grow your own

Happyman42

My Potatoes wrote: »

This was common practice 'til recent years. I can't recall why it was done. However, it's no longer done as it can cause neck rot.

Thank you!
So, wait until they fall over naturally?

redser7

Gambas wrote: »

Seasonal veg is very cheap in the supermarkets. Unless your prepared to have a fairly large veg garden and be selective about what you grow it doesn't pay IMO.

Take butterhead lettuce grown in a growbag for example, sells at approx 60c a head.

Packet of seed = €3
Growbag = €4

You need to get over 12 heads in the growbag to break even. That's before you take into account the cost of the trowel/fork, watering can, feed (if you're using any), cloche, pest control etc... Every additional head saves you a mere 60 cents.

On a larger size, sure you can produce a heap of turnip (or swede if you prefer) for little cost if you have the space, but it's not really saving you anything because it is very unlikely you'd buy 30 turnips or 200 beetroot per year. What we'd eat (maybe two or three turnips per year) wouldn't cover the cost of the seed. Likewise cabbage.

I get a decent return on tomatoes and onions, spuds, parsnips etc. but they are cheap in the shops. A bag of seed potatoes is as expensive as a 25kg bag of spuds by the time you're lifting them. Carrots are totally uneconomical on a small scale IMO.

Off the top of my head french beans and raspberries are the only thing I've really saved a lot on.

If you're prepared to eat nothing other than what you grow yourself, you're not really replacing like with like, but it is the only way to make it cost effective. If you're still going to buy the likes of peppers and tomatoes 8 months of the year, and other veg out of season then your scope for cutting cost is very low. Add your overheads that are usually conveniently ignored by all of us and you are probably not going to get back into the black.

But.. as far as I am concerned, that is not important. It won't damage your bank balance to any great degree, and the positive return in terms of a sense of fulfillment and health is huge.

I don't aim to be completely self-sufficient. But I do succeed in being 100% self-sufficient in certain things and have plenty of other things for a good deal of the year by sowing early and late in my DIY polytunnel.
Through careful selection I save my own seed of veg that does really well in Ireland. I also make my own compost, feeds/teas. So seed and feed is pretty much free. I go with F1 on some things. Unwins' green magic can give you Broccoli all year round. Huge central heads and sideshoots that go on forever. Saw broccoli for 1.29 in SV the other day. A pack of 40 seeds costs 3 euro. That's enough of 2 or 3 years. And on it goes - salad leaves, potatoes, tomatoes, sweet peppers. Choose good performing, high-yielding open-pollinated types.
Soft fruit is ridiculously productive and cheap to feed and propagate.
Then consider preserving. Sauces, jams, drying, freezing your produce. I know I save hundreds each year by using the old loaf.

Sgt Pepper 64

redser7 wrote: »

I don't aim to be completely self-sufficient. But I do succeed in being 100% self-sufficient in certain things and have plenty of other things for a good deal of the year by sowing early and late in my DIY polytunnel.
Through careful selection I save my own seed of veg that does really well in Ireland. I also make my own compost, feeds/teas. So seed and feed is pretty much free. I go with F1 on some things. Unwins' green magic can give you Broccoli all year round. Huge central heads and sideshoots that go on forever. Saw broccoli for 1.29 in SV the other day. A pack of 40 seeds costs 3 euro. That's enough of 2 or 3 years. And on it goes - salad leaves, potatoes, tomatoes, sweet peppers. Choose good performing, high-yielding open-pollinated types.
Soft fruit is ridiculously productive and cheap to feed and propagate.
Then consider preserving. Sauces, jams, drying, freezing your produce. I know I save hundreds each year by using the old loaf.

You need to producing a LOT of fruit to make jam!

Biggest problem I have is with pests like cabbage fly etc, especially if you are trying to stay green and not use chemicals

redser7

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

You need to producing a LOT of fruit to make jam!

Biggest problem I have is with pests like cabbage fly etc, especially if you are trying to stay green and not use chemicals

I have to disagree
Recipes are usually 50/50 fruit and sugar. A couple of blackcurrant bushes, and 8 x 4 bed of autumn raspberry canes, 8 x 4 foot bed of strawberry plants gave me more fresh fruit than I could eat. Plus dozens of jars of jam and I still have frozen fruit in the freezer that we dip into for making crumbles etc. It's silly easy. Raspberry suckers and strawberry runners give you so many new free plants they are almost a nuisance. Blackcurrant are a sinch to propagate. Snip a shoot at the right time of year and stick it in the ground. Blackberries are easy too. All of the above cost a king's ransom at the supermarket and will be inferior in quality and taste, even when they are in season. And as for rhubarb ...

Sgt Pepper 64

redser7 wrote: »

I have to disagree
Recipes are usually 50/50 fruit and sugar. A couple of blackcurrant bushes, and 8 x 4 bed of autumn raspberry canes, 8 x 4 foot bed of strawberry plants gave me more fresh fruit than I could eat. Plus dozens of jars of jam and I still have frozen fruit in the freezer that we dip into for making crumbles etc. It's silly easy. Raspberry suckers and strawberry runners give you so many new free plants they are almost a nuisance. Blackcurrant are a sinch to propagate. Snip a shoot at the right time of year and stick it in the ground. Blackberries are easy too. All of the above cost a king's ransom at the supermarket and will be inferior in quality and taste, even when they are in season. And as for rhubarb ...

thank you, might try that myself, I only have a few canes and when youve picked them they dont look like much!

redser7

Going to be giving them all a good balanced granular feed soon with a compost/manure mulch. Apart from that just need to make sure they get enough water when the fruit forms after flowering. Works for me.

redser7

Forgot to mention wine Parsnip, strawberry, raspberry, blackberry and apple, rhubarb ... it's all good.

My Potatoes

redser7 wrote: »

I don't aim to be completely self-sufficient. But I do succeed in being 100% self-sufficient in certain things and have plenty of other things for a good deal of the year by sowing early and late in my DIY polytunnel.
Through careful selection I save my own seed of veg that does really well in Ireland. I also make my own compost, feeds/teas. So seed and feed is pretty much free. I go with F1 on some things. Unwins' green magic can give you Broccoli all year round. Huge central heads and sideshoots that go on forever. Saw broccoli for 1.29 in SV the other day. A pack of 40 seeds costs 3 euro. That's enough of 2 or 3 years. And on it goes - salad leaves, potatoes, tomatoes, sweet peppers. Choose good performing, high-yielding open-pollinated types.
Soft fruit is ridiculously productive and cheap to feed and propagate.
Then consider preserving. Sauces, jams, drying, freezing your produce. I know I save hundreds each year by using the old loaf.

The OP is a newbie. I don't think he's going to start off in the same league as what you describe here. Maybe in a few years time.

redser7

My Potatoes wrote: »

The OP is a newbie. I don't think he's going to start off in the same league as what you describe here. Maybe in a few years time.

It was in response to a specific post that told the OP that you wont save money by growing your own.
Anyway, there's no harm showing the OP and other people who lurk what can be done. The 'saving money' aspect is a hot potato and I really believe you can do that.

My Potatoes

Growing your own saves about €5 per square metre planted, annually. That's according to Klaus Laitenberger.