Self sufficient gardening

[veggiechicken]

Imagine a year when you spend absolutely nothing on gardening. You save seeds, make your own compost, fertilisers and pest control.
Could you do it?
What would be the most difficult thing to achieve?

[northepaul]

Actually growing something to eat!!

Seriously I would have to pay allotment rent though....I do most of the things on your list, but I cant make enough compost to cover everything - could I have an allowance to buy this? Oh and seed potatoes?

[veggiechicken]

Compost is the hardest thing for me too, Thea! I'm trying to think of ways of reducing costs for youngsters coming into gardening or anyone who finds it expensive to garden according to the "advice" you read on websites or in magazines.
Allotment rent is unavoidable - so you can have that!!

[lottie dolly]

the weather would play the biggest part,and pest control,as nothing can be guaranteed in those fields,also the amount of time you can spend doing it,we have a good set up and space on our plots,plus lots of saved rain water,but weather like this year,it's all out of our control,and we are able to spend lots of time working on it,so weather conditions is my answer.

seed potatoes,use shop ones when they selling them of cheaper,or a farm shop,we have used both,and had good results,ask ang fussy friends ext,if they got any they are about to thow out as not fit to eat,

[veggiechicken]

You can't buy "weather" Lottie - it costs nothing to start with!! Pest control is another matter though

[lottie dolly]

You can't buy "weather" Lottie - it costs nothing to start with!! Pest control is another matter though

could always beg the beer dregs from the GR for beer traps,i wonder if beer sprayed on plants would have any effect on the afids,white fly and cabbage whites.

[veggiechicken]

Probably make the caterpillars reel around drunkenly - could be worth a try!!

[Kaiya]

Does 'self-sufficient' mean "no money shall change hands" or does it mean "I shall not end up with a negative money balance"? If the latter, you could sell spare seedlings at the front gate, and sell excess harvest (maybe not this year lol) and then only spend the profits on the things you want but can't make at home - compost, pest control, BFB, allotment rent, any new seeds/seed potatoes/sets.

All of this is assuming you have all the tools you need for the near future at least, and you don't count reusing things like yoghurt pots and loo rolls as spending (since you bought both initially).

[veggiechicken]

I was trying to think of ways not to spend anything on gardening at all - and still be able to sell the surplus Most of my outlay is on seeds and compost. Seeds I can swap or save but seed compost is the thing I would struggle without. How about you?

[Two_Sheds]

seeds
I save my own, any extras are bought in the (Wilkinson) sale. I already have a drawer full of seed spuds, so I'm not buying any this year
�0

compost
I make my own from leafmould (40+ bags a year); seaweed; daleks, and I usually have to buy in a few bales of MPC too, for seed sowing:
�15

fertilisers
make my own: comfrey & seaweed tea. I do usually buy one small box of BFB a year (�1) but last year I was gifted a tub of it, so none to buy this year
�0

pest control
I bought netting a few years ago, and that will last me. Ditto cane supports. Slug pellets: I don't usually use them, but this year I had to: 2 tubs (used sparingly & safely). I also bought a butterfly net this year for the cabbage whites
�3

Lotty Rent
�25

[veggiechicken]

Thanks 2S
What do you use, sue for seed sowing compost - homemade or boughten?

[Aberdeenplotter]

weedkiller should be no problem. Read after following Zazen's recent thread about glyphosate that any ingested is mainly excreted in urine. Just have to be selective with the weeds I ermhh water

Don't think od compost gathering as a problem. get hold of a local gardener who will be delighted to drop off grass cuttingsfor you. Seed spuds, just don't eat some of last years harvest. The Irish Matriarchs used to sleep with them beside her in bed to preserve some for seed. slugs and snails are difficult but before slug pellets and nematodes our antecedents found ways of dealing with them. prince Charles allows ducks to wander about his garden in what was his grandmother's house up in Deeside. They love them. prince Charles also uses a lot of composted bark around his hostas which are untouched by slugs.

Nothing surer though that it is tremendously satisfying wandering through the fruit and veg aisle in the supermarket thinking I'm self sufficient in this and in that and in that etc. and perhaps just buying the unusual or exotic.

[Aberdeenplotter]

Thanks 2S
What do you sue for seed sowing compost - homemade or boughten?

you gone all litigacious? VC

[Aberdeenplotter]

If you are determined to use home made compost as seed compost, best to try to sterilise it. Keep a good eye on freegle/freecycle for a microwave. brill for sterilising small quantities. Don't do it in your kitchen microwave though, it will make it really niffy

[veggiechicken]

Why am I asking these questions? Just want to quantify how little money you need to grow your own - as I feel that the escalating costs of some things could put people off. When a packet of seed can cost �2, a bag of compost �5 and so on, maybe a newbie believes that it is an expensive hobby so doesn't even try.
Imagine a world where every household was given a set of garden tools, a basic selection of seeds and a bit of ground to grow. Wouldn't that be a great start in life?