Do you think growing your own or forraging will become more popular now energy prices have risen so much?

[kirstyalslap]

It seems like the natural next step to me but want others thoughts on it? Forraging is completely free and things like nettles, dandelions, cleavers (sticky weed) and obviously blackberries, apples, plums, damsons, elderflower, elder Berry are all edible and easily identifiable.
Not to mention salad leaves can be grown all year round on a windowsill or kitchen side.
What does everyone think?

Only posting as several people (not connected) have spoken about being interested in it.

yabu - you personally are not interested in either
Yanbu - you personally are interested

@EddyF I do agree with OP that it may well become more common. As food prices increase, there would be fewer donations to food banks. Aren't there a lot of people who rely on food banks to eat? Rent will definitely increase (house prices have increased so more people renting), clothing prices will also increase so those people would probably be stretched in more than 1 area.

I mean, the debate was between heating or eating. I would sooner pay my mortgage than eat so I am sure it's the same for rent. The number of people in food insecurity could well increase to over 30% (believe it's currently 20%).

The F&Y Survey included 3118 adults aged 16+ living in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, while the LIDNS targeted the 15 per cent most deprived households in the UK.

Analysis of the F&Y data showed that around 1 in 5 adults (21%; 10.2 million people) in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland experienced some level of food insecurity in 2016. For nearly 3 per cent, this was severe, meaning that they likely went without food.

I wouldn't be foraging where I live but I hope more people do get interested in growing their own. Im growing about 7 years.

I grow everything in pots and containers in a small north facing garden in Ireland with an even smaller patch that actually gets sun.
Started with one tomato plant and now grow several varieties plus beans,peas,sweetcorn peppers, potatoes, blueberries and shit loads more.

There was some cost involved the first year or two but I reuse the same containers of soil every year and collect my own seeds now which saves a lot.
And the veg tastes glorious

[quote kirstyalslap]@Hospedia no the hour is for washing the jars and cleaning up after need about 30 mins all in all on the stove for 8 ish jars.
And yes we have a key meter. why are you trying to make out it can't be done?

we were struggling. it helped my family. in fact I loved jam day because it warmed the kitchen up. what's the real problem? seriously?[/quote]
There's nothing wrong with it. Lots of people do garden usefully and it does become more popular when people feel insecure about the economy.

But the fact is that when you cost out home gardening, it doesn't tend to save money. Especially if you are urban or otherwise have to bring in your soil amendments and such. Something like greens, yes, you can probably fairly cheaply stay in greens all summer, they are not heavy feeders, they are abundant, they are very space efficient. Same with beans and courgettes (though many dislike the latter.) But even potatoes which will give you a lot of yield and food bulk for your space - well the fact is they are also very cheap to buy.

So yes, some groups of people who are not the poorest can usefully stretch their budget a bit through wise use of a garden. But that's about it. There is a reason the global food system manages to out-compete local farmers in price.

But the fact is that when you cost out home gardening, it doesn't tend to save money. Especially if you are urban or otherwise have to bring in your soil amendments and such. Something like greens, yes, you can probably fairly cheaply stay in greens all summer, they are not heavy feeders, they are abundant, they are very space efficient. Same with beans and courgettes (though many dislike the latter.) But even potatoes which will give you a lot of yield and food bulk for your space - well the fact is they are also very cheap to buy

I'm an urban gardener.
I buy zero vegetables for about 3-4 months of the year and grow others for longer.
Buy cheap buckets and tubs for a couple of euro to grow in.
I buy no soil amendments and have used the same pots of soil 4 years running now, I use leaves and seaweed collected in autumn to make a 'chop and drop' ..put on top of the pots, leave til next growing season. That puts nutrients back into the soil.

I grow corn and beans and big plants like that with my recycled soil and top up with cheap nutrients, either on sale or in pound shops and lidl etc.
I've been using a box of potato fertiliser for 2 years that I got in deals for €1.50.
I havnt bought seeds for 5 years. Collect my own.

It really can be cheap.

Dealz * that Z is important

I do remember having a coal fire when I was little. We were poor and used to gather bits of wood on our walks. We pulled wood out of skips too. A couple of local businesses to me leave large piles of wood outside with a sign saying free firewood. It saves them paying for waste disposal so its worth checking local businesses.

I live very rural and coastal so there are options like fishing locally. We have rhubarb growing wild. I hate to see it go to waste so I pick it every year and give it away. I grow bits and bobs every year but my efforts could not feed us. Its a small bonus at best. But some people are able to grow much better and can dedicate more time. My brother is amazing he lives in a suburb with a large garden. His garden is full of vegetable beds all immaculately weeded. He's planted fruit trees and strawberries. There was talk of mushroom logs. He's got around 20 chickens and he sells the eggs. He works full time and this is his hobby and passion. I think you need passion to make a success of home growing. Most of us do not have it. It is more than planting and waiting for them to grow.

..for mushrooms, no. Unless you really know what you are doing, it's dangerous.

But each year, I bottle jars of blackberries in syrup and rhubarb in syrup. I pack hazel kernals in honey, I slice and freeze apples. Use them for a variety of winter puddings. I make enough sweet chilli sauce for the year. All quick, easy and basically free.

I've always grown all our salad, April - October. Courgettes, tomatoes and cucumbers are dead easy too.

It's easy to add it to the evening school run routine.....get home, wander down garden, water greenhouse beds/pots, enjoy peace, cook supper. If you have a sunny patch of garden, it's cheap, easy and stress relieving.

I'm a single mum, I can't go anywhere in the evening, so I might as well use my time making/growing food. It probably saves me about £500 a year.

I do that anyway.
I don't think a lot of people would put in the time to gain the knowledge or the hard work required.

I do swaps too. If I make apple pies, I swap with a neighbour for some of their eggs.

Paycheck?

It's also a bit soul destroying when year after year you get blight, or you cover your greens from butterflies and the slugs eat them instead.
Seeds are expensive.
Foraging is a skill and you need to avoid polluted or piddled on stuff when you finally become confident in identification.
I think its not the answer many are looking for.

I’m fairly knowledgeable about wild foods and have space to grow veg and already have fruit trees. My problem is as a single parent I’m time poor in being about to look after it all after a day at work and then home to sort the house and family. Weeds and insects quickly take hold in summer unless you can dedicate time each day and to grow enough to really feed your family does take time. However I may put potatoes and other root veg in this year again and see how we get on. Choosing foods that store well is also wise.
I have a stinging nettle patch and brambles, thistle roots can also be eaten.

It's all very well saying "Grow your own", but it requires time and commitment that a lot of people nowadays simply don't have, even if they have gardens they can use and experience they can draw on.

This, unfortunately. I grow herbs and salad leaves, and have occasionally diversified into potatoes, carrots, beetroot etc, but I find it hard work and it’s not enough to live on even if I put all my energy into it. My garden is full of squirrels, foxes, birds and slugs who wreck everything on a regular basis!

@WheelieBinPrincess

I absolutely do not believe you can ‘feed your kids all summer for free’ from this fabled fruit and nut laden park, unless your children are squirrels.

I also don't understand how that's possible.

We don't have a magic food park near us, sadly.

Hugely in favour of forgiving.

I would dispute however that free nettles will create a meal for the cost of an onion and stock cube.

That’s the sort of thing I are growing up poor in the 60s - and going to bed with sore, hungry stomach on those days. Leaf soup isn’t a meal. It’s better than nothing, sure, but it’s only a “meal” when you’re desperate for it to be so.

At best, foraging is a free outdoor activity that may yield some free blackberries, but it really can't be relied upon to supplement food supplies.

It would be very rare for anyone to be able to produce fruit and vegetables cheaper than supermarket or even naice organic veg box prices without significant up front investment and ongoing time commitment.

As well as the '£20 tomato' I've seen gardening as spending hundreds of pounds and tens of hours to save a few pounds on vegetables.

Fine if you have some established fruit trees or a perennial crop like asparagus or rhubarb, but like a PP says, if you want to make your income/expenditure balance and disposable income more favourable, you'd be best finding a few hours extra work a week/month, even if it's NMW.

we were struggling. it helped my family. in fact I loved jam day because it warmed the kitchen up. what's the real problem? seriously?

You don't need the heating on at the time of year you make jam!!!

These foraging tales are full of holes OP.

yabu
foraging is hard work for the calories.
growing your own will not make much difference unless you have a big area to grow stuff in and a lot of time to tend to the plants and equipment to deal with gluts.

pot of herbs for tastier meals maybe, but a tomato plant on the balcony will give you fresh toms for a few weeks when they are cheap anyway as they are in season.

Given the number of dogs, foxes, cats and rodents that roam our suburban area (ok, at least the dogs are mainly on-lead) I wouldn’t want to eat foraged food from my neighbourhood!
We grow herbs, tomatoes and salad in containers, but that’s as far as we would go.
Gathering firewood is also not viable for us, as our 2022-compliant stove can apparently be ruined if non-kiln-dried wood is burnt (and I believe that the use of non-kiln-dried fuel will also shortly be banned because of the emissions they cause, in the next year or so)
So for me, no! (UK, South)

Of course people who live in densely populated urban areas aren't going to start foraging or growing food in their non exisitant gardens . They will start stealing. Theft and other crimes will increase, as they do when people are desperate.

Your wild garlic pesto cost nothing but the cheap pasta, OP?

So the olive oil, pine nuts and Parmesan were either free or conveniently lying around in the magic fruit park too?

Foraging is great, I really enjoy it, but it’s a way to get some extras, not feed your family for free.

I’ve been growing fruit and vegetables for years. Perennial crops do save money, and cut and come again salads are excellent value but the majority of vegetables are far cheaper to buy than to grow.

I have an allotment and grow a variety of vegetables, but by the time I have paid the rent and bought seed sometimes twice if the first lot doesn't grow it doesn't really save me money. It is a cheap enjoyable hobby.
My mum used to have a piece of land and grow for a profit but found that cut flowers sold through the local shop were a much better bet than vegetables.

Our society has been designed so that foraging, growing your own and living off the land is near impossible for many or simply not worth it. We live in a world disconnected from nature. Homes have little growing space, people no longer have the skills, many households have two adults working so there is little time, commuting, Internet that absords peoples souls, fast food, ready meals, pollution, povety, depression.

We have apple trees planted on our new estate, and I do often think how wonderful it would be if we could turn the UK into a complete garden bursting with food. Might make a good book.