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judith
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 22789 Location: Montgomeryshire
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bibbster
Joined: 17 Apr 2009 Posts: 1233 Location: Just a bit inland from Aberaeron
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Hairyloon
Joined: 20 Nov 2008 Posts: 15425 Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.
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Rob R
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 31902 Location: York
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Posted: Sat Jun 05, 10 12:47 pm Post subject: |
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Like most things in life I think it can be massively cost effective (abundant fruit/veg, exercise/what else would you be spending your money on, fresher food, less waste from buying fresh food), or hugely wasteful (buying seed, fertilisers, etc without the economies of scale, moving water, unnecessary equipment, time wasted travelling/doing things inefficiently). It always makes me laugh how some people think they are 'self sufficient' in food when what they are actually doing is buying everything and entirely reliant upon outside inputs, whereas others seem to manage with hardly any.
Really what it comes down to is the price of oil- the more expensive that gets, the more cost effective a plot is [potenially]. |
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cab
Joined: 01 Nov 2004 Posts: 32429
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oldish chris
Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Posts: 4148 Location: Comfortably Wet Southport
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Posted: Sat Jun 05, 10 4:03 pm Post subject: |
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Hairyloon wrote: |
It surely depends on what you grow, and what you like.
I don't think it likely to be cost effective in cabbages, potatoes, and onions: they're just too cheap to buy.
But looking at what it costs down the shops, just one rhubarb plant more than covers the rent... shame I'm not that keen on rhubarb. |
cabbage: cost to grow on allotment: 20p, from Tesco 78p, ASDA 50p (ref: https://www.tesco.com/todayattesco/pricecheck.shtml )
potatoes (new) Tesco: £1.39/kilo, back garden: out of tub of compost (ex-heap), cost = 1 seed tuber.
onions: Tesco: loose, class 2, 67p/kilo, now I've got a catch crop of Japanese onions in my greenhouse that are big enough to eat. Expected yield: at least 12 lb, cost = seeds = £1.79
I get a buzz out of being able to declare a meal home grown (bar the joint of meat), the flavour is vastly superior (especially a cabbage cut minutes before it gets cooked). Hairyloon is right that basic vegetables are very cheap in the shops, however, allotment grown stuff is cheaper still.
Swap the rhubarb for something else, e.g. a blackcurrant bush. Yield of a mature bush is over 3 kilos. |
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Hairyloon
Joined: 20 Nov 2008 Posts: 15425 Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.
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Kinnopio
Joined: 14 Aug 2006 Posts: 356
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oldish chris
Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Posts: 4148 Location: Comfortably Wet Southport
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SarahB
Joined: 09 Sep 2007 Posts: 869 Location: South Wales
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Rob R
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 31902 Location: York
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SarahB
Joined: 09 Sep 2007 Posts: 869 Location: South Wales
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Rob R
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 31902 Location: York
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oldish chris
Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Posts: 4148 Location: Comfortably Wet Southport
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Hairyloon
Joined: 20 Nov 2008 Posts: 15425 Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.
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