Thrifty ways to five a day

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/may/18/thrifty-five-a-day-fruit-vegetables-cheaper

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Asparagus need not be expensive, rhubarb can cost just a few pence, and wild garlic is free for the picking. If you are one of an increasing number who prefer organic produce – and shoppers spent £1.4m more a week on organic food in 2014 than 2013, according to the Soil Association – there are still low-cost ways to eat your greens.

When local produce is plentiful, which it is at this time of year, prices can be lower – which means that even if you’re on a budget, there are frugal ways to pile your plate with plants …

Grow your own

Growing your own dinner is a real saver. Once you buy the seeds, many crops are cut and come again, so next year it’s food for free.

You don’t need to spend a lot of money getting started. Look out for local, free seed swaps at allotments, school fairs and markets to reduce the set up costs, or talk to friends who may have plants to swap.

And don’t splash out on unnecessary equipment. “Seeds can be sown in yogurt pots and transplanted into cast-off containers of all kinds, from wellington boots to old oil drums and those linen-look supermarket bags, as long as there are drainage holes in the bottom,” says Wendy Shillam, a writer, environmentalist and architect who grows food on her roof and writes about it on her blog.

Instead of buying soil you can make your own compost, says Jill Anderson, an allotment owner in Surrey. “Once you get it going, it saves money and you can easily grow basics like carrots and radishes, as well as new potatoes and gooseberries, which can be expensive to buy.”

Even if you don’t have enough outdoor space to swing a spade you still have options. Keep an eye on your local Freecyle and Freegle groups as garden shares are sometimes advertised – you work in them in return for free veg.

Related: How to feed four for £10, in one pot

There are also community gardens where you can give your time in return for heavily discounted or free surplus produce. More permanent arrangements include land sharing schemes such as Landshare from River Cottage, to bring growers and landowners together. And you can learn about growing for free when you volunteer with an organisation, such as World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.

Buy ugly veg

Worldwide, almost 40% of fruit and vegetables will go to waste before they even reach consumers, according to figures from the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), and the Soil Association calculates that in the UK 20%-40% of produce is rejected because it’s misshapen. However, there is a campaign for buying “ugly veg” and supermarkets are making this easier.

Asda’s Wonky range is now in 25 stores and sells carrots, apples, pears, citrus fruits and more. Prices are around 30% cheaper than its standard range – for example, while aesthetically pleasing carrots are on sale at 57p for 1kg, in the Wonky range they are 64p for 1.5kg (42p per 1kg).

Later this month, Waitrose will begin selling £2 bags of weather-blemished apples, and its Waitrose limited selection tomatoes are already on the shelves priced at £3.39 for 1kg. This compares to £7.60 per 1kg for similar tomato varieties in the store’s standard range.

Sainsbury’s sells less than perfectly shaped fruit and vegetables in its Basics range – for example, four avocados for £1.75, while 200g of Basics Sainsbury’s crunchy salad is 75p.

At markets, boxes of bashed or ugly fruit can go for a few pence – or even free – at the end of the day. You can also buy heavily discounted veggies which need to be used that day, at markets, supermarkets and on the high street. Some independents even give away over-ripe produce. At Manchester’s Unicorn Grocery, for example, there is often a box of free ready-to-eat fruit and vegetables.

Be a Food Assembly leader

The Food Assembly, which actually started in France, scooped the Best British food initiative at this year’s BBC Food and Farming awards.Launched in the UK last July, it is like a mix between a farmers’ market and a food-buying group, and already has 10,000 members across the country.

Customers can buy boxes of different produce or individual items, and prices compare well with organic produce in the supermarket and veg box delivery schemes. There are boxes with seven different fruits and vegetables for £10, Soil Association-certified organic rhubarb for £1.75 for 500g, and organic onions are £2 a kilo.

Each assembly is run by a leader who organises venues and signs up local producers and growers to the scheme. Products are advertised on a central website and a local page, and consumers pay for the produce online and collect their goods at a weekly event, which producers also attend.

“You might imagine that local produce means a hefty price tag, but the pricing is very reasonable for the quality of produce you are getting, and collecting everything on a specific day is very convenient,” says Holly Nelson, a member of the Chester Food Assembly.

The Food Assembly takes 16.7% of the pre-tax turnover from each producer and gives 8.35% of this to the assembly leader. Being a leader isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme, but the extra income (events can be held outside office hours) can pay for your fruit and vegetables.

Foraging

Picking wild food means you eat for free, and you can forage in urban environments as well as the countryside or seashore. At this time of year you can whizz nettles or watercress into a quick pesto, suggests Tom Hunt, chef and author of The Natural Cook.

Easy foods to spot at this time of year include wild garlic and dandelion leaves. However, catch of the day is seaweed. It is rapidly becoming the dish of choice at exclusive restaurants and is increasingly sold at high-end retailers such as Harrods. If you’re near the coast, it’s yours for free. Before you dive in, a new book Seaweed in the Kitchen by Fiona Bird shows how to identify as well as cook the plants. There are community groups, which meet to forage, such as those that are part of the Transition network.

Common law allows foraging for personal use, but some by-laws prevent it (look out for notices), and in some cases you need to ask permission from the landowner. Generally, though, foraging is about taking a bit here and there – never hurt the plants and don’t take the lot, leave some of the bounty for others.