, onions, shallots and garlic I will have spent, I suppose, about £40 on seeds for the forthcoming year, but half of them will be taken over into next year as well, so I reckon I spend about £45 per year. Our local pound shop sells slug pellets for £1 a tube instead of £3.50, also Growmore for the same price. I get one large bag of compost for raising seeds and make my own for digging in. Other than that, there's not much more outlay except the rent as I don't buy pesticides or other fertilizers.

I take the point that money is very tight at the moment, but then I think as neither myself nor wife smoke and don't drink much (well, in her case, anyway), nor do we spend loads on eating out, it's money well spent rather than wasted on what goes on the allotment, even if it doesn't always turn out like I'd hoped it would, because of all the exercise and pleasure it gives me, especially as I no longer have a garden. It sounds corny to say so, but I reckon the 'value' in the outlay is a bit more than just how it compares to what we'd be paying elsewhere at retail, even if at times retail might have been cheaper. 

Not corny at all muddymeldrew
If money is tight this may not be a factor but I spend a lot of time on the allotment, rarely use the car when I am not at work, do not need to heat the house if round the plot. I only have to see the mad rush to the shops both before and after Christmas, and wonder how much of that is down to boredom, and reliance on spending to keep entertained.

Off soapbox now

I'm also a fan of Lidl seeds, they do really well.

When you buy a packet of seeds plant up everything and swap with others on your  allotment site, this gets you more plants for just one packet of seeds.

Keep an eye on your local B&Q. they have what i call their "buy it now befor it dies" section. you can get some plants that just need a bit of tlc (like planting out straight away) for about 10p-20p.

if you pm  me an address i can send you some  bare-root raspberries  and  strawberries (i've got  loads) these will spread and give crops for years. I can also send you some material for hardwood cuttings for white, black and red current and two types of gooseberries, red and white grapevines and a blueberry (but you'll need some ericacious compost for  the blueberry)

lastly save seeds, then you have to pay less next year.

As we've seen from other topics, the size of plots varies enormously and this needs to be taken into account when viewing the replies. For example my rent is £47p.a. for 250sq.m.
Controlling the cost of inputs is obviously very important, and fairly easy to do. More difficult but possibly more important is thequantity and value of produce harvested.
This year I intend to try and record everything I harvest off the plot and the current market price.

I know you can't put a value on the taste of freshly harvested produce, or the pride the fun, pleasure and benefit of the exercise etc., but it may make interesting reading at the end of the season

size of plots varies enormously and this needs to be taken into account when viewing the replies
That's true..my excuse is that since I only pay £12 for two plots that are just over 1000sqm..that leaves me more money to spend  for some 'goodies'... ;D...and I like to 'play' with lots of different varieties.
Why to grow just one variety of bean when you can have 20!.. ;D ;D
I always think, how much I would spend in a year for veg and fruit from shop if I were to have as varied diet as I have now. By growing my own I spend propably less than 1/4 from that enormous bill and still I could not eat as well as now.

Goodlife, what a fortunate chap you are!!!!
No wonder you like to do variety trials.
Whereabouts in Notts are you.
I'm in Long Eaton on the Notts/Derby/Leics border

I'm in Sutton-in-Ashfield..Sandwiched between Nottingham and Chesterfield.
My sister in law used to live in Long Eaton so I know that area.
As for the price..it is cheap..but it is 'no frills' allotment..we don't have water supply unless you do harvest rain water or dig a well. No free compost or manure..no nothing. Only facility is our lottie shop..basic but good one and not bad prices neither.
I'm not the only one bonkers here with seeds..other just don't make as much noise about it.. ;D ;D..or should I say they are more subtle about it.. ;D

Srounge, scrounge, scrounge. Obviously from folks who don't mind that approach will save pounds. Particularly if you say you don't mind ancient seed packets where the probable germination rate is very low (there's going to be something!) or ancient stuff/spare tackle that is filling up folks sheds.

Plus keep an eye out on recycling days. Noticed just after Christmas is clear out time and got loads of empty pots, trays etc that way.

Not that I'm a miser or anything..

Lotds of good advice on here so far, my tuppenceworth is plan what you grow carefully. Only grow stuff you and your family will actually eat, sow it at the right time, i.e not too early so you lose your precious seedlings to the cold.

I sow the vast majority of my seeds in module trays then plant them out, this means they get a good start, germinate in ideal indoor conditions on a windowsill, so are less likely to be eaten by slimies, so you save money on pest control. Use cheap things like the tops off plastic bottles as mini cloches to protect your new seedlings, and lastly, use every inch of growing space well; grow cut and come again salad crops, or interplant fast growing crops with slower ones to make the best use of the space, this will all maximise your crops and minimise your losses.

Quote from: Nigel B on January 01, 2012, 19:51:27
Been getting myself in a bit of a tizzy about what it's going to cost to plant up the allotment this year..

To say we don't have much spare money would be to trivialise our situation somewhat. Every seed, every plant, is precious and so it's taking some careful planning if we're going to get the best we can from it.

I was wondering what it costs you folks. How much do you spend on potato day? Or buying seeds or plants.
Once we get a year or two under our belts we'll be saving money by saving seed ourselves, starting this year.

So what do you reckon? A rough estimate even?

Niggy

Are you a first timer?  If not you probably have the basic tools already.  There are 3 tools I need 99 percent of the time.  My digging fork (could be spade on lighter soil, but we have clay), my trowel and my secateurs.  If I didn't have bushes/hedges I would not even need the secateurs.  And I could source the basic tools for a tenner at the cheap shop or Wilkinsons, at most 15 pounds.

To seeds - have just read in my D T Browns catalogue that they do a basic collection of 25 different veg for a shade under 20 quid.  The same 25 veg types can be bought from Lidl for half the money or less, bearing in mind that you won't probably like and want to grow all their 25.  A packet of onion sets and shallots can be had for a pound from the cheap shop, or Wilkinsons or the garden centre sale in spring.  Potatoes - yes you can use grocery potatoes, it is only second best to certified seed potatoes, but they will grow.  Preferably UK and not imported potatoes, as you don't want to risk any unusual potato diseases.  Preferably bought loose.  If they already show signs of sprouting so much the better, because potatoes can be treated with sprout inbibitors.  Most of our loose supermarket garlic apparently comes from the Isle of Wight, so the same applies.  Check the labels if there are any.

Get started right now.  A packet of mung beans or adzuki beans from the supermarket/health food shop costs less than a pound and each teaspoon of seed will give a portion of sprouts 3-5 days later.  Sprout in a glass jar with a piece of cloth and a rubberband.

Paraphernalia - think ahead about what you need.  For example pea sticks, bean sticks, cloches, fertilisers, equipment.

Apart from a fork and a trowel, you need something to water plants with, to put harvest in and carry home, to shift weeds etc.  Yes a watering can, a trug and a wheelbarrow are very desirable, but how much of these jobs can be done with a couple of builders buckets.  They cost around a pound each and you can even upturn them and sit on them. 

It is desirable to grow runnerbeans and tall French beans for which you need a tall support.  What can you press into service for bean sticks?  Thinnish long branches pushed into the soil and tied together wigwam fashion will do.  If you can find long lengths of 1/2 1 inch of wood in skips, take them home now, because they will serve you well in June when you need runnerbean sticks.  Looks doesn't matter to the beans one bit, support does.  If you see something that might do the job, collect it now and keep your eyes open.  Shorter ones will serve as pea sticks.  There is the option of dwarf beans too, but in my location these are more prone to mice/voles which dig them up or destroy them.  Personally I tend to favour taller varieties of peas and beans.  It may be fine on your allotment and you can ask fellow allotment holders what they do, and save yourself the trouble and potential expense of bean sticks.  If you do end up buying 8ft lengths of bamboos, then make them work harder.  On the continent one stick is pushed firmly into the ground and 4-6 French beans are planted in a circle around this stick.  Then there is a gap of 3feet to the next stick.  Makes sticks go a lot further.

Compost and fertility:  Seed compost is in small expensive packages and you don't need it.  General purpose does well and can be stretched with mole hill soil, leaf mold (if you have any to hand) or your own compost for starting plants indoors on the windowsill, ready to transplant.

Nettles are a very good fertiliser, either just dug under, used as a mulch or put into a bucket with a bit of water to ferment into a 'tea', then diluted and watered around plants.  Compost is extremely valuable and a lot of things can be composted.  Pallets have already been mentioned for compost bins, but at a push a pile, preferably with a cover (old carpet), works too.  Sorry if this is a bit indelicate, but human wee diluted has a lot of nitrogen in it and is sterile.  It can be used on the soil and certainly as a compost activator on the heap.

You don't need plant pots.  Not with all the vending cups, yoghurt pots and plastic supermarket containers that are just begging to be used.  Punch a couple of holes in the bottom and get collecting.

One of the nice things to start peas and beans is the commercial roottrainer system.  A system that does not disturb roots when individual plants are transplanted.  They cost an arm and a leg.  I make my own.  I collect the plastic trays that supermarket fruit comes in, they are see-though and have holes already stamped out at the bottom.  Then I shape my own 5 inch tall individual newspaper pots, using a bodyspray bottle to wrap the newspaper strips around, with an excess at the base.  This excess I fold over to make the base of my newspaper pot, fill it with compost, whilst still holding it so it doesn't unroll.  Then I place it inside a tray with about 12-15 others and have an excellent 'roottrainer' for 12-15 individual bean or sweetcorn plants.  With peas I stick in a few more seeds into each pot 3-4.  At planting out time, the paper pots, soil, roots and all go into the planting hole and give the plants a good start. Larger objects, say a drinking water glass or a wine bottle as paper pot formers, make bigger pots for example for tomato plants or squash plants.

It is desirable to have cloches to protect newly planted out or newly sown plants.  The cheapest (foc) are bottle cloches.  I cut off the base of any lemonade or coke plastic bottle, throw the stopper away and push it into the soil, on top of an individual plant or on top of a few seeds that I want to protect.  The bigger water bottles are very useful, but an ordinary bottle will protect a single plant until they are no longer so tiny that slugs can devour them in one go.  There are a lot of other home made cloches and lots of ideas on the net.

A large ball of string is also a must and a sharp small kitchen knife.  Gloves can be a good idea too, the cotton type can be got very cheaply and will last for a while.

How much does it cost is really only half the story.  The other half is 'what can I use or press into service' to avoid unnecessary cost.

As Deb said, grow what your family like to eat.  To which I'd like to add, grow for year round consumption.  What will you eat in winter, when not much grows.  Will you have stores of stuff you harvested earlier or will you still have a good amount of crops in the ground, such as cabbages, leeks, kale, parsnips to see you through, together with stored crops such as potatoes, onions, winter squashes or stuff from the freezer together with stuff from your sprouting jars.

I didn't mean for this to be so long, sorry.  Wish you and your family good luck.

Hi Galina,

What a useful summary of saving money and necessary equipment, the bit I am interested in is your root trainer system, but I am not sure what you mean by the supermarket plastic trays, all I can think of at the moment is small ones that raspberries, grapes etc come in - but there is no way I could get 12 -15 rolled up newspaper pots into them  ???


Sorry for jumping into the thread, and hi-jacking it.


Iain

Hello
I save money every year on my veg and fruit bill. If i didnt grow my own i could not afford to eat raspberries, asparagus/sweetcorn, strawberries and all sorts not to mention the ton of tomatoes i eat each year. I drink home made rhubarb/elderflower and gooseberry cordial and eat apple pies
With seeds at 19p a packet at netto and with saving seed, freegle and gardener freinds I dont have to spend much money at all. 

Compost is an issue but my familiy save all thier nectar points and i just spent £35 in points at homebase on compost and chicken manure pellets. When i swap things on out local swapshop I usually ask for compost.

But if i get money for christmas and birthday I will treat myself to some bulbs or a plant ive been longing for rather than clothes or shoes dvds or cds and so just becuase you could spend more money doesnt mean that you actually have to.

It can be done and if you are on an allotment site a bit of swapping soon means that you have a greater variety so get talking to the neighbours and giving them a bit of rhubard in return for some peas and before you know if you have a whole meal.
good luck
xDaisy

Quote from: banksy on January 04, 2012, 14:10:16
Hi Galina,

What a useful summary of saving money and necessary equipment, the bit I am interested in is your root trainer system, but I am not sure what you mean by the supermarket plastic trays, all I can think of at the moment is small ones that raspberries, grapes etc come in - but there is no way I could get 12 -15 rolled up newspaper pots into them  ???


Sorry for jumping into the thread, and hi-jacking it.


Iain

I'm glad you have jumped in here to help clarify what I mean.  I think the correct term is 'punnet', clear plastic punnets of the type that peaches, pears and plums are usually sold in, not the small punnets with lids that raspberries and blueberries come in.

Thanks Galina, I think I know what you mean now... I'll be trying this method for sure this year  ;D


Iain

Thanks Galina - what a great round up of good common sense ideas.  I am going to try a few myself.

We have a costa coffee here on site and we must throw hundreds of paper cups away every day.  The make excellent pots and are quite deep - not sure if I can plant out the whole thing intact as the cups are waxed (i think) and may take too long to disintegrate..
Also must remember to ask them to keep some some coffee grounds for the compost..