FANCY saving a few pounds on your trips to the supermarket?
Well there is an easy way to get lots of healthy foods, a bit of exercise and come home with more pennies in your purse – grow your own food.
More and more people are turning to allotments or transforming their flower beds into a vegetable patch and growing fruit and veg.
And they’re quickly finding that it can save pounds at the checkout.
Green-fingered people in Huddersfield are growing everything from potatoes, carrots, parsnips and cauliflower in their gardens or allotments.
But how much can you save?
Statistics show that growing a variety of fruit and veg can cut as much as 30% off your annual food bill.
A mix of tomatoes, lettuce, rocket, onion and cucumber seeds will cost less than £4 and provide five portions of each.
To buy just one portion of all of those would cost more than £5 in a supermarket.
And while there will be an initial bill for all the equipment and seeds, it will pay off in the long run.
Malcolm Peaker, secretary of the Huddersfield Allotment and Garden Federation, said: “You can really reduce what you pay at the supermarket, but you have to put the time into getting it going and keep it up.”
There is a waiting list to join some Kirklees allotments, but many people turn over a bit of their back garden while tubs and pots can also be used to grow food like tomatoes.
Mr Peaker, 68, added: “It is definitely becoming more popular and the quality is so much better too.
“I think more people should at least give it a go.”
Tips and advice for growing in pots
You will need:
A selection of pots of varying diameters, multi-purpose compost, water-retaining crystals, vegetable or fruit seeds or herb plants. Also a small watering can and labels.
All seed packets have instructions to follow. Either raise in small pots before planting into larger ones or scatter across the surface of the compost and water in.
Water regularly, keep in light or heat if required.
For tomatoes, the best time to grow is now to benefit from juicy tomatoes throughout the spring and summer.