totally agree regarding mental health, I am living proof of it. But this video is very much a project to show the cost benefits that people on modest incomes like myself can gain from this
Well done, great job. I’ve been on about people using their lawns for growing food for a few months now with little take up. I’m shocked about increasing numbers of people putting plastic grass on their gardens too. I’ve been teaching this week on intensive gardening, I reckon you could get a lot more out of that space than you have, you probably could plant more intensely in the beds themselves actually. You’ll probably find that the weed fabric has done its job of smothering weeds and now the ground can be used with some compost on top. I’m glad YT algo showed me this video, thanks.
Here in SW Devon we have only small garden, maybe 4x4 meters. We use every inch of it, leaving the central spot for my husband’s sun bed. 🤣 We use only grow bags, no room for raised beds. We attached small planters to our garden wall and planted green stuff in them like spinach, parsley, green onions. Against all odds, I planted 3 cucumber plants in every 5 gallons grow bag and they did well. We used our flat roof for growing potatoes in large shopping bags (my beloved husband’s idea 🤣). We were able to have plenty of veggies and greens till cold came in, enough to share with our lovely elderly neighbour.
It doesn’t factor in that what you’ve grown is (probably) organic It doesn’t take into account the freshness of the produce you’re eating Brilliant!! Well done on keeping that spreadsheet.
I already grow plenty - I've mentioned before that my biggest cash crop is in tomatoes, which I mostly grow from saved seeds, either my own or any supermarket tomatoes that I've bought and saved. Nothing grows "true" as everything hybridises with everything else, but that just means more variety and a staggered season. I can be eating fresh tomatoes from July to December, and I freeze loads of partially cooked tomatoes for cooking over the winter. Some years I get over 40kg (not last year though, that was a bit of a washout but we still ate all the tomatoes we wanted - I just didn't have a lot left over for freezing). I encourage anyone to have a go at growing something - if all you've got is a sunny window cill, you can still grow cut and come again salad leaves and maybe a tomato plant or two, basil loves a sunny window as do many other herbs that'll be fine in pots, and if you've got the room outside for a couple of growbags or large buckets, there's nothing you can't grow.
one year I bought 1 yellow 1 red and 1 orange tomato specifically for the seed inside (50c total ) 10 years later still growing sourced from these same 3 baby fruits !!! nothing is easier than saving tomato seed
@ This year, I'll be adding some "Purple Blush" cocktail tomatoes to the mix - I got a tray of them in the supermarket a couple of months ago - lovely flavour, so seeds got saved and they'll be going in a couple of pots amongst the rest (last year I added some little yellow plum tomatoes) - every year I get a new surprise from the hybrids
Even if you didn't cover your upfront costs in the first year, this year it's all in place so no big ongoing costs. More importantly, you've enjoyed far fresher food than you could buy, exercise from gardening, and wellbeing by being surrounded by nature. Keep on growing. Cheers!
thanks so much! At the end of the video I provided a breakdown of costs, so I was chuffed to break even late on year one.. Let me tell you year two is an incredible video too, just need to edit it!
A great outcome! I was so sick of buying a bag of salad that went limp and tasteless unless I ate it all in one day so I started growing my own salads in small pots and never went back. Such a good video, thank you for making it
I grow food in my front garden, in raised beds. Clay is our problem. Our back garden is for family and friends time. However, all round the edges we have high raised bed for food. Apple trees planted along the fence that are trained to grow along wires. Strawberries in old commercial ice cream tubs. Herbs in half barrels and many flowers to attract the bees 🐝
I had an allotment within walking distance for 10 years. I loved it but and never made a profit, just had quality food. Pidgeons, slugs and snails and bugs as I tried to stay organic, plus giving away when everything came at once. Still grow things in my garden as I am happy doing it but it is hard work.
Marvellous. Council house gardens were very productive in my grandparents and parents times ; sadly mostly hardstanding for cars in front and patios out back.
It's so interesting Vicky, I am a keen amateur local historian and I am so interested about the oral history around this. Certainly in our local area there is little evidence of council house gardens growing much food other than during the Second World War - but I would genuinely love to see the history behind it
As a horticulturist, I have grown food and plants where ever I go and my daughter does the same. Even on an apartment balcony you can grow food. It's not just about the money. You are what you eat, there for to know where your food is coming from is to know yourself. (Geoff Lawson quote)
LOVE that quote, it's something that I have come to live by in recent years (not entirely through choice) although this video is heavily about the financial side of it for me personally
I put 7 raised garden beds in my back yard in fall of 2022. I am going into my third year of gardening. Last year, I harvesred over 650+ pounds of food! I did invest into the set up with raised beds, composter, fruit trees and bushes etc. but I suspect over time it will more than pay for itself. Infact, I made so much homemade compost last year that I will not need to purchase any for this year's garden. I started learning how to seed save and can/preserve food last year as well. My long term goal is to eventually grow 75% of my families food for the year. 🤞 At the average food price of $1.89 a pound for produce I harvested $1,228.50 worth of food. I haven't broke even yet in my homestead set up but I should be even by middle of this year and then the next 20 - 30 years will be all gravy. Gardening is definately worth it. Sunshine, exercise, healthy fresh food and mo ey savings.
We grow salads in pots and window/flower boxes. They are installed outside and on top of the narrow boards of the beds. This saves raised bed space. So we get them manageable and can replant different pots, let them seed and regrow. You can interplant them with radish. Some of our raised beds are made of bricks and concrete formwork stones. Wood will rot over time but stones last. Sometimes you can get them for free or they cost little money. And you can just put them on the ground and don't connect them firmly. So it's like Lego. You can build a bed quickly and remove it with little work if you want. We installed a trellis on each bed because vertical growing makes a huge difference - beans, cucumbers, peas, pumpkins and tomatoes and some other climbing vegetables. Great ideas for big yields in small spaces come with square foot gardening if you grow in raised beds. This year I'll put green beans and jalapenos in pots. I can recommend permaveggies like Tree Kale. It's easy to propagate, it grows like a weed and you can harvest fresh cabbage leaves year round. They will become big and shouldn't be grown in a bed too. Wild rocket/argugula is also a good salad option. It doesn't necessarily need a raised bed. It grows anywhere. I put it on the ground next to my raised beds and it makes small bushes over summer. Raised beds are perfect for carrots and deep roots like parsnip (they can be in ground till march and are fully winterhardy) and snap peas can grow next to the corner and hang over the bed or you can install a small fence for them to climb on. This year I'll switch from green leaves to calories to grow. I have a good amount of salads and kale but lack of protein and calorie dense food. Mainly parsnip, Popcorn, runner beans, shell peas and pumpkins in raised beds and a patch of jerusalem artichokes and potatoes. They all store well in ground or dried. Beet roots and Celery are also great options. It's best to interplant and succession plant, so you get the most amount of food from your garden. Vertical gardening is the most underrated thing. A single grape or kiwi vine can get you loads of fruit from a fence and you can use trees as a climbing tool for beans.
absolutely! And it's important to be honest. I've been growing commercially for 15 years, and personally for 20 years, but never quite like this, with the express focus on growing food to reduce the shopping bill. I feel great for it! Thank you so much
Growing your own is NOT about the money. It's about freshness, wholesome, nourishing food, being outside and working hard, but best of all the joy of growing the food on your plate. I make my own seeds as well, again not about the money, but having the fulfilment of doing it.
Absolutely agree regarding the benefits, all of which I have benefited from for the last 15 years. Although this video IS about saving money. And I think it's an important message to share.
you can see a breakdown of costs, vs crop value. I am just editing the year two video, and let me tell you - the spreadsheet looks a lot different in the second year. You are correct about the pennies that I have saved. Thousands of them.
Have you found people pinch things from your front garden? That's the only thing that makes me hesitant about mine. My parents had a rosemary bush in their front garden and someone decimated it - they didn't realise at first, but someone was literally entering their front garden, walking up the steps to the door and taking cuttings 🤯 we never saw it happen but it became pretty clear what was going on - they had to move it into their back garden to help it regrow. It's a short wall/fence in my garden so stuff would be on display 🙈 I guess the camera on my front door might put them off 😅
No absolutely not - the perception or idea of 'things being taken' is so much higher than the reality. I talk about this here: ua-cam.com/video/yshdrMPFiaM/v-deo.htmlsi=t8CN0QLMIIvRGafp
❤ your project, have been doing a lot of experiments. Have been composting in 3x 10, 20 and 40 litres plastic buckets and bin. What goes in household fruit and vegetable scraps, shredded paper, cardbord, coffee grounds, some horse manure, old hay scraps. Add tiger worms, when the 10 and 20 litre bins are full and can fill a 40 litre, then sift the worms out by putting some worming compost into the sieve. Then store that into another bin and use it to grow seedlings. Gardening on the first weekend of any month just 1 day would sow any seeds that needed to be sown, but not a full day, used to work 2nd, 4th and the fifth weekend if one.
We have just taken an allotment plot, which will grow everything we need across the year, and have rescued hens which are providing us with plenty of fresh organic free range eggs from very happy hens. It’s the only way forward in my eyes, I encourage people to give it a go if you have even the smallest of gardens.
big time! And I would say also, that anyone reading this... just start small as I have done. Just a single raised bed maybe and prioritise quick turnaround crops
I have a very small, courtyard garden where everything is grown in pots. I grow 11 crops in it, despite the fact that it faces West ( less sunlight). Plus loads of herbs which I have dried this winter. I'm always horrified at prices in the shops. A fascinating experiment, thank you!
Well done! I love growing fruit and veg and herbs, and for me it is more rewarding than ornamental plants (except perhaps sweet peas). Keep going. Would love to see how you get on this year.
So many more benefits than you realise, Fresh grown food is something everyone should try doing if they have the chance to. Nothing taste better than something you have grown yourself.
You are so right but it isn't about the numbers, if you and your misses have enjoyed the process and got something to eat out of it that is worth more than any saving. We have an allotment and I'm not sure we never recoup the cost really but, what we recoup in mental wellbeing and just enjoying the environment and time together is priceless. Good luck for year two mate!
Hi Andy, my mum across your channel and told me about it. As a former supermarket worker I have to say, YES, the food quality is shocking now and I grow veg for us. Thanks for your videos about making a frame hoop cover as well! 😊 Have you seen Charles Dowding's channel? He's a real hero of growing veg!
Well done, if only more people would do this. You missed out one very important point, you know what you are eating, ie. Chemicals pesticides and shelflife preservatives . GT
So good! Do you have a list over what you are growing each month?😁 it’s colder where I live, so my season is a bit shorter, and I would love some inspiration for what to grow🤩
You are amazing! If everyone grew something in their yards instead of pointless grass, which also has a cost in time and water, we could easily feed ourselves I got more space but same what you mentioned the biggest cost is making beds we got two large wooden that are old now but still there I discovered last year the grow bag types but are round and lower Perfect for an area in front of our house Im growing medicinal plants and making tinctures teas and salves By looking at your spa e, you definelety have room on those concrete edges to add grow bags or tubs and do potatoes carrots beets My next experiment is using a builders bulk bag to grow potatoes on it Also we do winter sowing( in America is really popular) with plastic bottles or milk jugs You get esrly crops and plants are really hardy Well done again!! I will follow you now
It's a wonderful feeling not having to buy cucumbers or tomatoes or salads all summer .I have a few more beds and a greenhouse but I love using the fresh produce from my efforts .
Hi Andy well done mate. I have an even smaller space 3mx1.5m would love to follow along with you. Would you do a list of what you intend to grow to make it easier for us. Thank you. PS what compost is good and cheap? Where are you Im in /se London need to find someone who has simpler weather
What a fabulous job! Maybe for this coming year you could invest in a vertical garden (I don’t know your orientation but maybe against the house to get warmed from behind too). If you had something about 5x2’ you could grow your lettuces up the wall and free up a raised bed for other crops. I’m Australian and I see your food prices and even once I adjust for currency, I still marvel at how cheap your food is compared to ours. But yours have still spiked dramatically which is hard to deal with. Plus your power spike of course. Our prices increased more slowly, but it’s at the point now where I’m planning different meals because I can’t justify $11 for a pumpkin or other ridiculousness. I’m in the process of trying to grow as much as possible. I have lots of space for raised beds but I’m also adding in a small indoor hydroponics setup so if the weather is crazy or something goes very wrong outside (lots of wildlife here) then I’ll still have a harvest of basic salads and not need to go to the supermarket. It’s going to take me a few years to break even on that, but the security I’ll feel is absolutely worth it. Oh, grow bags are handy too. I have potatoes going nuts in some at the moment. Great for filling barely useable spots. Good luck for 2025. I wish you a bumper crop 😊
really good question. The answer is no, because I didn't include the cost saved in terms of going to the supermarket, fuel getting there or time spent browsing or queuing to pay either. I set the space up expressly to be low maintenance and it really was - such minimal effort required.
@@AndyGrowsFood Also this year with your raise beds already in place and the experience of last season you should hopefully enjoy your gardening more. Good Luck
The only veg I buy is an odd onion but have just pulled my shallots so should now not have to buy them. This is in my 18 month old food garden from field to garden 😊😊
If you go Lidl or Morrison supermarket ask for the flower buckets as they are a cheap option for extra growing space and place them in The shady spots for growing parsley.
@@AndyGrowsFood A pergola would be a great way to add growing space as you could have hanging baskets, raised planters and have beans growing over them.
I think you did fantastically well considering how poor the weather was and it takes years to build a healthy soil. I have containers hanging off cattle mesh up against my garage wall to save space and you could do something similar To add extra growing space as spring onions, Lettuce, Beetroots do well and if you need polythene then your local bed shop has endless plastic for free.
Not at all - why would you sound condescending? I take that as a huge compliment and thank you so much. I come at this with fifteen years commercial growing experience, but if this video proves to just one person that they can do this... I am genuinely happy. Thanks so much for this compliment
Its probably to your benefit that you're surround by built on ground. My neighbours have all astroturfed or rubble/stone covered their front and back gardens. The result is I've got all the pests as there's nothing for them anywhere else. It's taking a very long time to reach equilibrium again so I am shelling out more than I gain. Its not stopping me though.
Have you tried planting potatoes? Easiest thing to do with a great return throughout the year. Potatoes are such a versatile food source too. Lots of luck 😊
absolutely, I've grown potatoes for many, many years and love growing them. But for me this video is all about honesty, and I can't make a case for growing potatoes on this scale to save money - whereas quick turnaround salad crops you definitely can
@@AndyGrowsFood Ahh yes of course, I see where you’re coming from Andy 😊 It’s a great video and just shows how little space you need to give it a go. Being self sufficient, and simply being out in the garden with nature has improved not only my mental health, but my overall health enormously. Please carry on with your videos they’re fab!
very true. And I think this does impact on the economies of the project, because comparing against budget supermarket prices doesn't really tell the story I think!
first 190Pd can be carried over 5 years so its really only 40Pd /yr You havent bought any lovely added pesticides and herbicides or calculated the joy of growing which is about 10 million Pd + my father only stopped when he was 80!!!!!! year 2 you are now officially hooked so saving tomato and bean seed is easy and free instead of buying plantlets sow seed just takes a bit of organising and more time the beds are made but you could easliy make them bigger with less walkway also add some plants like lavender for the bees time to rake in (eat??) the cash
@AndyGrowsFood amazing thanks and sorry for the dense question :) I am thinking of setting up a raised bed in my garden but reading through stuff I am concerned about chemicals leeching into the wood?
The initial set up was a couple of weekends. The regular maintenance was minimal, I deliberately set the garden up that way. Certainly the weekly maintenance was equal to an extra trip to the super market each week
I have about that size in the back, no space af the front, and I can't grow that much due to lack of light and warmth. Tried for many many years. The only good results are as follows... Dandilions, far too bitter to eat much if for me, sorral, again too bitter for me, nastirtium, too peppery for much, brambles, very tart so added sugar . Last year though the nastirtium struggled with the wet weather an analiation by slugs. Many of the blackberries tasted foul as not enough sun, sk the sugars could not form. So NOT EVERYONE. it will depend on light and warmth.... For many of us we don't have friendly tree surgeons etc and all must be bought 😢
It depends what you fill the base of the beds with. I filled mine with lots of tree branches and shrub pruning, then leaves with a layer of soil dug from other parts of the garden. I only used a thin layer of compost on top; so not much cost at all.
I’ve filled raised beds with all sorts of green waste and then just higher quality compost on the top layer. The bottom breaks down over time and adds more nutrients to the soil 😊
Absolutely, check out the previous video I made on filling a raised bed cheaply. As per the below comments I used a method called hugelkulture where we layer organic material which breaks down in the base of the beds. This was the organic material that I originally cleared from the space. You will need to add top soil, but as mentioned, I split a bag of top soil with a neighbour who was having work done and I didn't need too much on top of the organic material. The plants I am growing were all quite shallow rooted
This garden had very strict criteria for me, remember it's only 4m x 3.5m - that looks a lot bigger on the screen than in reality I assure you, especially once the garden is full of plants. But I deliberately wanted to leave space for pots to add between the beds, which you can see in the herbs and fruit bushes that I added later in the year.
"Mixed Salad £14.00 - Equivalent of 3 bags of supermarket salad per week." - £1 per 120g pack in Tesco "Cut Herbs £6.00 - Equivalent of 1.5 packs of cut herbs per week." - Cut Basil 52p per 30g pack in Tesco "Kale £12.00 - Approximately 2.5 supermarket bags of Kale each week" - 90p per 180g pack in Tesco "Spinach £12 - Approximately 3 bags of supermarket spinach each week" - £1.66 per 500g pack in Tesco I think you need to shop at a different supermarket
I think you misunderstand the maths. The totals are monthly totals. So according to your own maths - I would have spent £12.00 rather than £14.00 on mixed cut salad? I think the point still stands Also - the numbers were based on the prices of Spring Summer and Autumn 2023
And no chemicals, take a look at how kale is processed and other salads fruit you probably wouldn't want to buy it 😮. So it is well worth growing your own if you can, best wishes to you 👍
its not just about money its about mental health and survival......gardening on a small scale is my heaven.....i love it
totally agree regarding mental health, I am living proof of it. But this video is very much a project to show the cost benefits that people on modest incomes like myself can gain from this
My husband has had an allotment for about a year, he is 72.
It's been great for us and him. You cant beat growing your own.
Thats amazing!
This year you won’t have the cost of setting up the raised beds so it should be even more profitable, well done.
big time! Super excited to release the year two video
Well done, great job. I’ve been on about people using their lawns for growing food for a few months now with little take up. I’m shocked about increasing numbers of people putting plastic grass on their gardens too. I’ve been teaching this week on intensive gardening, I reckon you could get a lot more out of that space than you have, you probably could plant more intensely in the beds themselves actually. You’ll probably find that the weed fabric has done its job of smothering weeds and now the ground can be used with some compost on top. I’m glad YT algo showed me this video, thanks.
Here in SW Devon we have only small garden, maybe 4x4 meters. We use every inch of it, leaving the central spot for my husband’s sun bed. 🤣 We use only grow bags, no room for raised beds. We attached small planters to our garden wall and planted green stuff in them like spinach, parsley, green onions. Against all odds, I planted 3 cucumber plants in every 5 gallons grow bag and they did well. We used our flat roof for growing potatoes in large shopping bags (my beloved husband’s idea 🤣). We were able to have plenty of veggies and greens till cold came in, enough to share with our lovely elderly neighbour.
I love to see a proper food garden on an average sized suburban plot. I've turned most of my garden into veg growing space.
safe to say, this isn't normal in an area like the one that I live in!
It doesn’t factor in that what you’ve grown is (probably) organic
It doesn’t take into account the freshness of the produce you’re eating
Brilliant!! Well done on keeping that spreadsheet.
I already grow plenty - I've mentioned before that my biggest cash crop is in tomatoes, which I mostly grow from saved seeds, either my own or any supermarket tomatoes that I've bought and saved. Nothing grows "true" as everything hybridises with everything else, but that just means more variety and a staggered season. I can be eating fresh tomatoes from July to December, and I freeze loads of partially cooked tomatoes for cooking over the winter. Some years I get over 40kg (not last year though, that was a bit of a washout but we still ate all the tomatoes we wanted - I just didn't have a lot left over for freezing). I encourage anyone to have a go at growing something - if all you've got is a sunny window cill, you can still grow cut and come again salad leaves and maybe a tomato plant or two, basil loves a sunny window as do many other herbs that'll be fine in pots, and if you've got the room outside for a couple of growbags or large buckets, there's nothing you can't grow.
one year I bought 1 yellow 1 red and 1 orange tomato specifically for the seed inside (50c total ) 10 years later still growing sourced from these same 3 baby fruits !!! nothing is easier than saving tomato seed
@ This year, I'll be adding some "Purple Blush" cocktail tomatoes to the mix - I got a tray of them in the supermarket a couple of months ago - lovely flavour, so seeds got saved and they'll be going in a couple of pots amongst the rest (last year I added some little yellow plum tomatoes) - every year I get a new surprise from the hybrids
Even if you didn't cover your upfront costs in the first year, this year it's all in place so no big ongoing costs.
More importantly, you've enjoyed far fresher food than you could buy, exercise from gardening, and wellbeing by being surrounded by nature.
Keep on growing. Cheers!
thanks so much! At the end of the video I provided a breakdown of costs, so I was chuffed to break even late on year one.. Let me tell you year two is an incredible video too, just need to edit it!
A great outcome! I was so sick of buying a bag of salad that went limp and tasteless unless I ate it all in one day so I started growing my own salads in small pots and never went back. Such a good video, thank you for making it
Thank you so much for that it means a lot! Absolutely, you realise just how good fresh salad is supposed to taste right!
I grow food in my front garden, in raised beds. Clay is our problem.
Our back garden is for family and friends time. However, all round the edges we have high raised bed for food. Apple trees planted along the fence that are trained to grow along wires. Strawberries in old commercial ice cream tubs. Herbs in half barrels and many flowers to attract the bees 🐝
I had an allotment within walking distance for 10 years. I loved it but and never made a profit, just had quality food. Pidgeons, slugs and snails and bugs as I tried to stay organic, plus giving away when everything came at once. Still grow things in my garden as I am happy doing it but it is hard work.
Impressive story. Worth sharing. On top of the saving, the taste and freshness of the produce is priceless !
And no pesticides and no plastic
Marvellous. Council house gardens were very productive in my grandparents and parents times ; sadly mostly hardstanding for cars in front and patios out back.
It's so interesting Vicky, I am a keen amateur local historian and I am so interested about the oral history around this. Certainly in our local area there is little evidence of council house gardens growing much food other than during the Second World War - but I would genuinely love to see the history behind it
i grow veg in my back garden to help feed my family have done for last 50yrs im 74 and still doing it
Vitally important message Andy - i thank you 4 it - you are appreciated - blessed bee
As a horticulturist, I have grown food and plants where ever I go and my daughter does the same. Even on an apartment balcony you can grow food. It's not just about the money. You are what you eat, there for to know where your food is coming from is to know yourself. (Geoff Lawson quote)
LOVE that quote, it's something that I have come to live by in recent years (not entirely through choice) although this video is heavily about the financial side of it for me personally
Thank you for the encouragement! 🇬🇧🤍🏴🇺🇸
I put 7 raised garden beds in my back yard in fall of 2022. I am going into my third year of gardening. Last year, I harvesred over 650+ pounds of food! I did invest into the set up with raised beds, composter, fruit trees and bushes etc. but I suspect over time it will more than pay for itself. Infact, I made so much homemade compost last year that I will not need to purchase any for this year's garden. I started learning how to seed save and can/preserve food last year as well. My long term goal is to eventually grow 75% of my families food for the year. 🤞 At the average food price of $1.89 a pound for produce I harvested $1,228.50 worth of food. I haven't broke even yet in my homestead set up but I should be even by middle of this year and then the next 20 - 30 years will be all gravy. Gardening is definately worth it. Sunshine, exercise, healthy fresh food and mo ey savings.
YES! I literally love this and its so true. I think people don't realise just how expensive food is now. Thanks so much for sharing this
We grow salads in pots and window/flower boxes. They are installed outside and on top of the narrow boards of the beds. This saves raised bed space. So we get them manageable and can replant different pots, let them seed and regrow. You can interplant them with radish. Some of our raised beds are made of bricks and concrete formwork stones. Wood will rot over time but stones last. Sometimes you can get them for free or they cost little money. And you can just put them on the ground and don't connect them firmly. So it's like Lego. You can build a bed quickly and remove it with little work if you want. We installed a trellis on each bed because vertical growing makes a huge difference - beans, cucumbers, peas, pumpkins and tomatoes and some other climbing vegetables. Great ideas for big yields in small spaces come with square foot gardening if you grow in raised beds. This year I'll put green beans and jalapenos in pots. I can recommend permaveggies like Tree Kale. It's easy to propagate, it grows like a weed and you can harvest fresh cabbage leaves year round. They will become big and shouldn't be grown in a bed too. Wild rocket/argugula is also a good salad option. It doesn't necessarily need a raised bed. It grows anywhere. I put it on the ground next to my raised beds and it makes small bushes over summer. Raised beds are perfect for carrots and deep roots like parsnip (they can be in ground till march and are fully winterhardy) and snap peas can grow next to the corner and hang over the bed or you can install a small fence for them to climb on. This year I'll switch from green leaves to calories to grow. I have a good amount of salads and kale but lack of protein and calorie dense food. Mainly parsnip, Popcorn, runner beans, shell peas and pumpkins in raised beds and a patch of jerusalem artichokes and potatoes. They all store well in ground or dried. Beet roots and Celery are also great options. It's best to interplant and succession plant, so you get the most amount of food from your garden. Vertical gardening is the most underrated thing. A single grape or kiwi vine can get you loads of fruit from a fence and you can use trees as a climbing tool for beans.
Vertical gardening has been a game changer this year
Congrats on your project, very inspiring!
Well done! I hope that you're going to continue your gardening!!
absolutely! And it's important to be honest. I've been growing commercially for 15 years, and personally for 20 years, but never quite like this, with the express focus on growing food to reduce the shopping bill. I feel great for it! Thank you so much
Growing your own is NOT about the money. It's about freshness, wholesome, nourishing food, being outside and working hard, but best of all the joy of growing the food on your plate. I make my own seeds as well, again not about the money, but having the fulfilment of doing it.
Yes, and money too.
@@grantbrown3647 I don't believe I have saved anything significant, just pennies. What I have gained is detailed above.
Absolutely agree regarding the benefits, all of which I have benefited from for the last 15 years. Although this video IS about saving money. And I think it's an important message to share.
you can see a breakdown of costs, vs crop value. I am just editing the year two video, and let me tell you - the spreadsheet looks a lot different in the second year. You are correct about the pennies that I have saved. Thousands of them.
Sadly the masses are too distracted.
It's amazing what we can grow ourselves.
There is. NOT a shortage of food.
I think for me this project is zeroing down on my very small corner of planet earth and showing what can be done
Have you found people pinch things from your front garden? That's the only thing that makes me hesitant about mine. My parents had a rosemary bush in their front garden and someone decimated it - they didn't realise at first, but someone was literally entering their front garden, walking up the steps to the door and taking cuttings 🤯 we never saw it happen but it became pretty clear what was going on - they had to move it into their back garden to help it regrow. It's a short wall/fence in my garden so stuff would be on display 🙈 I guess the camera on my front door might put them off 😅
No absolutely not - the perception or idea of 'things being taken' is so much higher than the reality. I talk about this here:
ua-cam.com/video/yshdrMPFiaM/v-deo.htmlsi=t8CN0QLMIIvRGafp
@AndyGrowsFood thank you for your response - I'm really glad to hear it hasn't been a problem for you 😊
❤ your project, have been doing a lot of experiments. Have been composting in 3x 10, 20 and 40 litres plastic buckets and bin. What goes in household fruit and vegetable scraps, shredded paper, cardbord, coffee grounds, some horse manure, old hay scraps. Add tiger worms, when the 10 and 20 litre bins are full and can fill a 40 litre, then sift the worms out by putting some worming compost into the sieve. Then store that into another bin and use it to grow seedlings. Gardening on the first weekend of any month just 1 day would sow any seeds that needed to be sown, but not a full day, used to work 2nd, 4th and the fifth weekend if one.
love composting!
We have just taken an allotment plot, which will grow everything we need across the year, and have rescued hens which are providing us with plenty of fresh organic free range eggs from very happy hens. It’s the only way forward in my eyes, I encourage people to give it a go if you have even the smallest of gardens.
big time! And I would say also, that anyone reading this... just start small as I have done. Just a single raised bed maybe and prioritise quick turnaround crops
Well done very inspiring thank you for sharing🤗🌰
I have a very small, courtyard garden where everything is grown in pots. I grow 11 crops in it, despite the fact that it faces West ( less sunlight). Plus loads of herbs which I have dried this winter. I'm always horrified at prices in the shops. A fascinating experiment, thank you!
Well done! I love growing fruit and veg and herbs, and for me it is more rewarding than ornamental plants (except perhaps sweet peas). Keep going. Would love to see how you get on this year.
thanks so much! This is a reupload of the 2023 project..... the video of the 2024 season is being edited right now :)
So many more benefits than you realise, Fresh grown food is something everyone should try doing if they have the chance to. Nothing taste better than something you have grown yourself.
You are so right but it isn't about the numbers, if you and your misses have enjoyed the process and got something to eat out of it that is worth more than any saving. We have an allotment and I'm not sure we never recoup the cost really but, what we recoup in mental wellbeing and just enjoying the environment and time together is priceless.
Good luck for year two mate!
Hi Andy, my mum across your channel and told me about it. As a former supermarket worker I have to say, YES, the food quality is shocking now and I grow veg for us. Thanks for your videos about making a frame hoop cover as well! 😊
Have you seen Charles Dowding's channel? He's a real hero of growing veg!
Well done, if only more people would do this. You missed out one very important point, you know what you are eating, ie. Chemicals pesticides and shelflife preservatives . GT
Very true
Good work, well done. Greetings from Cape Town South Africa.
sending greetings back to you! Lovely part of the world
So good! Do you have a list over what you are growing each month?😁 it’s colder where I live, so my season is a bit shorter, and I would love some inspiration for what to grow🤩
the answer to this is .... kind of! I have a detailed spread sheet showing what I harvested each month if that makes sense?
You are amazing! If everyone grew something in their yards instead of pointless grass, which also has a cost in time and water, we could easily feed ourselves
I got more space but same what you mentioned the biggest cost is making beds we got two large wooden that are old now but still there
I discovered last year the grow bag types but are round and lower
Perfect for an area in front of our house
Im growing medicinal plants and making tinctures teas and salves
By looking at your spa e, you definelety have room on those concrete edges to add grow bags or tubs and do potatoes carrots beets
My next experiment is using a builders bulk bag to grow potatoes on it
Also we do winter sowing( in America is really popular) with plastic bottles or milk jugs
You get esrly crops and plants are really hardy
Well done again!! I will follow you now
It's a wonderful feeling not having to buy cucumbers or tomatoes or salads all summer .I have a few more beds and a greenhouse but I love using the fresh produce from my efforts .
honestly just not buying those bags of salad was such a game changer... such quick turnaround and low maintenance too!
Hi Andy well done mate. I have an even smaller space 3mx1.5m would love to follow along with you. Would you do a list of what you intend to grow to make it easier for us. Thank you. PS what compost is good and cheap? Where are you Im in /se London need to find someone who has simpler weather
What a fabulous job! Maybe for this coming year you could invest in a vertical garden (I don’t know your orientation but maybe against the house to get warmed from behind too). If you had something about 5x2’ you could grow your lettuces up the wall and free up a raised bed for other crops.
I’m Australian and I see your food prices and even once I adjust for currency, I still marvel at how cheap your food is compared to ours. But yours have still spiked dramatically which is hard to deal with. Plus your power spike of course. Our prices increased more slowly, but it’s at the point now where I’m planning different meals because I can’t justify $11 for a pumpkin or other ridiculousness. I’m in the process of trying to grow as much as possible. I have lots of space for raised beds but I’m also adding in a small indoor hydroponics setup so if the weather is crazy or something goes very wrong outside (lots of wildlife here) then I’ll still have a harvest of basic salads and not need to go to the supermarket. It’s going to take me a few years to break even on that, but the security I’ll feel is absolutely worth it.
Oh, grow bags are handy too. I have potatoes going nuts in some at the moment. Great for filling barely useable spots.
Good luck for 2025. I wish you a bumper crop 😊
Way to go mate good on ya
A definite thumbs up did you add in the cost of what you would have been doing otherwise roll on next planting GOOD LUCK
really good question. The answer is no, because I didn't include the cost saved in terms of going to the supermarket, fuel getting there or time spent browsing or queuing to pay either. I set the space up expressly to be low maintenance and it really was - such minimal effort required.
@@AndyGrowsFood Also this year with your raise beds already in place and the experience of last season you should hopefully enjoy your gardening more. Good Luck
The only veg I buy is an odd onion but have just pulled my shallots so should now not have to buy them. This is in my 18 month old food garden from field to garden 😊😊
If you go Lidl or Morrison supermarket ask for the flower buckets as they are a cheap option for extra growing space and place them in The shady spots for growing parsley.
perfect for herbs like parsley
@@AndyGrowsFood A pergola would be a great way to add growing space as you could have hanging baskets, raised planters and have beans growing over them.
Dig for victory.
yes!!!!
I think you did fantastically well considering how poor the weather was and it takes years to build a healthy soil.
I have containers hanging off cattle mesh up against my garage wall to save space and you could do something similar
To add extra growing space as spring onions, Lettuce, Beetroots do well and if you need polythene then your local bed shop has endless plastic for free.
I don't want to sound condescending, but well done, lad! If only more people would take your stance. 👏
Not at all - why would you sound condescending? I take that as a huge compliment and thank you so much. I come at this with fifteen years commercial growing experience, but if this video proves to just one person that they can do this... I am genuinely happy. Thanks so much for this compliment
Its probably to your benefit that you're surround by built on ground. My neighbours have all astroturfed or rubble/stone covered their front and back gardens. The result is I've got all the pests as there's nothing for them anywhere else. It's taking a very long time to reach equilibrium again so I am shelling out more than I gain. Its not stopping me though.
Interesting! And please keep going, it's awesome
How big were your beds and which direction does your garden face?
Have you tried planting potatoes? Easiest thing to do with a great return throughout the year. Potatoes are such a versatile food source too. Lots of luck 😊
absolutely, I've grown potatoes for many, many years and love growing them. But for me this video is all about honesty, and I can't make a case for growing potatoes on this scale to save money - whereas quick turnaround salad crops you definitely can
@@AndyGrowsFood Ahh yes of course, I see where you’re coming from Andy 😊 It’s a great video and just shows how little space you need to give it a go. Being self sufficient, and simply being out in the garden with nature has improved not only my mental health, but my overall health enormously. Please carry on with your videos they’re fab!
And the quality of the crops was undoubtedly superior to what you could have bought at the store.
very true. And I think this does impact on the economies of the project, because comparing against budget supermarket prices doesn't really tell the story I think!
first 190Pd can be carried over 5 years so its really only 40Pd /yr You havent bought any lovely added pesticides and herbicides or calculated the joy of growing which is about 10 million Pd + my father only stopped when he was 80!!!!!!
year 2 you are now officially hooked so saving tomato and bean seed is easy and free instead of buying plantlets sow seed just takes a bit of organising and more time the beds are made but you could easliy make them bigger with less walkway also add some plants like lavender for the bees
time to rake in (eat??) the cash
I dare you to grow grains in the space around the garden bed!
Might be a stupid question but how did you manage to paint the raised beds? Did you use specific paint or a specific technique?
honestly? I found the remains of a tin of paint in a skip and just painted the outside of the beds
@AndyGrowsFood amazing thanks and sorry for the dense question :) I am thinking of setting up a raised bed in my garden but reading through stuff I am concerned about chemicals leeching into the wood?
How much time did you spent on this project?
The initial set up was a couple of weekends. The regular maintenance was minimal, I deliberately set the garden up that way. Certainly the weekly maintenance was equal to an extra trip to the super market each week
I have about that size in the back, no space af the front, and I can't grow that much due to lack of light and warmth. Tried for many many years. The only good results are as follows... Dandilions, far too bitter to eat much if for me, sorral, again too bitter for me, nastirtium, too peppery for much, brambles, very tart so added sugar . Last year though the nastirtium struggled with the wet weather an analiation by slugs. Many of the blackberries tasted foul as not enough sun, sk the sugars could not form. So NOT EVERYONE. it will depend on light and warmth.... For many of us we don't have friendly tree surgeons etc and all must be bought 😢
I woukd like to see breakdown of start up no way can you fill 5 beds and build for £195 1200l compost minium of £165!
It depends what you fill the base of the beds with. I filled mine with lots of tree branches and shrub pruning, then leaves with a layer of soil dug from other parts of the garden. I only used a thin layer of compost on top; so not much cost at all.
I’ve filled raised beds with all sorts of green waste and then just higher quality compost on the top layer. The bottom breaks down over time and adds more nutrients to the soil 😊
Absolutely, check out the previous video I made on filling a raised bed cheaply. As per the below comments I used a method called hugelkulture where we layer organic material which breaks down in the base of the beds. This was the organic material that I originally cleared from the space. You will need to add top soil, but as mentioned, I split a bag of top soil with a neighbour who was having work done and I didn't need too much on top of the organic material. The plants I am growing were all quite shallow rooted
exactly the method I used... great for soil health and keeping down costs
absolutely! Great for soil health
exercise, mental health and other money saving benifits result from gardening.
absolutely! Community building too
You've wasted over half of your available garden by using boxes. Use the whole garden .
This garden had very strict criteria for me, remember it's only 4m x 3.5m - that looks a lot bigger on the screen than in reality I assure you, especially once the garden is full of plants. But I deliberately wanted to leave space for pots to add between the beds, which you can see in the herbs and fruit bushes that I added later in the year.
dont like that plastic you used :(
Nice one
thank you!
"Mixed Salad £14.00 - Equivalent of 3 bags of supermarket salad per week." - £1 per 120g pack in Tesco
"Cut Herbs £6.00 - Equivalent of 1.5 packs of cut herbs per week." - Cut Basil 52p per 30g pack in Tesco
"Kale £12.00 - Approximately 2.5 supermarket bags of Kale each week" - 90p per 180g pack in Tesco
"Spinach £12 - Approximately 3 bags of supermarket spinach each week" - £1.66 per 500g pack in Tesco
I think you need to shop at a different supermarket
I think you misunderstand the maths. The totals are monthly totals. So according to your own maths - I would have spent £12.00 rather than £14.00 on mixed cut salad? I think the point still stands Also - the numbers were based on the prices of Spring Summer and Autumn 2023
And no chemicals, take a look at how kale is processed and other salads fruit you probably wouldn't want to buy it 😮. So it is well worth growing your own if you can, best wishes to you 👍