Most "money-saving" vegetable

[donegalwildman]

Courgettes (I have to give them away, they are so productive), Beetroot and chard/spinach would be my best yields. That's in a good year. This year was a disaster apart from the chard and perpetual spinach which are still going strong.

(I'd also add eggs: my hens give me on average 4 each per week. 7 hens can be fed for 8 euros a month. That's about a euro a dozen.)

[jimmyhague]

Chard. we've got a wild version that grows where it likes. and for the 3-4 euros i've spent on other varieties over the past few years it has given us superb greens, reds and yellows nearly all year round

[southeast-isher]

Strawberries are easy and fun to grow. They must be quite a money-saving vegetable/fruit.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Any one mentioned raspberries yet? So wildly expensive (particularly if you're buying organic): so easy to grow.

[merlin]

We tend to eat what is in season, and preserve what we can, I can't belive the prices of things being banded about here! I supose the thing that we use most will be tomatoes, fresh through the summer and we grow loads to jar up. That keeps us for cooking summer and winter. We would grow more potatoes, but can't find propper seed pots here, so we just grow what we can buy at the market, not supposed to I know, that's why we dont do it in a big way, but it seems to come out ok. yes, tomatoes for us.

[merlin]

Just been reminded, cabbage. it is big here, a bit like sour krout I think. We do barrels of it every year. Use it in cooking and like a pickle sort of thing. i was really not into the idea, but I have to say it is really good. if you eat it cold it comes out like mild pickled onions, sort of, nice. dead easy to make, just cabbage, salt & water, and cheeeep. I will make a film next month when we do some more.

[wulf]

Kale ('Nero di Toscana') has been my king of outdoor vegetables. I planted it in mid-February, planted it out in batches between March and May and have been harvesting it since June. So far I've had about twenty decent trug-fulls and it is still going strong, with the first batch still productive and a late sowing I did in August now at a decent size to pick.

Under cover, tomatoes 'Legend Bush' and 'Red Cherry' were the stars in my polytunnel although, to be fair, I had several other varieties in there that didn't do so well. However, about 160 'Legend Bush' and almost 120 'Red Cherry' easily repay the investment in time, soil and space for all of them.

Wulf

[chadspad]

If I could actually get it to grow, sweetcorn for me. Its 2.95 euros for 2 measley cobs here. But as Ive spent 5 years trying to grow it with little success, I'd have to have a bumber harvest to recoup the loss!

[oldfella]

I have the same problem growing it , but in the field next my plot, my neighbour grows it commercially, and organically. So he drinks my beer and I steal his corn.