Kitchen Garden Forum

As a matter of interest what was, or would have been, the cost of the raised beds and paths for the KG plot?

Hi Colin Miles, I suspect that they would have been extremely expensive as the Link-a-Board used is way over priced considering that it is a recycled product and the Cotswold chippings are very expensive as well, not many allotment plotholders would be able to afford to use such materials, they should have done the project as a typical allotment plotholder would have done using recycled/ reclaimed timber and probably woodchips on the pathways which can be got free of charge from local tree surgeons, anyway they may tell us the answer but I doubt it, regards Steve.

To be honest, guys, what it cost doesn't have anything to do with any of us, because it isn't our business. What KG spend on their trials etc. is only for the good of what's to come in terms of research for the good of the magazine.
Please behave...

Might I respectfully suggest that many items for organisations may be 'donated' by the supplying company....payment is thereby obtained by the resulting publicity for their product...this can be an extremely cost effective form of advertising.

Of course this may not apply in this particular case.

And I thought the whole idea of the mag. was to help us mere mortals to grow our own food economically, and it seems sell some at Country Markets when all gardeners have a glut in the summer and you can't give your bean or courgette surplus to next door as they are away on holiday.
Back to the winter purslane and watercress.....
Allan

no allan the primary purpose of the magazine is to make money for the publisher, the income comes from two sources , the cover price paid by the public and the advertising revenue. its then the job of the editor to direct the slant of the articles to maximise return from both these markets. does he aim to be the only player in a niche market or one of several with a wider buying public?
i would expect the boards in this case were donated as they will be on show in most month's mag and therfore encourage the readers to turn to the company's ad and order some.

I wasn't trying to have a go at KG, just curious. Having said that, in this context it might be worth KG looking into the cost of creating raised beds and paths from various sources using various materials. I have, in the past couple of years, started to create my garden from what was essentially a field and it is still very much work in progress. So all ideas and costs are welcome.

Actuially I think that there is a point here. If the ethos of the magazine is the same as allotment gardeners, we should be looking at recycling materials of all types, and cost effective options.

My immediate reaction when I saw Linkabord and Cotswold stone chippings being used was that it must cost a fortune. If I want to see glossy gardens I can watch James Martin on TV, or buy one of many magazines that are all about style rather than substance.

Thats not to knock the magazine, which hits the spot in many other areas, but let's not lose track of our roots.

Whilst I agree that we want to make the most of available materials and recyle when possible, I don't want a vegetable garden that looks as though it was constructed from the contents of a skip.

If there weren't people with the resources to buy good quality materials and equipment in the first place, there wouldn't much disposed of for recyling.

As for the KG plot, I don't think there's anything wrong with articles that are aspirational as well as inspirational.

Maybe it's also a question of time. If KG wanted to get theirs constructed quickly, they needed to get their materials quickly as available, maybe donated, maybe sponsored, who knows? I personally am prepared to spend a few years, so I'll collect wood as I am able to find it [I'm lucky to work at a school, where there's often timber left over] and I use old cardboard packaging for the paths. This will perish, and the hope is I'll always have pieces to replace it with as it does so. And yes, my allotment does look in places as if it's all come from a skip - and some of it has; perhaps in my pint-sized garden I would use regular material. I would expect the show area to be built with more expensive material than the informal one - not least because they will want it to last.

mike

It all comes down to choice, affordability, and being 'sensible' I reckon...
Certainly I'd hate my kitchen garden to look like the inside of a skip, because it's right outside my kitchen door and I have to look at that over my cornflakes, and friends who visit have to an' all !!

In such a setting, just as in the walled Victorian Kitchen Gardens of yesteryear, it's important that the materials used are aesthetically pleasing, as well as fulfilling their function.

I know my treated gravel boards will last about 10 years. Kitchen Garden probably want theirs' to last 'longer than that' without having the upheaval of replacing them, so their choice was made on the why's and wherefore's of THEIR particular plot.

On allotments, surely it's hugely different.
Why would you even consider using expensive materials, with the possibility, unless your site is suitably secure, when they could get vandalised, destroyed or stolen ? Horses for Courses I'd like to think...