[Secret Squirrel]

I thought with all the news of credit crunch and inflation, it might be time to revive the Money Saving Tips section and perhaps see how this could be made a stronger section of the forum (hope you don't mind CC) that might be easier for people to access and persuade some lurkers to join up and post!! Come on, you know you want to!!!

Anyway, recent news seems to indicate that the cost of food is going up a lot, so I wondered how I could make savings on the food I buy. This "Grow your own" post was inspired by some free Sweet Basil seeds sent through the post by an events marketing company and by my other half who got a sudden Bank Holiday desire to visit B&Q to buy some vegetable seeds to plant out. Now, I live in a flat, so am a bit restricted as to what I can actually plant, but was very excited to get home after my weekend away and find my Basil seeds have sprouted!!! I love using Basil in cooking, so it will save me some (not a lot, granted - but every little helps right!) money over time as hopefully it will continue to flourish!!

Does growing your own veg = growing your bank account? Any members grow their own here and how much does it save you??

[beerhunter]

Secret Squirrel, on Mar 27 2008, 12:56 AM, said:

I thought with all the news of credit crunch and inflation, it might be time to revive the Money Saving Tips section and perhaps see how this could be made a stronger section of the forum (hope you don't mind CC) that might be easier for people to access and persuade some lurkers to join up and post!! Come on, you know you want to!!!

Anyway, recent news seems to indicate that the cost of food is going up a lot, so I wondered how I could make savings on the food I buy. This "Grow your own" post was inspired by some free Sweet Basil seeds sent through the post by an events marketing company and by my other half who got a sudden Bank Holiday desire to visit B&Q to buy some vegetable seeds to plant out. Now, I live in a flat, so am a bit restricted as to what I can actually plant, but was very excited to get home after my weekend away and find my Basil seeds have sprouted!!! I love using Basil in cooking, so it will save me some (not a lot, granted - but every little helps right!) money over time as hopefully it will continue to flourish!!

Does growing your own veg = growing your bank account? Any members grow their own here and how much does it save you??

I've been growing food indoors in my flat for years, brightens the place up and is editable too.

Things which can be grown inside easily...

* definitely herbs (buying them in a supermarket is just so expensive)
* different types of salad leaves, mustard, cress etc
* if you have space, its possible to grow tomatoes on a window sill.. a few years ago I had about a dozen plants inside! Make sure to buy seeds for a dwarf variety tho.
* courgette plants are a bit big for a window sill, but if you have a balcony then they are a good choice as they can be quite prolific plus you can eat the flowers too.

A few years ago I got myself an allotment, fortunately this was just before allotments became trendy and it was only a 4 month wait. However now I grow almost all the root vegetables I need and store them in the electricity meter "cellar" which is underground and cool.

I'm not sure it saves me much money when food shopping (still have to buy bread, milk, meat etc etc), however it is fun, cheap and a productive way to spend weekends.

Cheers
BH

[CreditCrunch]

beerhunter, on Mar 30 2008, 01:08 PM, said:

I've been growing food indoors in my flat for years, brightens the place up and is editable too.

Things which can be grown inside easily...

* definitely herbs (buying them in a supermarket is just so expensive)
* different types of salad leaves, mustard, cress etc
* if you have space, its possible to grow tomatoes on a window sill.. a few years ago I had about a dozen plants inside! Make sure to buy seeds for a dwarf variety tho.
* courgette plants are a bit big for a window sill, but if you have a balcony then they are a good choice as they can be quite prolific plus you can eat the flowers too.

A few years ago I got myself an allotment, fortunately this was just before allotments became trendy and it was only a 4 month wait. However now I grow almost all the root vegetables I need and store them in the electricity meter "cellar" which is underground and cool.

I'm not sure it saves me much money when food shopping (still have to buy bread, milk, meat etc etc), however it is fun, cheap and a productive way to spend weekends.

Cheers
BH

Now is the time to start planting, feb-march-april for most root and other veg, i know this as I was at my parents place at the weekend. Usually flower growers, and the odd line of Onions and Potatoes there really packing the veg in. B & Q were doing multi seed packs, got loads of seedlings growing indoors. Cabbage, parsnips, pees, Onions, Leeks, Carrots, potatoes are already outside.

Not too experience in growing food so was wondering, whats your experience with yield? You sound like you have a lot if you have to store them.
How much veg do you get for your m^2 ?

[Secret Squirrel]

beerhunter, on Mar 30 2008, 01:08 PM, said:

I've been growing food indoors in my flat for years, brightens the place up and is editable too.

Things which can be grown inside easily...

* definitely herbs (buying them in a supermarket is just so expensive)
* different types of salad leaves, mustard, cress etc
* if you have space, its possible to grow tomatoes on a window sill.. a few years ago I had about a dozen plants inside! Make sure to buy seeds for a dwarf variety tho.
* courgette plants are a bit big for a window sill, but if you have a balcony then they are a good choice as they can be quite prolific plus you can eat the flowers too.

A few years ago I got myself an allotment, fortunately this was just before allotments became trendy and it was only a 4 month wait. However now I grow almost all the root vegetables I need and store them in the electricity meter "cellar" which is underground and cool.

I'm not sure it saves me much money when food shopping (still have to buy bread, milk, meat etc etc), however it is fun, cheap and a productive way to spend weekends.

Cheers
BH

No balcony, so I'll have to stick with the manageable window-sill plants. I didn't think there would be that many options in a flat, but it sounds like there are! I heard there is a year waiting list for an allotment in Oxford city!! They're definitely more trendy now!! Sounds like you got in just in time!!

I'm quite excited to see my seeds sprouting at the moment!!! Reminds me of those school lessons growing watercress etc!! Would be cool to see what else I could expand to!

Thanks beerhunter!

[beerhunter]

CreditCrunch, on Mar 30 2008, 11:32 PM, said:

Now is the time to start planting, feb-march-april for most root and other veg, i know this as I was at my parents place at the weekend. Usually flower growers, and the odd line of Onions and Potatoes there really packing the veg in. B & Q were doing multi seed packs, got loads of seedlings growing indoors. Cabbage, parsnips, pees, Onions, Leeks, Carrots, potatoes are already outside.

Not too experience in growing food so was wondering, whats your experience with yield? You sound like you have a lot if you have to store them.
How much veg do you get for your m^2 ?

I don't have a freezer, so have to resort to greener traditional means.

Last year was a slug fest, and lots was eaten.. mainly young bean plants and all the salad crops - this year I'm prepared and found some "organic" ferrous phosphate slug pellets.

Yield varies a lot. Last year a few of kgs of seed potatoes gave me potatoes for almost 6 months, where as my french beans where there one day and eaten the next ( Also for things like peas and broad beans, you do need a lot of plants. 100g/day over the summer may not seem much when buying from the supermarket but it's heck of a lot of plants are needed (or maybe I just haven't got the knack of growing them!).

Secret Squirrel, on Apr 2 2008, 12:36 AM, said:

No balcony, so I'll have to stick with the manageable window-sill plants. I didn't think there would be that many options in a flat, but it sounds like there are! I heard there is a year waiting list for an allotment in Oxford city!! They're definitely more trendy now!! Sounds like you got in just in time!!

I'm quite excited to see my seeds sprouting at the moment!!! Reminds me of those school lessons growing watercress etc!! Would be cool to see what else I could expand to!

Thanks beerhunter!

There definitely are lots of options, and it's worth experimenting. In my experience its crops that you can "cut and pick" that work the best on the window sill, but you can also choose some exotic plants.. like a kafir lime if you like to good eastern food with the leaves.

Also (I haven't tried this - yet!) you can sprout things like mung bean, lentils, bean and chickpeas... which is the new "in" thing.

If your like me, a couple of years of growing stuff on the window sill and you start thinking, maybe I need an allotment! I certainly was lucky... rest of the family signed up for an allotment in more rural areaas, and still on the waiting list after 2 years!

BTW a great site for growing, recycling and brewing is http://www.allotment.org.uk/ .. including how to make Marrow Rum :bigemo_harabe_net-72:

[HouseHunter]

Grown a few things indoors in the past, basil, sage, mint, chives, peppers, chillis, etc... One thing to make sure of is try to use food grade nutrients or better still compost, you'd be surprised how many bad things are in fertilizers not to mention some soils. Organic soil is best and try mixing in some bat sh*t and worm castings which are top quality nutrients although slightly pricier.

:bigemo_harabe_net-117:

[CreditCrunch]

HouseHunter, on Apr 7 2008, 06:40 PM, said:

Grown a few things indoors in the past, basil, sage, mint, chives, peppers, chillis, etc... One thing to make sure of is try to use food grade nutrients or better still compost, you'd be surprised how many bad things are in fertilizers not to mention some soils. Organic soil is best and try mixing in some bat sh*t and worm castings which are top quality nutrients although slightly pricier.

:bigemo_harabe_net-117:

Hey HouseHunter,

Nice avatar.

Yup, your right about the bat sh*t:

Quote

Bat Guano - Bat Guano (manure) is believed to be the absolute best of manures. Commercially, it commands the highest prices.

Can you pick this up at B&Q ?


http://www.gardeners...atoz/manure.htm

[HouseHunter]

Thanks CC, thought it appropriate lol


Heres a good place to start, they sell everything you can think off!

http://www.growell.c...-Bat-Guano.html

[beerhunter]

So what are people growing?

Me, I've got planted up (all inside at the mo.. apart from the spuds);

potato's
french beans
sweetcorn
courgettes
fennel
squashes
tomato's
cucumber
broccoli
various herbs
spring onions

At the moment can't find the some of the seeds from last year... mainly the peas,peppers and chillies (from the chilli festival) - guess I put them in a safe place along with the dorest nagga seeds I acquired :bigemo_harabe_net-89:

Later when its warmer outside I'll be adding all the salad crops, plus sowing directly outside; beetroot, carrot, and parsnip.

Cheers
BH

This post has been edited by beerhunter: 10 April 2008 - 12:09 AM

[CreditCrunch]

My List:

I have the following planted, most in degradable paper/earth pots inside, will plant
then out when i'm confident that the birds wont be tempted.

potato's
peas - grow well next to the sunflowers.
courgettes
tomato's
cauliflower
cabbage
carrots
leeks
onions
Parsnips
peppers - chili
Sunflowers - quite a lot of seed is produced, good to munch on over the summer.

other:
figs, sweet cherries, bitter cherries ( nice passive crop each year).
grapes ( never do well, dry out and die before getting anything decent.


I'll take a few photos, perhaps monthly, and put them up here so you can see their progress.

[beerhunter]

CreditCrunch, on Apr 13 2008, 12:41 PM, said:

My List:

I have the following planted, most in degradable paper/earth pots inside, will plant
then out when i'm confident that the birds wont be tempted.

I'm using those degradable pots to... never used them before, so interested to see if they are any different from the yoghurt pots/plastic bottles I normally use.

BTW according to a gardening guru (my dad) it's not normally the birds but slugs that are the problem.

CreditCrunch, on Apr 13 2008, 12:41 PM, said:

potato's
peas - grow well next to the sunflowers.
courgettes
tomato's
cauliflower
cabbage
carrots
leeks
onions
Parsnips
peppers - chili
Sunflowers - quite a lot of seed is produced, good to munch on over the summer.

Interesting idea.. also, do you think you could grow stuff up a sunflower?

I'm going to try the "three sisters" idea (growing sweetcorn, beans and squash together), anyone tried it before?

Manage to find the peas from last year, but still can't find the chillies and a bit hacked off about it, since there were some unusual seeds from a specialise chilli grower.

CreditCrunch, on Apr 13 2008, 12:41 PM, said:

other:
figs, sweet cherries, bitter cherries ( nice passive crop each year).
grapes ( never do well, dry out and die before getting anything decent.

I haven't got round to planting any fruit yet.. still unsure what to grow, got to be something easy and fruits within the first year or so. Had a wonder around the local garden centre and nothing really stood out (apart from perhaps rhubarb - but I'd rather have something that doesn't need to be cooked)... guess I might end up with strawberries this year.

CreditCrunch, on Apr 13 2008, 12:41 PM, said:

I'll take a few photos, perhaps monthly, and put them up here so you can see their progress.

I'll try and do the same... as a bit of an incentive for both of us ;o)

Cheers
BH

[beerhunter]

Being a sunny day in the allotment I've planted;

- peas
- lettuce
- radish
- watercress
- lemon coriander
- parcel (a herb, seeds smell very much of celery - don't know, but is this what's in celery salt? In which case bloody marys made with my homemade chilli vodka are in order!)

The bits of ground which have been covered by old carpet end of last year have gone from clay to a lovely crumbly compost like texture, so its looking good.

No sign of the potato's appearing yet, however it's only a couple of weeks since they went in.

I dug a small pond at the end of last year. Over the winter it was very empty.. but now as a huge amount of wild life in, including tons of tadpoles. Also today planted some free native flower seed given to me round it... so should become wildlife oasis.

Indoors, almost everything has germinated and looking healthy.

I'm trying out a new technique indoors... in the past when growing seedlings in a flat, I was finding that they dry out very quickly and my windows condensed most of the water. So this year I have a have a big (2.5'x1.5'x1'ish) transparentish plastic box with a lid, and using it indoors as a "greenhouse" (originally bought to go on my bicycle trailer, but not ideal fit, so still recycling the free recycle box from the council!).

Can fit about 70 odd degradable pots inside, and haven't watered it at all since they where planted a three weeks ago... but there's moisture condensing on the lid and dripping back down onto the seedlings. Also means I can move the whole lot easily if I need to clean or rotate the plants around. Will be interesting to see how they turn out, but so far it's looking like a handy tip.

Cheers
BH

This post has been edited by beerhunter: 20 April 2008 - 11:16 PM

[CreditCrunch]

Took some photos today, the plants are coming along quite nicely.

I'll fill in the names later - got to go.




Cabbage


Carrots


Courgette - only 1 survived.


Leek - many of these.


Onions - Doing very well, some garlic in there somewhere too.


Here is one pea plant, I have 15 or so planted outside.


Loads of potatoes, just coming through.


Sweet Cherry.


Bitter Cherry.

[beerhunter]

CreditCrunch, on Apr 26 2008, 12:41 PM, said:

Took some photos today, the plants are coming along quite nicely.

Nice pics cc... have set the camera to change, so hope to get a few pics today.


Cheers
BH

ps CC the problem with property-bee has been solved and there's a new beta version - which even works for needle :bigemo_harabe_net-117:

[beerhunter]

Last years chard adds a bit of colour


Planted a couple of french beans out as a slug "tester"


The pond, an ex-corner bath, installed 5 months ago;




Potato's are just coming through


Lots more in pots, which aren't quite ready to plant out.

Stuff which was sown a couple of weeks ago (lettuce, radish, watercress, lemon coriander and parcel) is just coming through. No sign of the peas jet tho

[CreditCrunch]

beerhunter, on May 5 2008, 07:16 PM, said:

Stuff which was sown a couple of weeks ago (lettuce, radish, watercress, lemon coriander and parcel) is just coming through. No sign of the peas jet tho

Hey Beerhunter,

If your in the London area thought you might like to take a look at this...

http://www.creditcrunch.co.uk/home/article...080605194917580

My veg are getting on quite well. Potatoes are huge and the peas are attracting more slugs than ever.
I'll get those pics up as soon as i can.

[beerhunter]

CreditCrunch, on Jun 5 2008, 08:05 PM, said:

Hey Beerhunter,

If your in the London area thought you might like to take a look at this...

http://www.creditcrunch.co.uk/home/article...080605194917580

Thanks for the heads up.. looks very interesting tho http://www.lwm.org.uk/digforvictory doesn't seem to be up yet ("lwm.org.uk has been registered by SCL Internet Services for a customer.")

By the way, if your in London... The Chelsea Physic Garden (founded in 1673, as an Apothecaries' Garden) was amazingly interesting (probably help that we got a guided tour on one of the open days).. and the tea house did some great cakes too!

Quote

My veg are getting on quite well. Potatoes are huge and the peas are attracting more slugs than ever.
I'll get those pics up as soon as i can.

I'm really struggling with slugs even tho I'm using slug pellets (the organic ones) and the pond has a few frogs

None of the peas nor carrots germinated.. and almost everything else eaten by slugs.. french beans (6 plants left), cucumbers (2 plants left).. courgette and squashes (none left!)... haven't even had a radish or lettuce yet. Also potato's have been attached by slugs this year (weren't last year).. most are surviving but one or two are very patchy. On the plus side, I think the onions are doing really well and I might get a few sweetcorn kernels (fingers crossed!)

Hate to say it but may have to raid the garden centres this weekend for things to fill in all the gaps

Cheers
BH

[beerhunter]

beerhunter, on Jun 7 2008, 01:09 AM, said:

Thanks for the heads up.. looks very interesting tho http://www.lwm.org.uk/digforvictory doesn't seem to be up yet ("lwm.org.uk has been registered by SCL Internet Services for a customer.")

Googling I realise the link is iwm.org.uk/digforvictory.. damn jpeg compression

[CreditCrunch]

beerhunter, on Jun 7 2008, 01:27 AM, said:

Googling I realise the link is iwm.org.uk/digforvictory.. damn jpeg compression

Thanks i'll add that link to the article.

[peterson]

You have given the brilliant idea. I will try to follow it. It really can solve the problem of rising the prices of food. If we all are grow our own vegetables in the garden then it might solve the problem of rise in prices of food.

peterson