A question to you: are allotments worth it?

I spent a sunny day at my friend's allotment last weekend. It was hard graft, but it was rewarding and a cold drink in the afternoon sun felt heavenly! It got me pondering the post-recession allotment craze.

In 2012, the average waiting waiting time for an allotment was 3 years (or up to 40 years in Camden, London!). Tens of thousands of people are signing up to the waiting lists, hoping to cut their grocery bills, take up a new hobby or grow organic food.

My question to you is, are allotments worth the time and money involved?

Check out any frugal living blog and they'll rave about how wonderfully cheap it is to grow your own veg, but ask a seasoned allotmenteer and they usually smile and shake their head. An allotment costs up to £80 a year in rent, but newbies have to factor in the cost of seeds, compost, seed trays, tools, fertiliser, eventual shed/greenhouse replacement, etc. etc. There's a huge start up cost involved. Despite this, a survey by LV in 2009 found that allotmenteers save an average of £950 a year!

Of course, there are ways to cut the costs of owning an allotment. Find yourself some second hand tools, make your own compost and free fertiliser, and Allotment Underground even suggests making pots from newspaper!

I read recently that you should aim to spend 8 hours a week on your allotment, which is a massive time commitment for someone with a full time job. On the other hand, that's 8 hours that most people would spend sat on their bum otherwise! Digging burns around 340 calories per hour, twice as much as walking, and you build muscle too! My friend was having backache though so make sure you follow advice on how to dig safely.

An allotment is a social place where neighbours exchange tips and friendly competition. (I get the feeling that this might be why the costs start mounting up!). It is also great for teaching children where their food comes from and how plants grow. (Frugal Down Under has got this nailed!)

As for the harvest, everyone knows that food you've grown yourself tastes AMAZING! I think it's a combination of pride and the super freshness of the crop. People say that they waste a lot less food too, because of the effort they put into growing it! 

You might've guessed that I'm pretty tempted to get an allotment (students get half price plots in Bristol!). The thing holding me back is that I am not sure how much free time I'll have during my PhD. I could rope in a minion volunteer (the Boyfriend) to help out at weekends I guess! Anyway, let me know what you think, especially all you aspiring self-sufficient types out there!

How to Make an Advent Calendar: Part One - Get Ready!

I recently posted about getting organised for Christmas by the end of November, including gift-buying and homemade decorations. We want to have a frugal Christmas, and this means DIY and festive spirit! :)

My biggest project is a handmade Advent calendar, which needs to be completed pretty soon!

My Advent calendar is comprised of three repeating units; a stocking, a bag, and a sort of folded over triangle pocket! They will be strung up on white and red twine with their cardboard numbers held on with mini pegs, but for now you can see the basic design opposite.

I will be posting the stages of how I am making the calendar on the next three Fridays of November, so by the last week of the month the calendar should be done and dusted!

It's a pretty easy project, but a little time-consuming. From the work I have done so far I estimate that the calendar will take a total of 7-8 hours to complete (at a fairly novice rate), which means that if you want to join in, you still have time! :)

If you want to make an Advent calendar, you will need:

• A sewing machine (it will take a very long time to make without one)
• Needle, pins, thread, scissors
• Approximately two metres of material. I think I used half a metre of the spotty polycotton, nearly a metre of the gingham material and part of a pair of old worn-out jeans. You can use whatever you have lying around; it doesn't matter if the fabrics are different for each unit!
•  Approximately two metres of "lining" material. It doesn't really matter what kind of fabric it is, just something cheap and easy to work with. I think mine was cream-coloured polycotton, or perhaps it is cotton, not too sure! :)
• Coloured ribbon or twine. You will need approximately 7 metres all together. 
• Eight small buttons (I used white ones from an old shirt)
• Some form of numbering. I am using numbers written onto cardboard disks, held on by mini pegs. You might want to choose iron-on numbers, or stickers, or something else entirely!

To begin:

Once you have your fabric, create a template for each of the designs you want to use. I made stockings, bags  (the rectangle template) and triangle pockets (diamond template), so my templates looked like the following:

To give you a bit of a sense of scale, the stocking and diamond shapes are about a handspan in length. Pay no attention to the fold at the top of the stocking. It should be flat and the folded part is included in the length.

I am wearing a blanket, not a skirt!

Cut out the fabric based on your templates, leaving a 0.5-1cm gap around the edge for the seam allowance.

Ensure you cut a matching pair of fabrics, so that the right sides will face out on both sides when assembled. The best way to do this is to fold the fabric in half and cut through both pieces at once.

Altogether you will need 24 units of fabric and the matching lining fabric to go with them. It's up to you whether you want more of one design than the other, or which colour fabrics you want for which. Just as long as each unit has two matching shapes of lining material and two of "good" material!


OK, easy so far! Tune in on Friday for part two: making the bags!

How to make an Advent Calendar:

Step One - Getting Ready
Step Two - Making the bags
Step Three - The Triangular pockets
Step Four - Mini Stockings
Step Five - Finishing Touches

100 No Spend Days

At the start of the year I set myself a challenge to have 100 No Spend Days in 2012. A No Spend Day is where you don't spend any money (duh!), although standing bills like rent, utilities etc. don't count. I originally took on the challenge because I wanted to stop the little drips of cash that I often spent on pointless things, like a bar of chocolate or a coffee. I hoped it would cut down on my own little “Latte Factor“.

I completed the challenge! :) I reached 100 No Spend Days!

Here's the breakdown:

January: 13 No Spend Days

February: 14

March: 10

April: 11

May: 10 (I realised I had been slacking, so decided to up my game the next month!)

June: 17

July: 12 (was travelling for 10 days though, so actually probably the best month so far!)

August (so far): 13

Total: 100!!

Back in May I hit the halfway mark. I had noticed that despite The Boyfriend's predictions, I did not spend more on “spend days” than I otherwise would have, although I did find that the frequency of my No Spend Days decreased after I'd finished paying back my overdraft. I'm pleased to say that after I have since regained momentum and started having more No Spend Days each month! :)

I have picked up a few handy techniques along the way for people wanting to increase the amount of No Spend Days they have:

• Don't go shopping! Seems like a pretty simple idea, but if you head into town for “something to do” you'll pretty much inevitably buy something, even if it's just a bottle of water.
• Don't bring your wallet. I'm not saying be cheap and expect everyone else to pay for you if you go out! What I mean is if you're not planning on buying anything, don't take your purse to work etc., because it's easy to be tempted into buying a snack or something and the little Latte Factor dripping of money starts again.
• Remember WHY you are avoiding spending. Come up with a savings goal, such as a £1000 basic Emergency Fund. Whenever you're about to make a frivolous purchase, remember how much closer you'll be to your goal if you DON'T spend your cash!
• Bring your own lunch. It's easy to go into town and grab a sandwich at lunchtime, but if you bring your own lunch you'll stop the daily spending!
• Track your spending. If you don't pay attention, you'll find money slipping through your fingers with nothing to show for it. If you have to write down that you didn't have a No Spend Day because you bought one 60p chocolate bar, you'll be annoyed you didn't move towards your goal! Trust me!
• Find free things to do. Libraries, museums, picnics in the park, beach days, crafting. There's usually something free to do. Instead of going out for drinks with friends, why not invite them round?
• Plan purchases. Try to plan what you'll be eating in the next week so you can get it all in one go. Buy your petrol at the same time and you'll barely need anything for the next week!

I'll keep trying to add to my No Spend Days. The next month will be crazy as I'm moving to a new city next week, but when we get back into the swing of things I should be able to rack up many more before Christmas!

Do you have No Spend Days? Any tips or tricks to stop yourself spending money?

My Garden: Trials and Tribulations

Tomatoes!

 

As Pamela over at Feral Homemaking pointed out in a recent post, gardening is a hobby that can cost you dearly in both time and money. Depending on what you grow, there can be a significant outlay for buying seeds, compost, special fertilisers, etc., and it can take a fair bit of time to make sure everything is sown, watered, transplanted and weeded!

I agree with Pamela that it's best to view gardening as a hobby, rather than a surefire way to lower your food costs. It's fun, and you'll probably have SOMETHING to show for it, but you don't always get the yield you were hoping for.

For example:

• Pigeons ate my carrot seedlings
• My onions are still pitifully small due to bad weather
• My peas were chomped by slugs
• The currant bush has some strange virus
• Haven't seen much from my swedes yet!

As I said at the start of the season, there are a lot of unknowns between sowing the seeds and harvesting the crop!

My entire potato harvest...

You certainly couldn't feed a family on my harvest of potatoes. I planted five potatoes I think (from chitted potatoes, not seed potatoes, so no real cost outlay) but they died back too early, possibly from a combination of bad weather and dodgy stock potatoes to begin with! (Note to self: buy seed potatoes next year). My “bounty” contained six medium sized potatoes, about eight small ones, and another eight or so truly tiddly ones!

But as they say, you win some, you lose some (and you learn a lot on the way).

My tomato plants are finally starting to fruit and I'm going to have a LOT of cherry tomatoes to eat in a couple of weeks. The plants are throwing out flower trusses faster than I can pollinate them! Our cabbages are looking pretty good too! :) There are a few that could be harvested soon, with some more developing more slowly that will provide greens throughout the winter hopefully (although I'll be at Uni by then!).

How are all your lovely vegetables doing? It's been a bit of a mixed bag here with the weather, but my Nana (veteran gardener extraordinaire) said her plants have been a bit useless this year too, so I don't feel too bad!

Do you think you've saved money gardening, or is it a black hole for time and money? :)

The Best Eight Places to Visit in Cornwall

I love Cornwall! It is my home and I am sad to be leaving it this September. There is so much to love about this part of the world, and whether you live here or just visit every now and again, there will always be something that you haven't done yet. One thing I mean to do before leaving is to visit St. Michael's Mount. I can't believe I've never been there!

Here are some of my favourite things to do in Cornwall. If you haven't been to these places, add them to your bucket list!

1. Land's End – Avoid the tacky tourist trap of the Land's End amusement park and instead follow the coastal path. The area is outstandingly beautiful and you will quickly leave the crowds behind. There are some fantastic old buildings to explore at Lands End and nearby Sennen too.

2. The Camel Trail – The River Camel flows from Bodmin Moor to the sea at Padstow. Much of its length is neighboured by the Camel Trail, a cycle path/footpath on the old railway line. You can hire a bike and cycle along the the beautiful estuary between Padstow and Wadebridge, and even further beyond if you fancy a more challenging ride.

3. The Eden Project – The Eden Project is fairly expensive to enter (~£20 if you book in advance online), however if you Gift Aid your fee then you get free entry for a year. People with a Cornwall or Devon postcode can get a Local's annual pass for £5 during the winter months. Winter is the best time to visit Eden in my opinion; the plants are stunning inside the biomes and there is a lot more going on, from storytelling to mulled wine! The festival of lights in the run up to Christmas is stunning, and between October and Easter there is an ice skating rink for a small additional cost.

4. Beaches – Avoid Newquay like the plague. It is far too crowded and you're likely to step on broken glass left by the numerous drunken stag and hen parties. If you want a family friendly beach, head a few miles down the coast to Perranporth, a small tourist town with a large beach and several places to eat. For a more secluded spot, we prefer Treyarnon Bay, which is a pain in the bum to get to but worth it in the end!

 

 

5. Pencarrow House and Gardens – Pencarrow is a stately home with fantastic grounds. I've never actually been in the house, but every year during May the gardens are alive with rhododendrons and bluebells. It's a magical place to visit.

6. Bodmin Moor – The moor is the antidote to the busy crowds during the Cornish summer. I like to escape to the moors for a circular walk around some of the most beautiful (but sometimes bleak) scenery in Cornwall.

7. Boscastle – I fell in love with this little village when Mum and I hiked some of the Cornish coast last month. Don't just visit the village - take a walk up the coast on either side for stunning views!

8. The South West Coast Path – Find the sea, join the coast path and just keep walking! Mum and I plan on taking two cars next time we go, so that we can park one at the destination instead of having to turn round halfway through the day to return to the start!

What do you love most about where you live? Anywhere I should add to my bucket list?? :)

Lovely Weather for Ducks and Vegetables!

Most of southern Britain has been hit hard by the rain during the past week or two. It's starting to feel more like Spring or Autumn than Summer! The good news here in Cornwall that the rain has been interspersed with periods of warm sunshine; perfect veggie growing conditions!

Tomatoes are taking over!

My tomato plants are getting almost big enough to flower. I have sixteen plants, which are currently taking up my entire windowsill. I am trying to harden them off, but it takes a good 10-15 minutes getting them all arranged for a day in the garden because I can only carry two at a time!

Top tips for tomatoes:

• Make sure you tie your tomatoes firmly to a stake at several places along the main stem, leaving just enough room so you don't damage the plant (about half a centimetre).
• Regular watering is essential, especially when fruiting. If you allow the soil/compost to completely dry out, the tomatoes will split when they next receive water.
• Apply fertiliser weekly once the fruits begin to develop.

Basil

I planted some basil at the same time as the tomatoes. Can you believe the difference in size of the two plants?? The basils are about 1.5 inches high, the tomatoes are about three feet tall!

I also sprinkled some out-of-date carrot seeds in a tub of compost in the hope that I might get some germination. Usually we have very little success with carrots but lots of them have come up (far too close together, so they will have to be thinned later on). They're starting to get their true leaves now too! :)

Tiny carrot seedlings

Top tips for carrots:

• Carrots require a sandy soil, so if you have a clay-type soil like mine, your best bet is to grow them in a deep container.
• Try not to damage/crush the leaves because the smell will attract carrot fly (top tip from my Dad!).
• Keep plants well watered to avoid woody carrots.
  
  

Pea

 

I have three tiny pea plants too. The seeds were again old ones from a couple of years ago and did not germinate very well. I need to stake the plants now because they have started putting out tendrils looking for support.

A month ago I had a few cooking potatoes left in the bottom of a bag that had started to sprout. This is “chitting” and means that if planted they should develop into new plants. We planted them and the resulting plants are coming up nicely.

Potato plants

 

Top tips for potatoes:

• Potatoes should be watered during the growing season if there isn't regular rain.
• Apparently you should cut the green, above-ground part of the plant off two weeks before you lift the crop. This enables the tubers to develop a thicker skin less prone to damage from digging up and storing.

Sharing the vegetable patch with the potatoes are some onions (growing nicely from sets), some lettuces, swiss chard, swedes and some cabbage plants. (The leeks did not fare well against marauding pigeons!) These little guys are coming along well, although none of them are without a few slug-chomp-marks.

Cabbage

 

Tips for growing cabbages:

• Grow cabbages in a different spot every year, to reduce build up of the many diseases they are prone to contracting.
• Watch out for butterfly eggs (small oblong-shape) on the underside of leaves. Caterpillars can devastate your crop almost overnight!
  
  
  
  

Over to you, Mary, Mary, quite contrary. How does your garden grow?

A Week in the Sun on the Cliffs

This is a post about my trip from Bude to Newquay (Cornwall). Normal posts will resume shortly!

I'm baaaack. I have weird tan lines, including hiking boot feet with flip-flop lines on top for good measure! That can only mean one thing: it was sunny in Cornwall!! Yessss!

We visited: Bude, Boscastle, Tintagel, Padstow and Trevone. (And much of the coast between them!)

We only spent about £100 each for the week too, including accomodation, food and drinks and fuel. We already had tents, hiking gear and rucksacks, but once you've got them, they last a LONG time, so if you fancy a cheap holiday, invest in some good camping gear!

The Plan
My Mum and I went hiking and camping around the northern Cornish coast. The original plan was to carry our gear on our backs like nomads/snails. Unfortunately, two people need almost as much stuff as four people (tent, food, fuel, camping burner, plates, pots etc. etc.), but with fewer people to carry it all!

We tried lugging it all in hiking rucksacks from Bude to Boscastle (17 miles), but it was roasting hot even at 8am and the cliffs are some of the highest in the country. We made it 11 miles (to Crackington Haven) and collapsed in a pub, calling a taxi to take us the few miles to the campsite!

(Check out my sweat patches in that photo! Niiiiice!!)

Change of plans!
That first day of walking was hard; too hot, too heavy, too far, too steep and no fun. Luckily we only live in mid-Cornwall, so we were able to rope good ol' Dad in to move our gear some days, so we could live it up with small day bags. The walks were still long, and it was still hot, but we skipped up 500+ ft high cliffs with relative ease! :) It was fun!

 

Look at the size of these cliffs!

 So here are a few photos of our trip. I would thoroughly recommend hiking the South West Coast Path. It is one of the best maintained paths in the country. We met some people attempting the 630 miles between Minehead (Somerset) and Poole (Dorset). (Even they only made it to Crackington Haven that first day!)

Alpacas in Bude!

Huge vegetarian pasties! (Not quite peppery enough mind you!)

Cornish language. (I can speak a little Cornish too. Little known fact for you there!)

Boscastle harbour. I loooove Boscastle. I don't think I've been before. It's a beautiful village.

The coastal watch outpost at Boscastle. Volunteers work 4 hour shifts to keep an eye on people on the sea and coast paths. They especially watch for people walking alone and make sure they reach the next outpost.

My Mummy. :) She loves her hiking poles!

The thrift was beautiful. It covered most of the headlands!

Me! :) Do you like my sunhat? :D

This is the remains of Tintagel castle, where King Arthur was meant to have been born. There's really not much there now.

Windsurfer in Padstow.

If anyone wants more info about Cornwall just leave a comment and I'll get back to you! (I live in mid-Cornwall, but have visited most parts of the Duchy by now!)

Homemade gifts: A Tote Bag

I am feeling quite chuffed with myself! I made my sister a tote bag out of some material my Nana gave to me and some that I had left from textiles at school!

The bag is made in the pattern of St. Piran's flag. St. Piran is the patron saint of Cornwall, and today (5^th March) is St. Piran's day! Dydh Sen Pyran lowen! <-- I bet you didn't know I had a Grade 1 Cornish language qualification! :D Go forth and eat a pasty, but not that Ginsters muck! BLEH! 

Top pasty tip: the best pasties north of Plymouth are from the West Cornwall Pasty Company. I was so excited to see a sign celebrating St. Piran's Day in their window when I lived in London. I ran in and started rabbiting at the cashier, but he didn't have a clue what I was on about. :(

Anyway, tote bags are simple to make. If you have durable material, you could make a single-thickness bag. I lined this bag because my sister tends to abuse bags, cramming them full of stuff!

I didn't have a pattern, so I kinda made up how to make it by examining other bags we own! The best part about it is that I made a pocket to hold a phone/wallet! :) It is high enough inside the bag to be reachable but not enough to let the items fall out or be pinched easily.

I am still learning how to sew so this simple project was educational yet achievable for me! I am ignoring any imperfections! The perfect is the enemy of the good!

Exercise is good, FREE exercise is better! Post 2 of 2!

Yesterday I posted about hiking, cycling and dancing as free ways to exercise. Here are another three I enjoy!

Swimming

I would only recommend this to a confident swimmer, but have you ever considered skipping the pool and heading for the nearest beach/lake/river? Never disregard safety signs and only swim at a lifeguarded beach. For rivers, check that it is safe to swim before you jump in. (NEVER SWIM IN THE THAMES – Bleurgh!)

Swimming burns around 400-600 calories an hour.

Three important things to consider:

1. Is the water safe? Water is a lot cleaner than it used to be in the UK, but make sure you check out your local river quality using the Environment Agency's map. Grade A is perfect, grades B and C pose a low risk to health if swum in, grades D, E and F should not be swum in. If the water looks scummy or full of algae, do not swim. Some rivers have strong currents, so follow any signs preventing swimming. For beaches, check the information provided to see whether it is safe to swim.
2. Don't swim on a beach when the tide is going out, or if you do not understand how to escape a rip current.
3. The water will be COLD at this time of year. Wait until summer for nicer conditions!

If you do swim at a beach, remember that the water is salt water and that you should wash your swimming gear as soon as you get home to prevent it rotting.

Gardening

Think gardening is relaxing? Think again! An hour's worth of digging over your vegetable patch can burn 350+ calories an hour, and even raking or mowing the lawn can burn over 300 calories in an hour. Spend a warm spring day sprucing up your garden!

Bodyboarding

Another favourite of mine in the summer is bodyboarding. I LOVE IT! I'd go every day if I got the chance. You can do it without a wetsuit, but a cheap one will keep you warm – mine was £20 from Tesco and you could get one a lot cheaper than that! The board itself will cost £5-10, but you can use it forever! :) Very cheap boards are made of fabric-covered polystyrene. These might work for little kids but they are pants for adults. Get yourself a foam board!

Swim out to where the waves are breaking, then jump onto the board on your belly just in front of a wave about to break and paddle like mad! If you catch the wave, you'll shoot forward riding the white water. It's fantastic, and you can do it for hours without getting bored.

Safety tips: Only bodyboard when the tide is coming in, and bodyboard at a lifeguarded beach between the yellow-and-red flags. (Black-and-white flags are for proper surfers with boards that could easily knock you out if you get hit in the head - not a good idea in the sea!) 

You'll think you're not really exercising, but you can burn 200-300 calories an hour without even trying!

Got any tips? 

What's your favourite free or nearly free exercise? :) I hate jogging, but I'm open to anything else!

Exercise is good, FREE exercise is better! Post 1 of 2!

The original post was a bit long, so I've split it in two. See tomorrow for post 2!

I made a New Year's resolution to lose weight and get healthier (I know, horribly cliché and yawn-city!). In true New Year's Resolution style, by mid-January I had somewhat fallen off the wagon, but lately I've been turning it back around!

Exercise is a major factor in the fight to de-chub and build muscles. No matter how much lettuce you eat, if you don't do any exercise you won't be fit, just skinny. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to lose weight for less! :)

Hiking

I LOVE hiking! I love to explore nature, see some of the most beautiful places in Cornwall, and get fit at the same time. Hiking burns around 250-400 calories an hour, depending on how heavy you are. If the terrain is difficult or you are carrying a heavy load, it may be even more.

If you have never hiked before, you may believe you'll need some expensive kit. Hiking boots can be expensive, maps, rucksacks and a lifetime's supple of trail mix can add up, right? If you're a beginner, just do some easy walks in trainers. That way you'll see if hiking is something you'd enjoy.

If you decide you want to get some proper boots you have two cheap options; 1) Possibly not for everyone, but often people give away new or nearly new hiking boots on Freecycle. The Boyfriend got me some free boots from his workplace, which someone had worn once and forgotten about when they left! 2) Lidl often sell good-quality hiking boots for around £15 in the spring. Keep your eyes open in the next month or two, because my Mum absolutely loves her pair!

Many websites give free walks to do in your local area. See Walking Routes for links to your local area, or Walking Britain for walks in your nearest National Park.

Cycling

Many people have a bicycle sitting in their garage/shed. If you're not one of them, chances are you could procure one very cheaply by looking in your local paper, or even for free on Freecycle. Once you have a bike, you have a free mode of transport that can get you places at 10-15 miles an hour, or over 20mph if you are willing to arrive very sweaty!

A slow cycle will burn around 400 calories for a 150lb person. It will be significantly higher if you are heavier or cycle faster! Another plus is that you could cycle to and from somewhere you need to go, saving fuel!

Dancing

I really enjoy Zumba, a cross between salsa dancing and aerobics. I used to pay £3 a class at University, but in Cornwall the cheapest I've found is £5 for an hour. Not bad, but free is better! If you have a bit of free space at home, just look on Youtube for some videos showing you the basic steps. Once you have the basic moves, you can make up your own routine to your favourite songs. It doesn't have to look amazing, no-one's going to see you. Just get wiggling!

Do you have any favourite free ways to exercise? 
 
Come back tomorrow for three more free ways to get fit! :)