A couple of questions for any keen gardeners.

[BearTricks]

Hi,

I have a few packets of vegetable seeds that need planting in the next few weeks. I hate gardening, but I cook a meal from scratch every day so I thought I'd cut down on some spending by growing some of my own ingredients. I've somehow managed to not kill my onions over winter, so I'm ready to expand in to radishes, beans etc.

I was looking at getting a cheap, portable greenhouse, that can come with us when we move, to put on the patio where it will get a lot of sun. Most seem to be hovering around the £30-60 mark and there doesn't seem to be a huge jump in quality until you get in to the £100s.

Are these worth getting and if so are there any brands that outperform the others when they're so cheap? My girlfriend is trying to convince me to build my own and use up some of the scrap wood that I have lying round but I don't have anything treated and I'm not convinced of my ability to make it watertight. It sounds like a nice weekend project, but not for someone who's trying to swear off unfinished weekend projects.

Secondly, I'm in the market for a mower before we get the first beer-garden weekend of the year and mower prices increase by an order of magnitude. Again, the garden isn't huge, and I don't plan on having a particularly impressive garden when we move so something that does the job without emptying my wallet would be best. Petrol is out of the question, due to price, so does anyone have any recommendations for fly-mo types? There's a few on offer for sub-£100 at the moment so I'd like to snap one up.

 

[AJB Temple]

Our experience of portable greenhouses is that they don't last long. We now have a very large garden with glass greenhouses and my wife is a super enthusiastic gardener. My opinion- growing vegetable to save money only works if you apply zero value to your time, are willing to accept gluts and crop failures, and don't want perfection (which takes a lot of effort). It is cheaper to buy you need when you need it from the supermarkets as long as you buy in season. Much cheaper.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

I agree, growing veg at home isn't about saving money. It IS about produce that's tastes better by an order of magnitude (especially tomatoes) because it's super fresh and super organic. It's also really quite rewarding when you wander out of your back door 30 minutes before dinner is ready to pick your own

Home grown Parsnips also taste like parsnips used to which is to say....with some actual flavour

 

[BearTricks]

I think the satisfaction of growing my own vegetables will probably be worth it, even for the fresh herbs alone. I get through a ridiculous amount of coriander and basil and I think that home-grown tomatoes will far outstrip the canned ones I'm currently using for my pizza sauce.

I've been looking in to building my own a bit more, but clear acrylic sheets seem to be prohibitively expensive.

 

[MusicMan]

Herbs and tomatoes are my priority. I only use the really sunny bits of the garden for food. Then fruit: apples in espaliers, a couple of vines ditto, and strawberries beneath them. Use that scrap wood for raised beds; a good home made greenhouse is a lot of work.

 

[banjerbill]

Unless you are prepared to put in a lot of effort I'm afraid you will be disappointed especially with tomatoes. It really is cheaper to but seasonal fruit and veg even organic from a farm shop. I grow my own but only because I love gardening. if you find it a chore I am willing to bet you will be disappointed.

The best budget lawn mower is probably going to be a Flymo rotary, cylinder mowers give a better result but have to be used regularly, if you let the grass get a little too long they struggle to cut.

Bill

 

[flying haggis]

check out Gumtree for secondhand proper greenhouses, sometimes for not a lot of money and also keep an eye on the ads in newsagents and post office windows. It is how we got two of ours

 

[graduate_owner]

Pity you are so far away. I bought a Qualcast self propelled petrol mower last year to trim where the grass is awkward to reach using the ride on, but it wasn't really up to the job as the grass is rough. I only used it less than half a dozen times and decided to use a brush cutter instead. It might be just ideal for you and within your budget. Never mind - sod's law applies once again.

K

 

[Mark A]

Sign up for Freecycle. My sister posted a wanted ad and was given a greenhouse for free.

 

[Geordie Joe]

My opinion- growing vegetable to save money only works if you apply zero value to your time,

Your spare time is zero value, because nobody in the world is paying you for it. It doesn't matter what you are doing, gardening, reading forums, sleeping watching tv, if nobody is paying you to do it then that time is worth nothing. You might kid yourself that your spare time is worth an amount of money, but nobody else in the world thinks it is.

It is cheaper to buy you need when you need it from the supermarkets as long as you buy in season. Much cheaper.

No it's not, it's far cheaper to buy stuff that is not in season in the UK, but is in season in other countries. Stuff grown in the uk is nearly always more expensive than imports.

Sorry but you are just repeating a phrase that may have been true in the 60's, but hasn't been true for decades now.

 

[MrTeroo]

Why not give potatoes a try?
They grow very well in bags on a patio. Not sure if they work out cheaper but the difference in taste is amazing.

http://www.waitrosegarden.com/produ...gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CPSHhcuC2NICFcEYGwod7YIBxQ

Also, if you like spicy food, give chillies a go. Home grown chillies are much tastier than shop bought ones. Yes, tastier. They really have a taste of their own, not just heat.

 

[themackay]

Quite often the standard aluminium greenhouse are given away free on Freecycle or cheap on Gumtree I think that would be your best bet

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

+1 for chillies. I grow two varieties on my kitchen window sill and they're really heavy croppers and keep going for most of the year.

I also tried a French bean last summer which worked way better than I expected. It was just a regular thin, green type French bean ie not a climber but a bush variety which I planted up in planters I'd made from an old pub table. That also cropped well and the plants grew right outside our French doors so easy to access at culinary moments and just brilliant really, couldn't fault them for simplicity to grow and taste on the plate.

 

[bugbear]

I agree, growing veg at home isn't about saving money. It IS about produce that's tastes better by an order of magnitude (especially tomatoes) because it's super fresh and super organic. It's also really quite rewarding when you wander out of your back door 30 minutes before dinner is ready to pick your own

Home grown Parsnips also taste like parsnips used to which is to say....with some actual flavour

IME organic doesn't affect flavour. Choice of variety, spacing, BUT above all FRESHNESS are what make garden produce so amazing.

BugBear

 

[AJB Temple]

My opinion- growing vegetable to save money only works if you apply zero value to your time,

Your spare time is zero value, because nobody in the world is paying you for it. It doesn't matter what you are doing, gardening, reading forums, sleeping watching tv, if nobody is paying you to do it then that time is worth nothing. You might kid yourself that your spare time is worth an amount of money, but nobody else in the world thinks it is.

Nonsense Geordie. Complete nonsense. I run my own businesses and we can trade 7 days if we wish. I can work as much as I want and earnings are constrained only by my willingness to work and willingness to pay my staff. In addition, my chosen free time has to be allocated to things I want to do, such as completing my timber framed buildings (saving over paying someone circa £10,000 each building). Hence there is clearly a sizeable opportunity cost. Vegetables are very cheap.

It is cheaper to buy you need when you need it from the supermarkets as long as you buy in season. Much cheaper.

No it's not, it's far cheaper to buy stuff that is not in season in the UK, but is in season in other countries. Stuff grown in the uk is nearly always more expensive than imports.

Sorry but you are just repeating a phrase that may have been true in the 60's, but hasn't been true for decades now.

Also nonsense Geordie. It was you that mentioned the UK, not me. I am happy to buy buy beans from Kenya etc. We have developed a kitchen garden and grow a wide range of vegetables, fruits, herbs and some exotics. This is because it is my wife's hobby. Generally the supermarket food is at least as good quality (and is delivered minus the slugs) and I doubt in a blind taste test that most people could tell the difference. I have tried it with for example Jersey Royals, toms, peppers. The kitchen harden requires constant work (which she enjoys), but also requires two lorry loads of manure every other year, various bags of growing medium, grit, seed medium, greenhouse and propagator heat, seeds and various consumables. The cost adds up and as we are just the two of us except when the kids are home from uni, I reckon it costs multiples more than going to the supermarket. When things like apples are ready for picking we have something like three wheelbarrow loads. Making cider takes ages. Some go for baking competitions at work but half of them end up on the compost.