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Do you have an allotment?
Tara Evans
Posts: 1
Hello there! I'm wondering if anyone is a keen gardener and has an allotment and would be willing to speak to me about their tips for growing fruit and veg. In particular, I'm interested in how you keep costs down and maximise the amount you grow.
It's for a personal finance magazine called Moneywise.
If anyone is interested, please could they let me know below.
Many thanks,
Tara
0
Posts
Hello
I have a large allotment and grow everything from seed to keep down costs, every three years or so I buy in a large load of farmyard manure which is split with another allotmenteer again to keep costs under control.
Supplementary feeding is by chicken manure pellets and a home made Comfrey liquid manure.
There is also a small compost in which when full the compost is used on half a dozen various fruit bushes.
Hope this is of use.
Members of this forum have a Seed Swap thread each year, where they liaise to swap surplus seeds etc. That can help to save quite a bit
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Most allotment associations have a system to bulk buy (one seed order) and compost by the pallet, and then pass on the savings to others.
We have an allotment thread easy to find if you look with great ideas and season by season experiences of actual growers
Hi, Tara,
Being organic helps to keep down costs, we get free muck on our allotment but bags can be picked up for free along country lanes were farmers/stables put bags out for the taking. Making your own feed - comfrey/nettle or seaweed can all be made for free.
Growing fruit and veg which you like but which is expensive in shops ie - blueberries, strawberries, asparagus...this list could go on and on...I was suprised at the cost of rubarb and blackberries in the shops this year and both grow for fun on an allotment.
An allotment is like a green gym...think of how much is saved not paying gym fee's...the number of times I've paid a years subscription into a club only to stop going after a couple of months...
As soon as you factor in your time (which you should in any serious financial consideration), any savings will disappear in a puff of smoke. So, to keep real costs down, you'll need to keep down the time needed to maintain the allotment as well.
Recycling keeps down cost, I've made a compost area and raised beds using pallets which cost nothing.
Making your own compost bins from pallets or buying plastic compost bins is a real long term money saver. I have three large plastic bins and one made of pallets, which saves me around £50 per year compared to buying in top quality compost. Luckly, they cost me nothing for two were in place when I took the plot over, one was given to me and one I made myself from free pallets.
I agree with the other posts about planting comfrey and allowing a few nettles to grow with which to make liquid feed, so cutting down costs. Aster2 mentioned the time factor. There is another side to this. Looking after an allotment properly takes a lot of time and effort. If you let your plot(s) go by not paying enough attention to them, first you will recieve a warning from the Commitee, then if nothing is done you will be told to leave. Our allotments provide half size plots for people with less time to spend working on them and these are in demand.
And yes, an allotment is like a gym, which is great for us wrinklies.