The Ever Rising Cost Of Everything

[marsh man]

Yesterday I gave Pigeon shooting a miss due to the cold and at times heavy rain , so I made one of my rare trips up town , we have now got a new under cover market that take some getting use to , after a quick walk through I can across the local veg stalls and although the products are not as fresh as some of the supermarket stuff they are normally in line with the prices , I say normally but the ones I looked at were way over the top , Caulies that looked as if they had been cut a week or more ago as the outside leaves were pale and dry were £1.50 each and the spuds were a £1.00 a pound , or two and a half pounds for £2.00 , I know we have had a dry Summer but a £1 a lb for Spuds is a bit over the top compared to supermarket prices , in ole money a half hundred weight was 56 lb and if they sold them at a lb a time it would be £56 for a sack of Spuds , more than what some poor ole farm workers earnt in several months back in the good ole days , or bad if you were about then  

[ditchman]

its like the fist week of decimilisation..............too good an excuse  to screw everybody........

[enfieldspares]

Potatoes have had a disasterous season and that price quoted by the OP is going to look cheap according to a potato farmer my friend gets his eggs from. No rain so the crop will be of small sized potatoes and a very poor yield of weight to acre.

[Smokersmith]

Add in fertiliser from £120 to £800/t, diesel prices, plant protection products disappearing and being replaced by more expensive less effective alternatives …

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, Tesco are putting up prices , some by 50 percent , it's better than robbing a bank, customers bank, I can shop where I find the best deals, here we have Tesco, co op, Lidl, Waitrose, and soon Aldi , many in UK only have 1 or 2 shops , Bampton, a small market to relies on the Co Op , Tesco will still make their multi millions profit, food is recession proof, and it is not even winter yet, food banks, the bain of our society will be more needed than they can cope with, even Oxford has a food bank, they collect all around the vale so there's not much left for local families , and there not on £49, 000 quoted needing help, it's going to be a bleak winter for millions , due to the high energy costs , villages, town, cities, are looking to open warm spaces for people who cannot afford to stay home and keep warm and provide a hot meal, who would have thought in 2022 there will be a million plus children going Hungary and families living in cold homes

[marsh man]

10 hours ago, enfieldspares said:

Potatoes have had a disasterous season and that price quoted by the OP is going to look cheap according to a potato farmer my friend gets his eggs from. No rain so the crop will be of small sized potatoes and a very poor yield of weight to acre.

Yes I do understand that and my post was not a complaint , I would support the farming community as much as I can as most of my life have revolved around the countryside and still do .

On our estate all the Spud land is contracted out and it must have cost a lot of money to keep moving the irragation pumps that have been going non stop for weeks if not months , the other week when they did start lifting then the water was still going to keep the dust down and to soften the land up as it was rock hard .

No two years seem the same , I can well remember several years ago when there was a glut of Spuds , at that time the Potato Market Board , or someone like that would step in when the price dropped to a certain level and I believe the year I am talking about the cut off price was around £30 a ton , yes a ton , we had a big barn that was full to the rafters with Spuds and I was there when these blokes came and sprayed Yellow dye over the top and these were either given away or sold off for animal feed .

Yesterday we went to a well known garden center at Stalham and the Spuds were £1.29 for a 2 1\2 kilo bag , and at the car boot yesterday morning a first class market gardener I know was selling fresh cut Caulies at 80p , Cabbages at 60p and Spuds at £9.00 for 25 kilos and a fiver for half a bag , so you can still get some good deals .

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, I presume the price of eggs going up is due to the rise in feed costs, all dairy products , meat production, you cannot blame the farmers on this one, it's greedy supermarkets cashing in by the millions of £sss, I watched a farming programme last night, Scotland, dairy farmer and daughter, struggled with supermarket whole sale price now going to sell from farm, quite a cash out lay but I admire this decision and wish them the best, 

Edited September 19, 2022 by oldypigeonpopper

[Dick]

2 hours ago, marsh man said:

Yes I do understand that and my post was not a complaint , I would support the farming community as much as I can as most of my life have revolved around the countryside and still do .

On our estate all the Spud land is contracted out and it must have cost a lot of money to keep moving the irragation pumps that have been going non stop for weeks if not months , the other week when they did start lifting then the water was still going to keep the dust down and to soften the land up as it was rock hard .

No two years seem the same , I can well remember several years ago when there was a glut of Spuds , at that time the Potato Market Board , or someone like that would step in when the price dropped to a certain level and I believe the year I am talking about the cut off price was around £30 a ton , yes a ton , we had a big barn that was full to the rafters with Spuds and I was there when these blokes came and sprayed Yellow dye over the top and these were either given away or sold off for animal feed .

Yesterday we went to a well known garden center at Stalham and the Spuds were £1.29 for a 2 1\2 kilo bag , and at the car boot yesterday morning a first class market gardener I know was selling fresh cut Caulies at 80p , Cabbages at 60p and Spuds at £9.00 for 25 kilos and a fiver for half a bag , so you can still get some good deals .

In the mid 1980s we were buying spuds, ex farm, for £20/ton.

[old'un]

Walk most spud fields after they have lifted the main crop and you can fill a bag with decent spuds, perhaps not supermarket quality but perfectly edible.

[Bigbob]

13 minutes ago, old'un said:

Walk most spud fields after they have lifted the main crop and you can fill a bag with decent spuds, perhaps not supermarket quality but perfectly edible.

A good way to get perfectly edible potatoes , last time it was a moonsoon and they couldnt lift the potatoes a farmer said help yourself just dont leave a mess 

Now a 56LB bag of potatoes dropped off at your door £15

[islandgun]

4 hours ago, marsh man said:

Yes I do understand that and my post was not a complaint , I would support the farming community as much as I can as most of my life have revolved around the countryside and still do .

On our estate all the Spud land is contracted out and it must have cost a lot of money to keep moving the irragation pumps that have been going non stop for weeks if not months , the other week when they did start lifting then the water was still going to keep the dust down and to soften the land up as it was rock hard .

No two years seem the same , I can well remember several years ago when there was a glut of Spuds , at that time the Potato Market Board , or someone like that would step in when the price dropped to a certain level and I believe the year I am talking about the cut off price was around £30 a ton , yes a ton , we had a big barn that was full to the rafters with Spuds and I was there when these blokes came and sprayed Yellow dye over the top and these were either given away or sold off for animal feed .

Yesterday we went to a well known garden center at Stalham and the Spuds were £1.29 for a 2 1\2 kilo bag , and at the car boot yesterday morning a first class market gardener I know was selling fresh cut Caulies at 80p , Cabbages at 60p and Spuds at £9.00 for 25 kilos and a fiver for half a bag , so you can still get some good deals .

I also remember riddling potatoes then emptying the bags onto an elevator into the lorry which was dyed for stock feed,  I wonder how the prices will be up here as we didn't have a drought, in fact just the opposite

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, old'un said:

Walk most spud fields after they have lifted the main crop and you can fill a bag with decent spuds, perhaps not supermarket quality but perfectly edible.

I still do that and very rarely see anyone else doing the same , most if not all our early spuds were salad spuds and the rejects were mainly large ones , these were ideal as they didn't take to long to peel , mind you my time don't cost nothing and as I am out that way looking for pigeons and walking the dog it don't cost at lot for fuel , still waiting for the main crop to be lifted .

 

1 hour ago, **** said:

In the mid 1980s we were buying spuds, ex farm, for £20/ton.

I cannot remember them being £20 a ton , but in the mid 80s I doubt I would have bought that many as they always seem to grow more than they wanted and most of the barns had spuds covered up with straw throughout the Winter .

[Bigbob]

17 hours ago, marsh man said:

Yesterday I gave Pigeon shooting a miss due to the cold and at times heavy rain , so I made one of my rare trips up town , we have now got a new under cover market that take some getting use to , after a quick walk through I can across the local veg stalls and although the products are not as fresh as some of the supermarket stuff they are normally in line with the prices , I say normally but the ones I looked at were way over the top , Caulies that looked as if they had been cut a week or more ago as the outside leaves were pale and dry were £1.50 each and the spuds were a £1.00 a pound , or two and a half pounds for £2.00 , I know we have had a dry Summer but a £1 a lb for Spuds is a bit over the top compared to supermarket prices , in ole money a half hundred weight was 56 lb and if they sold them at a lb a time it would be £56 for a sack of Spuds , more than what some poor ole farm workers earnt in several months back in the good ole days , or bad if you were about then  

A lot of thoose farm shop types are more expencive and if you ask why , " there organic and good for you " like that makes it okay 

[marsh man]

45 minutes ago, islandgun said:

I also remember riddling potatoes then emptying the bags onto an elevator into the lorry which was dyed for stock feed,  I wonder how the prices will be up here as we didn't have a drought, in fact just the opposite

By all accounts the Pea campaign was below average , the spud farmers have had a well below par growing period and the Sugar beet a couple of weeks ago looked very distressed , the beet factory left it late opening this year due to the beet being so small , so you can bet a pound to a penny that sugar will be going up a fair bit , my wife said it won't affect me as I am sweet enough as I am , believe that I G and you will believe anything 

[Bigbob]

7 minutes ago, marsh man said:

By all accounts the Pea campaign was below average , the spud farmers have had a well below par growing period and the Sugar beet a couple of weeks ago looked very distressed , the beet factory left it late opening this year due to the beet being so small , so you can bet a pound to a penny that sugar will be going up a fair bit , my wife said it won't affect me as I am sweet enough as I am , believe that I G and you will believe anything 

Was it not Adam Henson on countryfile a couple of weeks ago doing a bit on Sugar Beet talking to the farmer , The farmer said its normaly 50 beets on average for a 2LB bag of sugar this year your looking at 75 plus as theres no wieght to them nearly haf as much again thats just one excuse it needs for a price rise 

[adzyvilla]

Dogging in this morning on the estate, I could have filled an Olympic swimming pool with left over spuds just lying on the soil after harvest, same with onions. In fact, dad got an old string bag out of his pocket and set about filling it up while his old dog pleased herself. So much waste now no one bothers gleaning any more.

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, Bigbob said:

Was it not Adam Henson on countryfile a couple of weeks ago doing a bit on Sugar Beet talking to the farmer , The farmer said its normaly 50 beets on average for a 2LB bag of sugar this year your looking at 75 plus as theres no wieght to them nearly haf as much again thats just one excuse it needs for a price rise 

You are right Bigbob , I remember seeing it and I believe it was the farm manager from the Elveden estate in Norfolk , he held a root from how it is, and a root to show how it should have been , which was about twice as big as the one he showed you as an example .

22 minutes ago, adzyvilla said:

Dogging in this morning on the estate, I could have filled an Olympic swimming pool with left over spuds just lying on the soil after harvest, same with onions. In fact, dad got an old string bag out of his pocket and set about filling it up while his old dog pleased herself. So much waste now no one bothers gleaning any more.

Something now I never see , at one time some of the ole villagers would go and get a few bags which would last them over the Winter period , last year when we had a Red onion field there seem to be more left than what they took and the whole field smelt of Onions for ages , I got a few but how many Red Onions do you use ? , in our household , not many .

[islandgun]

2 hours ago, marsh man said:

By all accounts the Pea campaign was below average , the spud farmers have had a well below par growing period and the Sugar beet a couple of weeks ago looked very distressed , the beet factory left it late opening this year due to the beet being so small , so you can bet a pound to a penny that sugar will be going up a fair bit , my wife said it won't affect me as I am sweet enough as I am , believe that I G and you will believe anything 

I wouldn't disagree with your missus..😄

[gmm243]

Whilst not food prices I was at a rugby match yesterday and one of the men there said that his brother lived in Edinburgh. He was quoted (last week) £240 for a half tonne bag of dried logs.

Would to be hard to sustain that if one of your main sources of heat was a stove or open fire. We have no oil heating in our house nor radiators so rely on burning timber which i cut myself but at nearly £500/t it would be very expensive heating.

[islandgun]

6 minutes ago, gmm243 said:

Whilst not food prices I was at a rugby match yesterday and one of the men there said that his brother lived in Edinburgh. He was quoted (last week) £240 for a half tonne bag of dried logs.

Would to be hard to sustain that if one of your main sources of heat was a stove or open fire. We have no oil heating in our house nor radiators so rely on burning timber which i cut myself but at nearly £500/t it would be very expensive heating.

A 20kg bag of coal here is £16 almost double the price from last winter, thats only £800 per tonne..

[Walker570]

We grow a lot of veg in our garden and this year will be planting potatoes in plastic bins in a clearing in the wood.   We enjoy Swiss Chard and a short row will provide greens for half a year, french beans and broad beans to freeze this is in a small patch 2yards by 15yrds. A row of carrots to pull at.  Problem is as told by one of our members, sell by dates are so important on vegetables with a huge amount of waste.

[oldypigeonpopper]

1 hour ago, gmm243 said:

Whilst not food prices I was at a rugby match yesterday and one of the men there said that his brother lived in Edinburgh. He was quoted (last week) £240 for a half tonne bag of dried logs.

Would to be hard to sustain that if one of your main sources of heat was a stove or open fire. We have no oil heating in our house nor radiators so rely on burning timber which i cut myself but at nearly £500/t it would be very expensive heating.

Hello, another rip off 🤔

1 hour ago, islandgun said:

A 20kg bag of coal here is £16 almost double the price from last winter, thats only £800 per tonne..

Hello, last year my son was paying £9.50 a bag of coal but he said it burned well from other brands, local garage, I will see what they price up this winter, I can see a bag of kindling £5 this year, 

Edited September 19, 2022 by oldypigeonpopper

[gmm243]

4 minutes ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, another rip off 🤔

I am glad I have a good chain saw and a pretty much endless supply of either fallen trees or timber that has locally been tossed for fencing or new power lines so I can't see firewood being an issue for me for a very long time.

I would hate to be buying it at the prices being quoted recently. We use about a small fertiliser bag (also getting hard to find) per evening but as it is our only heat source in the house it is not an issue to have a supply in.We have prob 3 years supply drying at present.Mostly Ash,beech and oak.

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, it seems to me a seller's market and buyers  misfortune from food to gas electric and just about every other thing we are buying at this time, you cannot blame everything on Ukraine and Putin , energy companies, remember the rip off with PPE masks, ??

[oldypigeonpopper]

4 minutes ago, gmm243 said:

I am glad I have a good chain saw and a pretty much endless supply of either fallen trees or timber that has locally been tossed for fencing or new power lines so I can't see firewood being an issue for me for a very long time.

I would hate to be buying it at the prices being quoted recently. We use about a small fertiliser bag (also getting hard to find) per evening but as it is our only heat source in the house it is not an issue to have a supply in.We have prob 3 years supply drying at present.Mostly Ash,beech and oak.

That's good to hear, there's loads of fallen trees in my friends farm wood, alas I have no open fire 🙄