Welcome back to the Sunflower Allotment Podcast! This week we were delighted to welcome Clare Birkett on the show for a special episode to discuss the important topic of the cost of living crisis and how it affects gardening and allotment holders. As an educational economist, Clare gives us the lowdown on the crisis and how we might spot it in our gardening purchases through the effect of shrinkflation. As a group we then discuss how to save money on the allotment (planting expensive fruits and maximising productivity) as well as the all important gardening hacks including Clare's vertible beds and bicycle helmets for hanging baskets! Links to websites and radio programmes discussed below. 00:00 - Introduction02:33 - The cost of living crisis 10:20 - Shrinkflation 14:28 - The cost saving of growing your own versus supermaket shopping16:55 - Practical tips on our vegetable plots 24:45 - Clare's gardening hacks and tipsLinks discussed in the episode:BBC The Food Programme: Jack Monroe:https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0016pjyJack Monroe Twitter Thread:https://twitter.com/bootstrapcook/status/1492538937067606016?lang=enBBC Money Box:https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0016xr9Sunflower Allotment Podcast Thread:https://mobile.twitter.com/SunflowerPod1/status/1519657598567469058?cxt=HHwWhMCy7Zmi9JYqAAAAGrow it yourself Ieland:https://giy.ie/Growing Communities London (great blogs):https://growingcommunities.org/