How much did I save by growing food in my front garden?
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- Опубліковано 18 січ 2024
- Anyone can enjoy growing their own food, whether they are growing in an established kitchen garden, a small raised bed, a balcony garden or just attempting to grow their first easy-to-sow and grow vegetable plants.
In February 2023 I set myself a challenge, to turn the tiny front garden of the former council house where I live into a food-growing space. I did this to prove a point - that you can absolutely save money by growing the right edible plants and prioritizing quick turnaround edible crops.
SPOLIER: How I did the maths.
I wanted to provide this breakdown - to give you an idea of the maths that I have done each months to show you the results on the screen. I believe that we are trained to automatically discount small savings - but these small savings really do add up.
Here are a few examples for you:
November Crop Value: £44
Mixed Salad £14.00 - Equivalent of 3 bags of supermarket salad per week.
Cut Herbs £6.00 - Equivalent of 1.5 packs of cut herbs per week.
Kale £12.00 - Approximately 2.5 supermarket bags of Kale each week
Spinach £12 - Approximately 3 bags of supermarket spinach each week.
Sharing this story was one of the most exciting things that I have done while growing. I have loved sharing this empowering message that growing your own food in a front garden space, it takes back control, it's empowering, it makes you feel more grounded in your local community and it's so much fun.
Thanks so much for sharing this story with me. - Навчання та стиль
Benefits... less pesticides, healthy foods, sense of satisfaction, accomplishment, pride and overall learning to be self sufficient! I say you did a wonderful job!!!
that is so kind thank you. I think the benefits have been so much more manifest than I originally anticipated
Luvly video-nice pace -something different -front gardens -a waste f space unless used like this -im sure the community interaction was fab too
@@anoodono1841 I grow rosemary along the front and love it when ppl pick some. If we all did this the supermarkets would be little more than dry-stuffs warehouses.
And exercise. Working in the garden is healthier than sitting on the couch.
Thanks for this inspiring video, Andy. Home grown food always tastes better.
Gardening is worth it even if you don't save money. The nutritional benefits, the joy, the exercise and the ability to share with neighbors are all benefits that one cannot measure with money.
agree with all of the above. Which makes the small saving even more special too :)
What are the nutritional benefits?
Isn’t a spud a spud.
@@next0845veg purchased from the stores have pesticides on them. Homegrown veg doesn’t
Until you get your water bill.
@@robertkat it depends. We personally collect rain water and use that to water our garden most of the time and we do get pretty hot summers but it usually last until the next rain. Also most plants don't need that much water as one thinks
You've created more than savings. Now that it's established, it would be great to continue tracking savings. Thx for sharing.
That is so true. It's been an experiment with the sole purpose of tracking these savings but you are right, the other benefits have been so many and manifestly amazing!
The biggest cash crop in my garden is my cherry tomatoes. I save the seeds from a few supermarket Piccolo tomatoes, let them dry out, then plant them in seed cubes on my sunny windowsill on Valentine's day. I don't thin them out, so 3, 4, or more seeds per cube grow on and get potted on when the roots come through. I do a final transfer into large 20 litre buckets that I line up against my south facing shed after the last frost date, add canes and let them go mental. 220g of Piccolo tomatoes are just under £2 - last year I picked well over 20kg, many of which were frozen to replace tinned tomatoes or passata over the winter. They do not grow perfectly true to form, as Piccolo are supposed to be an F1 hybrid, but the tomatoes you get are just as sweet, and they crop from July until the first hard frost - which was in December last year. 6 months of unlimited fresh cherry tomatoes and 6 months of frozen, ready to use for free - you can't do better than that.
I know what you mean. We plant cherry toms outside the front of the house, south facing and let me tell you we get silly crazy amounts of tomatoes all from 4 deep rooted plants. No pesticides or stupid packaging. If everyone did this, we could sack the supermarkets for veg.
Tip: Go to a local seed swap event. For a donation you will get seeds appropriate for your area, unusual varieties and as much advice as you can handle. Next year you will be able to take your own seeds to swap and save even more money.
I am a big fan of local gardening communities and seed swaps, although I wanted to show that this was possible even for those who don't have access to these resources
This was a fun video. Well done! My biggest problem with saving money gardening is that somehow it gets bigger and bigger every year 😂
that is such a good point!! Making sure that you aren't just constantly expanding and reinvesting?
@@AndyGrowsFood but that's the fun part! 🤣
Nice to see someone growing productively in a small urban garden. 👍😊Many videos are by people who have much more space. Can psych people out.
absolutely. I am really passionate about encouraging anyone that can they do this
As a veg grower of 15 years, I really hope this inspires others to grow their own.
Plus you have most of the costs covered for next year's garden! So your profits will be higher still. There are many benefits, quality of food, gardening is stress relieving, saves on your carbon footprint. Well done! I hope you continue to garden!
yes! i am making a green house this year becose i want tomatos to have at winter too, i spend so far 68 euros for the wood and plastic, my brother had the items to cut the wood and paint it so that was not an expence.
My garden had really got me down the last couple of years, this video is just what I needed. Thank you
honestly that comment means a lot to me! Editing this video really made me reflect back on the year and remember all the happy moments :)
Great job, well done you. My veg bed is 3.5m x 2m and I get so much from it. It's Feb and Im only now running low on onions having not bought any since June last year. Your 1st year is always expensive but after that there is very little expense. You can always check gumtree etc for free pallet wood, but actually you don't really need wooden sides. Instead of weed fabric under your veg beds, you can place down brown cardboard. It will do the same job but it decomposes over time and allows worms and good soil microbes into your plants. Charles Dowding has some great start up videos too. Keep going gardeners. It's healthy, organic and great for the environment. That's priceless.
Thank you so much. Just to be clear, the weed fabric was cut away from under each of the beds, we used the hugelkulture method using cardboard and green waste to fill the beds :)
When I got roses in my front yard, I was hook on growing plants. Just seeing bloom and grow. The fresh air and fitness of it. Im planning to grow some trees and make a big garden in my back yard. It is probably wont save me money or very little money, but it makes me happy. There a lot worst hobbies out their. Usually hobbies just drain my bank account. I had hobbies Videogames, fashion, cars, watches, and cologne and they had drain my bank account. It is much better than gambling, alcohol, or drugs.
Well done. I love eating my own harvests! Keep up the good work 🤩
thank you! Honestly I had the happiest moments of the year in this garden!
Thank you for this. A lot of people don’t think we can save money by growing food… and although my allotment has probably cost £500 the last four years, and we’ve just bought a greenhouse, the food security that planting wisely and preserving what we grow has saved us at least £40 a month. That’s without salad crops as I’ve yet to convince my kids that salad is a main meal 😂. So hopefully the food growing revolution will touch more people and convince them that I’m not crazy!!
that's so interesting! I think it's been so interesting doing this project with such an eye on expenditure. There's been so much more pressure to re-use and recycle, and it was great fun too. We are definitely eating more salad as a result of this!
Hi Andy, well done, I take my hat off to you for what you have done in the small space that you had to work with, not only did you save money, but you did not eat the sprays that came with the bought produce. The large cost you paid initially are done, you will save even more in the coming year. Well done, I hope you have encouraged other people to do the same.
By the way I am writing from New Zealand, you have inspired me so much, I will do the same, well done Andy and to you wife.
Kind regards, tania.
wow thank you so much. I think you made a really important point there. I was comparing the yield to budget supermarket prices, but in reality I think I was harvesting fresh 'organic' farm shop quality produce. And with that comes amazing control. It's a huge responsibility to be responsible and have control for the ethics around food production isn't it?
Did you remember to save seeds from your plants for next year? You could put an arched trellis between two beds and grow squashes or pumpkins.
Yes, we're taking back control! Thank you for sharing this. Got inspired by your beautiful raised beds and will be adding them in my garden, soon!
Just imagine next year! The hardware of your garden is already in. Next year, savings savings savings!
Huw Richards, over in Wales, has an excellent YT channel to help you along.
Best wishes!
Huw is amazing guy, massive respect for him and what he does!
I have never seen anyone actually track what they spend on supplies vs what they save on groceries. I garden and each year I learn more and more about what grows well etc. I am glad you made this video.
Brilliant video.
New subscriber here.
Best wishes from Ireland 🇮🇪 to you and your family and subscriber's
thank you so much!
Well done! Everyone should be doing it. I did not grow anything while living in mid terraced house as access to the garden was through the house. We bought a new build house and turned the garden into vegetable garden. It’s nice to know that more people are doing it! Good luck!
nice one! Did you find that growing the food changed what you were eating? I didn't expect that growing food would have such a dramatic effect on my diet too!
Just saw this and am impressed with the savings and the joy of being in the garden. And your hinged row covers are brilliant. Gonna steal that method for my own winter garden. Thank you!
thank you! They were a fun project to do
What a wonderful experiment. I am also considering how much money you will save now that the beds are built, and the seeds that you probably have stored. I hope that you will continue to tally how much you save the year following the building of the beds.
oh absolutely! Part two will be interesting right?
Maybe buy seed potatoes and put them in pots or grow in compost bags to increase your crop production. This was really good to show folk nevertheless good organic food can be grown at home 💯
The unseen profits of fresh cropped foods .well done
Nice one! So you've already recovered your costs and more, next year will be an even bigger money saver.
I concentrate on herbs and leafy greens, plus of course the usual summer favourites.
Not only do you save money (in return for a bit of effort) but you can grow fresh chemical-free food that tastes so much better than from a supermarket.
And the fact that you have all these herbs and veg just a few meters away means you tend to eat much more of them than you would otherwise.
Thank you so much for the encouragement to do this! Taking my best shot this year. I found the "winterizing" of your beds very intriguing.
Thanks for this Andy, I’ve really enjoyed watching your garden’s progress.
thank YOU really hope you enjoy the updates that are to come
Don't forget, the amount of exercise, fresh air, toying with your hands, learning about the variety of growing foods and their respective water needs as well as eating fresh, straight from your very own garden grown by your own hands 😂.
Loved the illustrations of costs etc. Wouldn't mind seeing more upcycling going on, ie: using cut yoghurt pots (into slips for labels), how you kept bugs away/what deterrent did you opt for, and as to how you stored/jarred away your products ❤.
Many thanks for the above 😅
Thanks so much, I had great fun doing this. Although the vast majority of materials were up cycled, salvaged from skips or re-used plant pots :)
Great video! I'm planning to start doing some growing for myself and hopefully my community (overflow of stuff I can't use before it goes bad) and tracking to do updates is a great idea. And I think it's important to note that most of your expenses are one-off or very rare - like the building materials. Those beds won't last forever but you'll get a good long time out of those materials before you have to spend that again, so that really brings your ROI down. Congrats on your success!
thank you! That is very true..... I think it was important to show the first year initial expenses, but I think the second year video will be very interesting too!
I started my garden in my house I moved to in 2015…. Started the food garden in 2017 and been expanding and learning each year. I know it has saved in my grocery bill and brings me peace and knowing its all pesticide free is mind blowing!
yes!!! Totally relate to this
Seems like this little garden patch changed your lives for the better in many ways! Keep up the good work. I can’t wait to see where this takes you next.
this is so true.....
Such a great video, well done Andy!
thank you! You have an awesome channel too!
What a lovely video! The time spent editing and narrating was well worth it. Please say that you are going to continue using that wonderful space to grow food!
thank you! Oh I really am.... it's been quite productive even in January
Great video! Remember too that your initial expenses of setting up will be a saving next season. Good luck!
Awesome !!! I do this with our "front garden" when we moved in locals were using the overgrow weed patch we had as a place for their dogs to poop so we made raised beds from cardboard moving boxes and coco coir and broken bags of manure we had managed to scavenge up on offer or at very reduced cost. We didn't do alot with it last year but this year there are big plans for it along with the back courtyard we have where we keep the greenhouse and other growing spaces. It doesn't take much to grow something and it all adds up in the end. Great job mate have started following you.
thank you! That sounds like an awesome project you are doing!
Your garden is like mine ... small 🙂but productive. Love the video.
thank you so much
Love your video! The time spent outdoors, enjoying fresh and healthy food, plus the pride and joy of your accomplishment is priceless.
totally agree
You are AMAZING! And my garden is so much cheaper now that all the supplies have more than paid for themselves (I purchased supplies five years ago) I re-use everything until it falls apart, add new items when they’re free (you can make a trellis out of just about anything!) and I save all my best seeds from the year before. It’s so rewarding!
This was excellent. Loved the voiceover. Not a boring moment in this vid!
When you account for work, you could propably work somwhere else and make money to buy that produce. But looking at it from positive perspective, your are moving(exercise), you are outside, you are productive, learning something. So really you are gaining, not losing hours :) And you have your own, healthy vegetables!
Really is very satisfying growing your food from seed. Well done!
Growing food for me is like losing weight. It’s an uphill battle of struggles and losses every time. But I’m not giving up. 😊
Awesome, congratulations with your garden success
Very well done. I hope that you post a year 2 video. Without the setup costs and with increased skill, I bet that the savings is much higher.
thank you. I think that honestly, bringing 15 years of commercial industry growing experience to this garden has been very interesting!
@@AndyGrowsFood every garden is a new experience. I wonder if brassicas would do well for you. They handle the shade pretty well.
This is so wholesome. I’m planning to be self sufficient so this video helps.
Ive just recently got into gardening, well potted plants and propagations. And i can't describe the joy you feel when a seed breaks through, a cutting roots or you bring back a failed plant/ crop. I really want to try growing my own food. Might start with herbs first then toms 😋
Well done!
Another benefit could be coming together in creative ways to bring fresh produce to neighbors who can't get to budget supermarkets or garden much or garden w/o help. Here in my part of the US there is an organization that collects surplus I have and takes it to food banks or individuals they know are in need. This was a brilliant project. Thank you so much
absolutely. Myself and my wife have set up a non profit off the back of this project working with schools and growing for food banks
@@AndyGrowsFood Do you find foodbanks happy to take home-grown produce? When I had an allotment, a few years ago, we tried to give excess produce to foodbanks, but they turned us away! I had the idea of contacting a local Sikh temple, though, and they were more than happy to accept it for use in their open-to-all vegetarian catering in the langar.
Really inspiring!
This is so awesome you make those bed covers look so easy to do. You have inspired me to make my own garden beds
Thanks for sharing
Lovely video
Last year, i grew a garden on my balcony for the first time in years. I used recycled items as much as possible. But still spent abount $100 on grow lights, seeds, soil, fertilizer and pestocides. I harvested about $20-30 in fresh groceries. This year i still have plenty of those items left. So i will get another year of veggies off of last years investment.
Healthy and organic in nature. Keep growing...
Wonderful thank you so inspiring ☘️💚
Brilliant very inspirational 😀
I have expenses and don't save money but the joy of doing gardening is worth it.
What a beautiful experiment. Many of the benefits you received can't be counted in Pound Sterling or dollars and cents. The real beauty of this experiment is what comes next year because you won't have any of the startup costs, just a bit of maintenance here and there and maybe a bag or two of "top up" soil if needed. Isn't it amazing how much tastier homegrown is compared to the store offerings? And just wait till you get into saving and storing your own seeds. 😃
I've loved following your progress. It's really inspired us to have a go ourselves.
This is so inspiring! Thank you for sharing and what a great job!
I was planning to start a garden.
You helped me make my decision.
Thanks a lot, your words are inspiring.
fantastic❤
Good stuff
I enjoyed your video and just subscribed. I am looking forward to seeing the rest of your channel
1 minute into the video and I subscribed. Can resonante so much with what you say. 👍🏻
I try and encourage my work colleagues to grow, even if it's only tomatoes.
I grow most of my own vegetables, have over 20 fruit trees and am lucky enough to have a polytunnel. I dug up my front garden and it became my pumpkin patch, which fascinates the neighbours.
I give excess produce to neighbours and take into work.
Growing your own saves money, increases your vegetable intake, keeps you fit and boosts your innner peace.
Well done with your adventure!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Honestly - it's a pleasure. And thank YOU so much for the positive energy
Great video, Andy. I also have a small front garden veg plot.
I am sure that you have started a satisfying hobby for life and you will enjoy learning and refining your garden techniques.
Brilliant.
thank you
Well done! I love gardening and you did a good job!
Looking forward to your following year + next gardening project!
oh, well done, this makes me happy seeing how growing your own, can bring joy and happiness and save a few bob in the process. love your bed covers. they are next in my garden.
thank you so much for the positive energy
Great video. Thank you for all the detail and I wish you well.
thank you so much
On top of the fact that your raised beds are now already constructed, your Year 2 savings won't start off in the red from that initial investment. You could also repurpose plastic containers for varieties of salad greens that can be grown on shelves to make more efficient use of vertical spaces and increase the savings.
The hinged covers on the beds looked fantastic, too.
What a lovely informative video
thank you so much!
Cracking video. Good on you! Instant subscribe and like. Thank you for sharing.👍
thank you so much
Of course, this doesn't count the cost of labour, but the time spent is so enjoyable and so good for your health, it can hardly be quantified.
So much non-monetary benefits. Well-done! This is inspiring. I only have a tiny balcony but planning to grow a few fruits and herbs in there that are preneals or once that can remain long term
This looks like a wonderful small garden, you can add some hanging planters for herbs, strawberries. just add hanging poles to your frame. there's tons of planters and plant towers you can make from refuse materials. Keep up the good work! awesome. I'm lucky enough to be accessible to the chain link fencing at the back of my yard, the neighbor and I each hang things on our respective side of the fence. adds privacy and is delicious.
Fantastic video and all credit to you. I have a growing area of around 4 times the space and bought everything that I needed and I live in a warmer climate (Valencia, east coast of Spain) - but you have really shown what is possible in a colder climate, in limited space and more importantly on a tight budget!
Your video doesn't do your savings justice.
Your savings in the first year equates to just under £20 a month. But the following year, you'll not have the expenditure incurred in the first year. Raised beds, composted etc. I'm not a gardener but possibly your crops from the first year will provide seeds for the following year also.
I'm guessing in year two, you'll save about £40 a month.
That is quite some saving.
Fantastic experiment. I tip my hat to you, my friend.
great job!
Thanks so much!
Well done.
thank you!
Good on you !! Well done. Enjoyed your video. Very motivated to add more to my vegie patch now. 😊
thank you!!! That means a lot. Please share updates
Well done 🎉 . You shared the green bug very well. All the best for this year gardening 💚
thank you!
Thank you so much for sharing. I love the cost breakdown. Thank you for taking the time to do it. My response when people tell me that I won’t save money growing my own is that gardening is cheaper than therapy. I get such joy from watching the changes in my garden as the plants grow.
Please tell me the size of your garden beds. It is wonderful that such a small area has given you such good production.
that's a really great question, the beds are all around 1m long and around 50cm wide - the square bed is about 1m x 1m
Fabulous video! Very inspirational. I look forward to updates for this year, now that you have established the garden. I just finished my 2nd year of gardening for food. Cheers from Northern California USA!
that's so cool and so lovely of you to drop this comment. I am quite jealous of your climate I bet you could grow some amazing crops!
Raised beds made out of recycled wood, old 4 and 5 gallon buckets to hold tomato and pepper plants. Free seeds from the library and some purchased from online. I must say i have enjoyed it. Green beans, black eyed peas. Peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, and some bitter greens. It supplements the budget, gives us exercise and helps to develop our garden into a better place to grow each year.
Thanks for the video
You need to get an allotment. You would save much more. Continue to inspire those who think its hard.
I have been gardening my whole married life and canning or freezing. . We get one crop only and that only if you start early! So we need a lot to keep us through the winter. I can everything even potatoes. Than I dry my herbs and other things like hamburger, on sale. Good luck up there. Next year you will do even better because you reuse all the beds and things you started with.
Over 4 years ive saved about 13k on produce with a small lasagna garden. Maybe 12x5 feet about 4x2 meters. All the compost and soil was free. Most of the seeds are replanted each year from last years crops or grocery scraps.
we started turning our back garden into a veg garden during lockdown. Haven't calculated the cost. we spent loads on soil, manure etc but all the wood was unwanted pallet wood. it's just so satisfying growing your own food. we've grown a ton of tomatoes by scooping out seeds from supermarket bought tomatoes.
Thanks for sharing, what a feel good video. Hard to quantify, but there's also the added value of eating food the most freshest and flavoursome food possible, which is much easier to get in your garden Vs the supermarket.
Lovely video❤ it’s always good to know we are saving some money.. Gardening gives us more joy than anything.
Thank you so much. I guess this started as quite a limited experiment to prove a point. But over the year - it has changed so much with manifest secondary blessings - getting to know the local community and SO much wellbeing as you rightly say!
Yes I definitely enjoyed your video thank you and well done on your growing adventure ❤️ I started a seed and produce swap and share group. Sometimes you do too many seedlings and it’s good to share or even swap for something different, you might have one in your area to. It will be all organic so you could put the price up on your veg to if shop bought, as that’s always more expensive in the shops. Chives, Spring Onions and Pak Choi are easy to grow to. Well done again 👍
Outstanding video. Really well communicated and hopefully you've set up for a sustainable harvest for years to come.
thank you
Great video!
thank you so much!
This is my 4th year gardening. The cost is now minimal. The first year i definitely had to sink money into it. Now each year i only buy seeds, chicken manure pellets and bonemeal thats it. I make fertiliser from nettles, comfrey and bananas. I have in the last 2 years also learnt how to preserve the food i grow making everything last longer. I grow in my front garden too.
Thanks for sharing your video. 👍 New subscriber 👍.
Nicely documented! 😎 I imagine there will be lower costs next season and your skills will gradually increase so you will hit an equilibrium some time down the road. I would enjoy seeing another of your Andy Grows Food Documentaries next year. 🤞
In the past few days ive really wanted to start doing something similar. Stumbled across your tiktok and came to watch the video.. i love it! Thanks for the inspiration, i cant wait to try my own
nice one! We have some fun sharing this story through the socials :)