Growing Your Own
If you had to say what was the biggest trend over the last 10 years I think most people would agree it has been the incredible growth in the popularity of growing your own. Sales of vegetable seeds now outnumber those of flower seeds and the last 2 years or so has seen an increasing interest in growing fruit. Waiting lists for allotments are up to 30 years in parts of London and the demand for land to grow produce has inspired many an ingenious project such as Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall’s Landshare, which puts people with land in touch with those who want some and the Incredible Edible project in Todmorden, Lancashire.
Much of this has been attributed to a desire to know where our food has come from. Interestingly however, a survey commissioned by Which Magazine last year showed that the top reason for growing your own was not because of the health benefits but because of the increase in food prices people thought growing their own would save them money.
I say this is interesting because it has always been of some debate in the Welly household whether you do actually save money growing your own. This has come to the fore again as I contemplate growing carrots for the coming season. Simple you might think, seed aren’t that expensive, just buy some, sow them and then several months later you’ll have carrots. But as all you fellow carrot growers will know it’s not quite that simple. I tried some last year at the allotment and they were decimated by carrot fly.
Keeping out the carrot fly with wood and enviromesh constructions
Fellow plot holders went to extreme lengths to keep the flies out with wooden contraptions constructed and covered in fine mesh but they admitted it would have been much cheaper just to buy them from the supermarket. The other problem is the soil isn’t fine enough for carrots with a high proportion of clay in the soil on my plot. So that was that, at the end of last season I had decided not to bother with them. But the addiction to grow things won’t go away. So I’ve now decided to grow them in pots at home, away from the allotment carrot flies and in compost mixed with some sand to give them the right conditions. I have suitable pots but there is the purchase of compost, which isn’t cheap and some sand. So is it really worth it?
We don’t weigh our produce so it is difficult to know how much, if anything we actually save. You need to factor in your allotment rent and any expenditure, for instance any fertilisers, equipment and compost. Even if you can produce enough compost for your plot you still need to buy it to sow the seeds. There are some plants that are better to grow if saving money is a key, what I call high end produce. Soft fruit is one of the worst offenders for chemical residues and buying organic is expensive but even after purchasing raspberry canes last spring and not expecting much of a crop in the first year we were certainly up by the end of the autumn. This was partly due to discovering the variety ‘Polka’ which was especially high yielding even in it’s first year.
Bountiful Raspberries
Anything that crops over a long period and that keeps producing are a cost effective use of space. Courgettes, for example will happily overwhelm you over a good 2 – 3 months. This year I’m growing broad beans based on it being difficult to get organically produced ones and that they were expensive last year. I plan to weigh this crop, although I’ll probably forget, to see how we do on cost.
One crop we’re definitely not growing is sweetcorn. We’ve tried it twice and it has succumbed to our cool, dull summers. I know it’s meant to taste sublime when picked and cooked immediately but weather is the one element I can’t do anything about.
So here are my tips for getting the most from your plot:
- If your plot is small don’t grow crops, such as onions or maincrop potatoes, that take up a lot of space and can be bought relatively cheaply.
- Do grow soft fruit. It’s expensive to buy organically and is always sweeter when picked ripe from the bush. There is the initial cost of the plants but they will soon pay you back. Any surplus can be frozen or made into jams.
- Do grow your own salad leaves. Salad bags are expensive and have been washed in all sorts of chemicals. Franchi seeds in particular are great value for money. One packet of their salad leaves will keep you going all summer.
- Do grow Cavolo nero, a type of kale. From a midsummer sowing you will have baby leaves for pastas and omlettes, bigger leaves in autumn and winter for steaming and you can eat the flower heads in early spring like purple sprouting broccoli.
- Do grow french beans, which are expensive to buy in the supermarket, and give you good quantities. They lose their freshness quite quickly as well and are always bendy when bought but there’s none of that from your own supply.
- And finally, remember you can’t put a price on flavour, freshness and ultimately the enjoyment and satisfaction that comes with growing your own. So don’t get too hung up on whether growing your own will save you money, it’s meant to be fun too. That’s why when I was up at the plot this morning, Brian was sowing his carrots in his specially built raised beds and putting in place their wooden and enviromesh covers. And that’s why I’ve just ordered some carrot seed. It might not be cost effective or easy but it is worth it.
Reading your post today has reminded me that its nearly time to get out there and start for the year ahead! This year I’m aiming for a cottage garden look in my garden in rural France and I have plenty of Franchi seeds – a gift from my sister. There are so many in a packet I think they’ll last me 3-4 years! I’m also going to be attempting to use lunar calendar methodology – I don’t really understand it that much but here’s to trying! http://www.thegoodlifefrance.com/gardening-by-the-moon-lune/
I definitely agree that it is worth it, havn’t worked out the cost, but it is so good to know that they are chemical free. Love all the fruit that we grow, it keeps us going over the winter as well as the summer in various forms. We didn’t have much sun last year, but the sweetcorn was a success, shame it all comes at once though. This year we are going to try our carrots in our now redundant dustbin, but only the top half will have soil for them to grow in, the bottom half will be for drainage as, like you, we are on heavy clay.
A resounding yes! Financially I would have to admit that probably I win some and lose some depending on what I grow and each year the winners might be different, but for tasty, chemical-free produce and the sheer joy of gardening it has to be worth it. For the best cost saving I think soft fruits are hard to beat, blueberries, raspberries and the like are incredibly expensive but the plants go on producing for years with little input from me.
I agree with you wholeheartedly about growing the carrots. The first year very successful and then downhill after that. So sometimes I do and other times I don’t. I always grow tatties because the choice of organic round here is poor and expensive. As for buying non-organic I don’t really want to eat something that has been sprayed many times before getting to the table.
I too have given up with the sweetcorn (1 year in 3 is not good enough) and the asparagus. But fruit is just so worth it.
I grew up in a family that had always grown their own veg and the last war was an influence on it becoming the norm for later generations.
Another interesting post, Wellywoman.
Definitely worth it for us…we’re veggies so eat a lot of veggies!It’s especially important to grow things you eat raw especially salads. I never eat supermarket salads, even the organic ones are washed in chlorine.
I think it’s definitely worth it, not only for the reasons you outline but also for the enormous amount of pleasure it gives, as well as keeping us fit. No gym memberships here.
Great post! I always cringe when I think about how much I spend on growing each year, but for me it’s absolutely worth it – and hey, some people have much more expensive and less productive hobbies, right? Getting the food is only one of many benefits to growing your own!
I read Hugh FW’s views on not bothering to grow onions and potatoes in limited space but quite frankly (even with just a few raised beds in my own garden) the pleasure and satisfaction of digging up a bumper crop of potatoes is just so very satisfying; and a good return on your money. And our 12 year old just thinks it magical. Same with onions. And garlic, which we are self-sufficient with for most of the year. Sorry to hear about your experience of sweetcorn – mine have been kinder and yes, snapped and rushed to boiling water they are amazing. I would also add runner beans to your list – huge crop that can be made into chutney or frozen when they overwhelm. Dave.
Along with the health benefits of eating fresh, chemical free, seasonal fruit and veg, don’t forget the fresh air and exercise we all get tending our plots.
Great post. Never grown carrots, just too much to bother with. Completely agree with you on Cavolo Nero. Planted mine last June and we still have it today and just as tasty. The other kales are worth growing too, Red Bor for example. Not sure on French beans though. Have grown them for the past two years, but won’t do so this year. They crop so much that we just can’t keep up with the supply. Sounds good you may think, but they are only nice to eat when young and crisp. They grow so quickly that it is hard to harvest whilst young. Tomatoes are a good crop, particularly if you have a greenhouse, as they really do taste completely different to what is available in the supermarket. They taste like tomatoes!!!
While I’ve never attempted to crunch the numbers, I figure as long as you don’t count the “cost” of your labour, then it does save you money. As you pointed out, some crops give better return than others.
Money saving seems to sit low on the priority list with most of us though, we just love doing it.
I have always ignored the money saving part of it – too complicated to work out.
As you have found out with your carrots – most gardeners are very optimistic and often in denial! ‘Try it one more time’ we say to ourselves – even though we know growing some vegetables is going to end in disaster
An interesting post and comments. For me it’s not the cost but the value of growing your own in terms of the inestimable pleasure that I get from doing it.
I’ve yet to grow even half descent carrots but I shall keep trying!
I agree with Dave Marsden about growing onions and potatoes, both of which I grow lots of.
I think that your last paragraph sums it up nicely. xx
Hard to work out whether you save any money as apart from the expense of rent, seeds etc how do you work out the cost of the time that’s involved in growing your own? However the health benefits, social side along with the opportunity to grow what you like and what may be impossible to buy locally has been the deciding factor for me. Soft fruit has been a delight – all those yummy strawberries and like you I have planted the raspberry variety ‘Polka’, which I think is far superior to any summer fruiting raspberries.
P.S. I am sure unfortunately that those carrot flies will make their way to your garden :)
Anna, The carrot flies probably will but I plan to cover the pots without having to go to the extremes necessary on the allotment and at least this way I can give them the soil conditions they want.
I agree that if you have a small plot you have to make choices and grow according to your soil and climate. Not everyone lives within easy reach of a shop or market that can offer quality fresh fruit and vegetables, so for some people grow your own is the best option. For those of us who live in the more remote rural areas the cost of fruit and vegetables is high because of the transport costs (I paid £1.58 a litre for diesel todat and that’s with our 5p island subsidy). So for some of us its a no brainer.
The 3 F’s always win for me; fun, fitness and fresh food. Ok, maybe that’s 4 F’s. I have pondered costs before, but, I brush it aside and carry on enjoying my hobby regardless.
Have you tried growing carrot fly resistant varieties? I did last year (due to having a problem with carrot fly) and had great results.
Hi Karen, What variety of carrots did you grow? I’m just about to order some carrot seed so any ideas would be great.