Growing your own

[AB Editor]

 

This poll is closed.

Is growing your own veg worth it?

• Yes, of course! - 260 votes
• 74%
• No. It isn't worth it. - 92 votes
• 26%

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Stats until: 00:41 Tue 31st Dec 2024 (Refreshed every 5 minutes)

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[Old_Geezer]

Financially no. But if it is a hobby then you tend to zero rate the labour and probably the expense too.

[Wrongn3mber]

I've always wondered about growing my own herbs but it seems that the small plants only yield enough for one meal or so was my experience when I got a pot of live chives from tesco once.

[mccfluff]

not for me i'm death to plants i like other people to do that sort of thing for me...

[starone]

I like gardening but have to vote no because of all the work involved and the fight against disease and insects etc. I first noticed it when I went to the market and could have bought a sack of perfect onions or potatoes for £5 a sack. It is probably more now but the situation is still the same. My own potatoes were eaten by other things besides me and the onions were poor things. As for the cabbages, the birds grew really fat on them. Having said that, it is good exercise, the fresh air is good for you and when you eat your own grown they taste much nicer, but is it worth it in the long run? I would have to say no.

[sallybb]

Every thing that has been planted has been eaten by non humans. We even had a leveret that visited that had a taste for strawberrys. The apples are being eaten by wasps and the hazel nuts have been pinched by the squirrels., and when the leveret ran out of strawberrys it started on the gooseberrys and redcurrents. The runner beans didn't even start running, and the carrots got demolished by carrot fly. Isn't wildlife wonderful :0)

[starone]

There is always a glut of beans if we can get rid of the blackfly and marrows seems to do well, but you can get tired of the same old, same old.

[sallybb]

Beans are the one thing that we usually have a glut off, . We seem to have a mole on the rampage in the plot at the moment, which we suspect is part of a lot of failures.

[Mosaic]

We have to wage constant war on slugs and snails to grow anything. Only wood thrives - so the fruit trees do quite well. This year's cabbages are now a butterfly sanctuary, all four of them.
I suppose if you do it seriously you would start by ripping everything out and blitzing with herbicides and pesticides.

[boxtops]

I've only got a small garden, and when I have tried it, the volume we can get just isn't worth it.

[Tomas123]

i have got my own vegetable patch in my garden and i go carrots, sweed, baby potatoes, coliflower, brocili, maro, runner beans, oinions and its cost me about £10 in seeds and in the long run i save alot more money than i would if i would to buy the stuff at the shop, i spend about 2 hours a week looking after it so i think its worth it growing your own

[Maydup]

I'm with you Tomas. We've been picking our home grown veg now since the end of May and they are delicious.

Potatoes, courgettes, green beans, runners, onions, spring onions, salad leaves. I have parsnip, squash and green veg in for the winter and just love harvesting them in the snow or for Christmas dinner.

Nothings more satisfying than growing your own food.

[venator]

Definitely worth it if you grow the right stuff! We grow lots of herbs, and it's great being able to throw a big handful into the pot. (cooking, not smoking)

We have plenty of borage for the Pimm's !!!!

Spuds and onions grow well without too much attention, and enjoy a good ground cover of weeds.... Purple sprouting broccoli is areal treat, too.

[modeller]

Financially no but depends on the size of the family . It also depends on the value of the crop and of course the taste. Tomatoes normally cost me alone about £1.25 a week to buy but the ones I grow work out at least double that .
What with the cost of the plants, growbags, and fertiliser and that is only during Aug/Sept but the taste is much better and I have had the interest of growing them for months. I also play with different types , small and big, yellow and red . This year looks as though its going to be a short season . Lot of ripening in doors which is never the same.

[rowanwitch]

but only so you can grow stuff that is either expensive or varieties you don't get in the shops

[muff13]

There is no doubt that fresh vegetables picked and cooked with the minimum time between the two operations are far better tasting than bought ones and also will have far more goodness. Freezing them as soon as they are picked too can give a plentiful supply of vegetables during the lean months. Growing most vegetables works out so much cheaper than buying them if you are able to grow from seed (I cannot vouch for the price comparison when growing from bought plants as I grow all my own) A packet of cut an come again lettuce seed costs little more than buying two or three packs of lettuce leaves in supermarkets while if you grow your own you can just pick the leaves when you want them and as many as you want and with frequent sowings will have lettuce all summer long. I could go on and on extolling the benefits and pleasures of growing your own but, by now, anyone who has bothered to read this post will realize that I am a dedicated vegetable grower!!

[JeniPeni]

I only grow 3 different veg and, of course, buy others - but it is so much more satisfying (and tastier) to make a meal which includes your own produce.

[JeniPeni]

Also, forgot in my last post - the herbs that you buy in Tesco etc are forced and won't last longer than a couple of weeks in the wee pot that you get them in. You should re-pot into a bigger pot - and the more you pick from your pot the more will grow.

[LoftyLottie]

Agree with Trim. Far better than going down the gym in my opinion. Out in the fresh air. End results are not always but expected, but it's very satisfying.

But am living on runner beans, courgettes and tomatoes at the moment!!

We have a very large garden, so financially it's probably about the same as buying veg, but the veg we harvest taste so much better.

I say 'we'. It's actually Mr LL - I take care of the pretty things.