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Price of food
The price of food wasn't really a factor when we started the allotment. I was more interested in saving food miles, having organic food, and being able to do something relaxing out of doors.
However, the continual rise in food prices may give the allotment an added bonus - albeit in the longer term.
You can start an allotment with virtually nothing, but you need at least a minimum outlay on tools if you don't have them already. You can't really manage without fork, hoe, spade, trowel and hand fork. We've also found uses for a pickaxe (breaking up uncultivated ground), sledgehammer (banging in posts for the rabbit-proof fencing), shears (cutting grass on the paths), onion hoe (generally useful), dandylion grubber (good for deep-rooted weeds that go straight down), and secateurs (for pruning fruit bushes).
You'll want some books - I like some of the ones published by the RHS - my preference tends to be for good reference books - but there are also many lighter ones that are good for beginners.
Our poly-carbonate mini-greenhouse (it's a PC 100 space saver junior planthouse for those who really want to know and cost about £80) was a gift from my mother-in-law. It's small, but goes on the patio at home and allows us to start stuff off in the warm and give a head start. You could save money by starting stuff on windowsills instead, or just waiting a few weeks extra to start outside. The advantage of doing it this way is that it extends the growing season and gives you cheap food over a longer period.
We're one of the few plot holders to do much with fleece and plastic, but I think they have a lot of potential. We're still exploring all the potential uses, but we used fleece last year over the carrots as a way of preventing carrot root fly. (you can also use a six inch high barrier around your carrot patch. They fly close to the ground, so a barrier of any kind will block them.
We're going to experiment with plastic as a way of warming the ground early in the season. Again, it should bring the season forward.
It's all a matter of preference. I guess we're going for a relatively high-tech organic approach with mini fleece tunnels and other stuff. Some of it certainly makes a difference, but whether it is cost-effective is a thing that time will tell (fleece wears out after a few years, so you have to allow for that).
Where we really save money is on fertilizer. We get free manure from the local riding stable - who are only too happy to have someone remove it. We get grass clippings from several neighbours and that makes a great mulch (keeps down weeds and adds nitrogen and organic matter to the soil). I've got one neighbour already primed to give me her garden waste and will be working on the others shortly (we've just put an extra compost bin in our front garden so they can tip stuff in whenever they like). Kitchen waste all goes on the compost, as do egg boxes, toilet roll middles, the odd bit of urine, old cotton/wool clothes and anything else organic that I can think of.
It seems crazy to me that one neighbour gives me all her weeds, unwanted turf, bits of what she regards as poor quality soil, grass clippings, etc. - and then goes out and buys peat and other soil conditioners! I stuff it all in the compost bin as fast as I can say 'thanks' and it all mixes up and rots down into wonderful stuff. (Her clay soil is perfect to counterbalance the sand on the allotment. I was horrified to see what she was taking to the tip - clay has the potential to be the best of all soils when properly worked as it can bind better with soil nutrients and prevent them being washed out)
The oldest guy on the site, been there 42 years, uses nothing fancy at all, just good solid spade work and manure. His plot looks great and he says he definitely saves money. One of his biggest savings is on cut flowers - his wife grows a lot of flowers to put on family graves.
Meanwhile, I'm feeling optimistic about my young gooseberry bush. That one's in the back garden. Last year, (it's first year) it was eaten to death by aphids. I've given it a good surface dressing of manure and weeded thoroughly all round it to build up its strength (pests always go for weaker plants) and so far it's okay. Still early in the season though. I've just planted some chives under it. This is reported to be an old custom that works - the aphids are apparantly confused by the strong smell of members of the garlic/onion family. I'll let you know later in the year if it worked...
However, the continual rise in food prices may give the allotment an added bonus - albeit in the longer term.
You can start an allotment with virtually nothing, but you need at least a minimum outlay on tools if you don't have them already. You can't really manage without fork, hoe, spade, trowel and hand fork. We've also found uses for a pickaxe (breaking up uncultivated ground), sledgehammer (banging in posts for the rabbit-proof fencing), shears (cutting grass on the paths), onion hoe (generally useful), dandylion grubber (good for deep-rooted weeds that go straight down), and secateurs (for pruning fruit bushes).
You'll want some books - I like some of the ones published by the RHS - my preference tends to be for good reference books - but there are also many lighter ones that are good for beginners.
Our poly-carbonate mini-greenhouse (it's a PC 100 space saver junior planthouse for those who really want to know and cost about £80) was a gift from my mother-in-law. It's small, but goes on the patio at home and allows us to start stuff off in the warm and give a head start. You could save money by starting stuff on windowsills instead, or just waiting a few weeks extra to start outside. The advantage of doing it this way is that it extends the growing season and gives you cheap food over a longer period.
We're one of the few plot holders to do much with fleece and plastic, but I think they have a lot of potential. We're still exploring all the potential uses, but we used fleece last year over the carrots as a way of preventing carrot root fly. (you can also use a six inch high barrier around your carrot patch. They fly close to the ground, so a barrier of any kind will block them.
We're going to experiment with plastic as a way of warming the ground early in the season. Again, it should bring the season forward.
It's all a matter of preference. I guess we're going for a relatively high-tech organic approach with mini fleece tunnels and other stuff. Some of it certainly makes a difference, but whether it is cost-effective is a thing that time will tell (fleece wears out after a few years, so you have to allow for that).
Where we really save money is on fertilizer. We get free manure from the local riding stable - who are only too happy to have someone remove it. We get grass clippings from several neighbours and that makes a great mulch (keeps down weeds and adds nitrogen and organic matter to the soil). I've got one neighbour already primed to give me her garden waste and will be working on the others shortly (we've just put an extra compost bin in our front garden so they can tip stuff in whenever they like). Kitchen waste all goes on the compost, as do egg boxes, toilet roll middles, the odd bit of urine, old cotton/wool clothes and anything else organic that I can think of.
It seems crazy to me that one neighbour gives me all her weeds, unwanted turf, bits of what she regards as poor quality soil, grass clippings, etc. - and then goes out and buys peat and other soil conditioners! I stuff it all in the compost bin as fast as I can say 'thanks' and it all mixes up and rots down into wonderful stuff. (Her clay soil is perfect to counterbalance the sand on the allotment. I was horrified to see what she was taking to the tip - clay has the potential to be the best of all soils when properly worked as it can bind better with soil nutrients and prevent them being washed out)
The oldest guy on the site, been there 42 years, uses nothing fancy at all, just good solid spade work and manure. His plot looks great and he says he definitely saves money. One of his biggest savings is on cut flowers - his wife grows a lot of flowers to put on family graves.
Meanwhile, I'm feeling optimistic about my young gooseberry bush. That one's in the back garden. Last year, (it's first year) it was eaten to death by aphids. I've given it a good surface dressing of manure and weeded thoroughly all round it to build up its strength (pests always go for weaker plants) and so far it's okay. Still early in the season though. I've just planted some chives under it. This is reported to be an old custom that works - the aphids are apparantly confused by the strong smell of members of the garlic/onion family. I'll let you know later in the year if it worked...
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