Saturday 24 September 2022

End Of Year Report [Part Two]

Continuing thoughts on my new hobby.
What are the lessons learned?
  • Constant vigilance is essential - unlike needlework or knitting, which you can leave in a basket for a month and return to later, a garden is an ongoing enterprise. After two weeks away in Manchester, I came back to lots of little jobs
  • Water butts are wonderful - I now have two - but even they were not enough in this year's very hot summer. 
  • Use nylon string, not jute, to delineate the sections in the bed- the latter rotted away too quickly.
  • Label everything carefully [sadly my "cut up yogurt pots plus Sharpie" failed, as they were not waterproof]
  • Is kale worth the bother?The crop failed, and Bob wasn't sure he wanted to eat it anyway.
  • Ditto peas - Cap'n Birdseye's and Lidl's own are both sweet and tasty. But the mice ate all mine before I had podded any. Pea shoots grown on the windowsill, however, make a good garnish for salads and soups.
  • I can now take cuttings from basil and grow my own [thank you Sue for that tip]
  • Lots of home grown veg have leaves which make great pesto
  • Relax, it was so much easier when I learned to treat gardening as a fun work-out, not as 'housekeeping in the open air'
  • It is all a learning curve - do not beat yourself up if something doesn't grow/gets eaten by wildlife/if your crop is less abundant than someone else's.
Best tip
 - do not be shy about asking established gardeners for advice. Most seem to love to share their wisdom, and are very encouraging. My two Almond SILs are top of the list for my thanks in this respect - but also the random woman in Hatfield who gave me an unexpected lesson in tomato blossom-end rot, my neighbour's daughter who pointed me towards good local plant suppliers and warned me off others, and the lovely lady on the help-desk at RHS Bridgwater last week who patiently answered many of my questions. 
Thank you to all of you!
Have I saved money through 'growing my own'?
That was the big question. I was quite surprised by the end of year accounts. I had a few 'ground rules'
  1. Money spent setting up the raised bed is "Hobby money" - one-off items of expenditure.
  2. Produce to be priced as the average organic equivalent.
Building the raised bed, and filling it with compost etc cost £140 [including metal labels for each row]
Other equipment - pots, small propagator, watering can, water butt, bean pyramid support, etc £75
Capital expenditure £215
Consumables - Seeds, plants and cuttings - £75
Value of veg grown to 20/9/22 £200+ [I have leeks, carrots, and still more salad to harvest from this year's sowings] 
£200 - 75 = £125
So it does look like I am saving around 60% of the cost if I grow veg from seed. £2.40 a week. Or to put it another way, the raised bed will pay for itself within a couple of years - especially as some seeds are saved each year so fewer packets to buy next time round.
Challenges for my second year include
  • mastering the art of good compost
  • growing some flowers as well as edible stuff
  • look again at the choice of veg for the raised bed
  • managing the windowsills better [Bob says they have all been over-run by plants!]
  • sowing seeds and thinning seedlings with less waste, more efficiency
  • improving my labelling

29 comments:

  1. Very well done on becoming a successful gardener especially with the near drought conditions this summer. I agree about growing some flowers too. Catriona

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  2. A very interesting summary. In a relatively small space it makes sense to focus on those things you like to eat most. Kale takes up a lot of room and if Bob is not keen, best use the space for something else. I note that you are already looking ahead to next year too!

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    1. This is a new hobby which I am embracing with enthusiasm

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  3. Even when I grew peas they never made it into the house. And I don't like kale either.
    Your veggie bed sounds very well organised with row numbers and delineated sections!

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    1. Even if I don't follow Huw's planting plan next year, having the rows neatly numbered will help me keep track

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  4. Ang, I'm so proud of you!!! I am glad it's benefited you in more ways than one!
    The water butt thing is amazing , isn't it! We have two and yes, not enough! I've been saving the 5 litre plastic jerry cans that the school cleaning products come from (the cleaners saved me some) and I filled those with water from the water butt when full just to save an extra 5litre of water when it is available. I gave Mum a couple too. I also make up liquid organic seaweed and my lemon tree food in them too! The lemon one was really useful in the winter when the lemon tree was inside and we didn't want to go outside!
    My family all text each other gleefully when it has rained after no rain and my friend Lara told me her and her mum do it too!!

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    1. Thank you Kezzie. Another water butt is definitely on my wish list before next summer

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    2. Wilko have good ones I think.

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    3. Wilko have a very good selection of reasonably priced garden things

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  5. Sounds like the first year of gardening is paying off very nicely! Here's to an even better second year! :)

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  6. It's taken me 40+ years to make decent compost! My tip is don't put in things that won't rot down! and have the bins covered and somewhere in the sun.

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    1. My compost bin is lidded and in a sunny spot The lid has a list of ✅ and ❎ items. I really smash up the eggshells, and chop peel into tiny bits. I'm learning which garden waste is better off in the green bin. I took some compost out from the door at the bottom recently to earth up my spuds.i It seemed ok, but on the damp side!!

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    2. My compost bin is a green Johanna which was on offer from the council decades ago; they are fearfully expensive now. I drowned worms one year with the remains of a sack of potatoes gone rotten which all liquidised into a horrible stink. It was also set smouldering another year due to someone adding too many grass clippings; luckily we caught that in time. Otherwise it eventually copes with everything except peach stones, tea bags and those sticky labels on apples. We harvest it from the bottom hatch when it becomes alarmingly full.

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    3. I rip my teabags and just tip the contents in. Your drowned worms/rotten potatoes incident sounds horrid.

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  7. Our pole beans, peppers (sweet and a tad spicy, , strawberries, and corn grew like gangbusters. I remember being surprised that down deep, compost is warm! That's science.

    Hugs!

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    1. Beans failed totally - but it seems that was quite common here this summer

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  8. I think that even if one hasnt saved by growing ones own, the value lies in eating good fresh vegetables. Well done Ang!

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    1. Yes- plenty of fresh veg is a healthy diet.

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  9. I am impressed by your analysis of the year and the expenditure. You really have taken note and gardened thoughtfully. One of these days you will be the advice guru for others!
    I wish I was more diligent with compost. I mainly use the bin to keep veggie matter out of the landfill, at the same time enjoying the vole who winters in there, and the amazing wolf spiders who like to explore in there in the summer!

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    1. Not sure I could cope with Wolf Spiders🐺🕷️

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    2. 😣😣😣 Wolf spiders?????

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    3. I was a real arachnophobe at one time, especially with those giant house spiders in England, and I'm still not keen, but as long as I don't have spiders running around me I do find some of them fascinating. Wolf spiders are quite attractive in their perfect shape and the stripes on their legs, but they are rather large!

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  10. Good effort on your garden. Mine this year was bust. I planted 4 yellow tomatoes outside (everything else was in theplatic greenhouse). They were covered with metal cages and netting in order to protect them from the deer and other creatures. There were over a dozen waiting to ripen. I considered picking them but decided to leave them on the vine. That very night raccoons devoured all but one. They toppled the cages and had a feast. I hope they had a massive stomachache. My green house was also very unproductive. Blossom rot on squash, fungus on cucumber vines, no blossoms on massive cherry tomato plants. Judi/from Canada

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    1. Sorry that your harvest was not so good. Deers and raccoons are not a problem here in Norfolk

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  11. It's really interesting to see it all costed out.

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    1. It has helped. I shall keep notes on the Gardening in future but probably not detailed accounts

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