FEW Questions for Urban Growers.

0 - Family
1 - Enjoyment, knowing what goes into the food (i.e. pesticide free), get much tastier fresh produce than is available in the shops, helps the environment (less food miles, recycle household scraps by composting), exercise, save money.
2 - Time is my biggest constraint given I work full-time so it's not always possible to keep the crops weed free or harvest as regularly as I should.
3 - Have to set aside time for important priorities, you can't keep putting back sowing your crops for example - it has to be done, so I might get up an hour earlier at weekends especially if we are going away to ensure jobs are done.
4 - Some money is needed to begin with, buying tools, seeds, compost etc. Also some knowledge or encouragement from others if you are a novice (that's where Gardeners Corner helps!).
5 - We grow high value items that are very costly in the supermarket, so tomatoes, cucumbers, runner beans and salad are obviously very good as part of a balanced diet. But I don't have the time or space to grow everything and I don't think it would be cost effective to either.
6 - Supermarket, market - usually it is OK, but fresh bought in produce does not keep for long nor is there the choice of varieties. No it is not satisfactory.
7 - In a vegetable patch in the garden. My patch has got bigger over time and it adapts to the family, for example I have recently made a couple of small beds to encourage my grandkids to grow their own
8 - See above

 

0 - Family
1 - Enjoyment, improved taste and ability to control chemical usage as well as portion size (pick one tomato if you want one tomato, and don't have to buy half a dozen in a plastic pack)
2 - Time and the demands of the plants welfare; I work an average of 60 hours a week, so feeding, watering, potting on etc makes for a hectic life at times.
3 - It eats into them significantly, however it is one of my few hobbies so it is only really taking up leisure time.
4 - Increased water consumption (bills) and the costs of composts, feeds etc are often forgotten about at the time of ordering plants or seeds - again, its one of my few hobbies though, so I feel the expenditure is justifiable.
5 - To a degree, yes - I tend to grow stuff I know we will eat. I cannot currently grow all that we would eat, but I would like to if I had my own property with enough space.
6 - Supermarket - generally it is satisfactory in as much that it is edible, but definitely missing the taste and the variety of taste variations that you can have homegrown.
7 - Greenhouse and large, deep reusable grow bags in the garden. I would like more, but not easy as I rent my home.
8 - I do, although my daughter isn't all that interested - having said that, she loves the strawberries, and apparently daddy's cucumbers are the best ever (even the dog loves them!)

Good luck with your research

 

Hi @Yan Kuna, you got any feedback on your study now?