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During 2008, my wife and I are tracking how much time and money we spend growing food. This is the report for October.
October can be something of a relief for gardeners. The bulk of the harvest is finished, and all that remains is to pick the last straggling fruits and vegetables, and to begin cleaning up. While it’s sad that the harvest is winding to a close, it’s comforting to know there’ll be a respite from the work for several months. Plus it’s a chance to start dreaming about next year, all of the changes and improvements to be made.
And, believe it or not, the success of next summer’s garden begins today.
A pile of crap
Last weekend, Kris and I received an unexpected windfall of sorts. John, our neighbor across the street, hooked us up with some free shit: He brought us a trailer-load of horse manure.
We had been planning to use some sort of soil amendment in the garden next spring, but hadn’t yet worked out the cost or the kind. John knows somebody who boards horses, and when she sweeps their stalls, she’s left with piles of hay and sawdust — and horse manure. Apparently she has so much of this stuff that she’s just giving it away. (We offered to pay John for his trouble, but he refused. We’ll bake him some home-made bread instead.)
On Sunday morning, John wheeled in a trailer containing about three cubic yards of this stuff, so Kris and I spent an hour spreading it over the vegetable garden. We’re happy to have finished this task already, especially in such a frugal fashion.
I shoveled while Kris wheeled and spread.
Sizing things up
“How big is your garden?” e-mailed one reader during the middle of the month.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But I can find out.” I went outside with a tape measure to discover:
- Our main vegetable bed is roughly 15 ft by 34 ft (4.57 m x 10.37 m), or 510 square feet (47.4 sq. m.)
- Our herbs occupy an irregular space of about 50 square feet (4.65 sq. m.)
- Our berry patch is in 126 square feet of space (11.71 sq. m.)
- Our caneberries have their own space, about 24 linear feet about 4 feet wide, for a total of 96 square feet (8.92 sq. m.)
- Our grapes are in a similar space parallel to the caneberries
- Our four fruit trees are spaced throughout the lawn
Not counting the fruit trees, that’s a total of 878 square feet (81.61 sq. m.) devoted to gardening. Those of you in the country might think this garden is small; those on city lots (or in apartments) might think it’s huge. For us, it’s just right.
Final harvest
Our total harvest in October yielded $130.77 in produce, most of which was tomatoes and grapes. (Our grape vines are just beginning to mature. The yield from the plants should increase markedly in the future.) Here’s the complete tally for this month’s garden production:
- 32.41 pounds (14.716 kg) tomatoes @ $2.49/pound = $80.70
- 2 small pumpkins @ $0.50/each = $1.00
- 9 acorn squash @ $0.50/each = $4.50
- 2 cucumbers @ $0.49/each = $0.98
- 14 ears of corn @ $0.50/each = $7.00
- 0.58 pounds (0.264 kg) carrots (volunteers from last year) = $0.50
- 0.31 pounds (0.140 kg) red sweet peppers @ $2.99/pound = $0.93
- 0.72 pounds (0.325 kg) golden beets @ $1.99/bunch = $3.98
- 8.92 pounds (4.048 kg) Niagara grapes @ 3.00/pound = $26.76
- 3.96 pounds (1.800 kg) fancy potatoes @ $0.99/pound = $3.92
Note that this does not include the 40+ pounds of Concord grapes we picked from one neighbor, nor the 5+ pounds of high-bush cranberries we picked from another.
I should also mention that we had pretty much given up on the corn. The poor weather in the spring stunted its start, and then it was battered by a summer storm. Plus we didn’t plant a lot of it. Ultimately, however, we were able to harvest almost 20 ears total (between September and October), which isn’t a lot, but the stuff was good. Instead of giving up, we think we might actually try to grow more of it next year.
Note: For the purposes of this project, we’re using “best match” pricing. Based on GRS reader suggestions, we’re obtaining typical pricing from our local farmers market. In some cases, we use pricing from a local organic produce stand. In all cases, we’re trying to be fair, but this is more art than science.
Summary
We spent a little more time in the garden this month, but again had no monetary expenses. The numbers for this month’s harvest also include $25 for the fresh herbs that we’ve harvested throughout the year (chives, basil, cilantro, sage, thyme, bay leaves, marjoram, oregano). Here’s the year-to-date summary:
| Month | Time | Cost | Harvest |
| January | 4.0 hours | $27.30 | – |
| February | 2.5 hours | – | – |
| March | 3.5 hours | $130.00 | – |
| April | 5.5 hours | $28.51 | – |
| May | 5.5 hours | $110.89 | – |
| June | 7.0 hours | $0.79 | $50.83 |
| July | 11.0 hours | $20.94 | $123.68 |
| August | 8.0 hours | – | $123.94 |
| September | 2.0 hours | – | $152.75 |
| October | 5.0 hours | – | $155.77 |
| Totals | 54.0 hours | $318.43 | $606.97 |
All that’s left now, really, is to perform garden clean-up. We’ll probably have several hours into the garden in November, but I doubt we’ll have much time in December at all. That’ll give me a chance to write a summary of the lessons we’ve learned, and to provide some tips for others who would like to try this!
Though we’ll spend more time in the garden this year, we’re unlikely to spend more money, and we’re unlikely to harvest anything else. We’re fairly certain that the numbers above are close to the final numbers for the year. We’ve spent $318.43 on our food and harvested $606.97 worth of produce. Roughly, we doubled our financial investment in this project.
Kris has already started one project for next year: She’s begun to grow herbs from seed to have a winter indoor garden (with grow light). The basil, cilantro, dwarf dill, thyme and oregano are off to a good start. Herbs are some of the most cost-effective plants to grow in a home garden. Even if you have limited space, a window-box herb garden can be an easy and economical way to dabble in the hobby.
Simon likes to help in the garden.
Final word
Just to be clear on the purpose of this project: This isn’t a formal experiment. Kris and I are long-time hobby gardeners, and we have set ways that we do things. This year, we are not trying to do anything different than we have for more than a decade. We’re not trying to be 100% organic (though we are mostly organic through our normal practices).
Nor are we trying to be 100% frugal. Instead, we’re just trying to see what our garden costs and produces based on our normal habits. We hope the results of this experiment will help us find new ways to economize and to improve our crops.
You can read about my goals for this series in The year-long GRS project: How much does a garden really save?
This article is about Food, Frugality, House and Home Sunday, 2nd November 2008 (by J.D. Roth)
November 2nd, 2008 at 2:09 am
Hi J.D.
I’m so jealous that you have space to garden. I live in southern California and the houses are so close together, that there is really no room to grow anything but grass and maybe a palm tree.
Someday…someday.
November 2nd, 2008 at 3:50 am
Those figures are impressive. Especially since you don’t seem to have had to spend too much time each month. I have always found I had to do quite a few more hours than you’ve posted so I may have to go and review my techniques.
November 2nd, 2008 at 4:09 am
JD,
I loved the whole series of garden updates. I live in South Carolina and it was interesting to compare your garden season to mine. Actually now I’m on my third planting this year. It’s only fall crops of cabbages, cauliflower & broccoli but the garden is still growing. One thing you should think about trying as you’re cleaning up is planting some garlic! It’s cheap. You can use the stuff you buy at the grocery store or buy it from a seed catalog or from another garlic farmer. They plant just like any other bulb and once they’re in the ground they require very little to maintain. Save a little space for them now and by summertime you’ll have more garlic than you know what to do with!
Keep up the good work!
November 2nd, 2008 at 7:17 am
I noticed you referenced the “no-knead” bread recipe. It has been updated with a quick “no-knead” recipe, and improved upon by a reader so now it takes 4 hours to rise, and you pop the dough in a cold oven and set it on 400 to preheat, taking the lid off after 30 minutes. 5 hours to perfect bread. I used potato water from cooking quartered potatoes for mashed p’s, slightly warmed and the bread tasted like I had bought it at an upscale bakery. Now if only I could get my tomatoes to grow. I bought earthboxes to use in my urban garden and cucumbers and beans were great, but no tomatoes!
November 2nd, 2008 at 7:27 am
JD, while doing research for next year, be sure you look into “companion planting.” Doing things like planting the corn next to the cucumbers and far from the tomatoes will help both harvests along. It will also reduce bad bugs and encourage good bugs.
I’m a tad envious. I have the space but not the physical ability. I’ve always wanted a hobby garden, but I guess for now my Aerogarden will have to suffice.
November 2nd, 2008 at 7:47 am
I think your garden is bigger than my house.
November 2nd, 2008 at 8:08 am
JD - I know you’ve probably posted a link about this before, but do you have a resource in terms of how to store all of your excess produce? I know how to can tomatoes, but short of having a ton of pickles, what are some ways to store cucumbers? Or carrots?
Thanks! Keep up the good work!
November 2nd, 2008 at 9:11 am
JD, I have looked forward to the Garden Project each month.
When I was a child, we knew someone who bedded their horses w/ wood shavings. Each February we would spread a couple truckloads of this manure/shavings on our garden, where it would steam for a few days. As we planted the garden, this would get turned over, and one of the nicest things was that the drier shavings would float to the top, creating a soft mulch. You could walk in the damp garden barefoot and come away w/ pretty clean feet! Also, of course, the benefits of fewer weeds! (We lived in Tacoma, WA, so water really wasn’t an issue.)
Anyway, just wanted to share. Thanks again for all your great work on this blog. I really enjoy it.
November 2nd, 2008 at 9:47 am
I was thinking about a different aspect to the money you saved with your garden. Your 54 hours gardening likely resulted in overall better personal health. Plus doing something like gardening for fun can replace other activities that actually cost money…ie movies and sporting activities.
November 2nd, 2008 at 10:30 am
To SK @#7
We try to plan the garden in such a way that our crop matches our food projects. Last year was a big pickling year for me, so I planted tons of cucumbers and pickled many quarts. This year, we’re still set for pickles, so my cucumbers were just for salads. I don’t know of anyway to long-term store fresh cukes! For carrots, a root cellar was the trick for decades. I have seen people write about storing carrots and other root vegetables for months in a box of sand. But really, whole, clean carrots will keep for a couple months in your crisper drawer in the fridge (wrap in a plastic bag), or if you are going to use them for soup or casseroles, go ahead and chop them and freeze them now for later use.
We pretty much use whatever we harvest, but if I ever feel overwhelmed, I take the excess to work or the neighbors. It’s always appreciated.
November 2nd, 2008 at 10:34 am
I think these are a quite interesting series of articles. I wonder though, would this really be cost efficient at all if it was done on a large scale? Wouldn’t that raise the price of seeds, dirt, equipment, etc substantially?
What I mean is, does this sort of thing only work so long as very few other people take advantage of it as well?
November 2nd, 2008 at 10:48 am
JD and Kris,
I would love to get any tips you have on growing an herb garden from seed. My husband and I used to live in an apartment, and in the interest of saving money to eventually buy a house, we have moved in with my mom, and now I actually have space for a garden! We are also interested in getting a couple of chickens. Downside is I have no idea what I’m doing, so any tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for a fantastic blog!
November 2nd, 2008 at 10:53 am
Adam, that’s an interesting thought, but I’m not sure it’s a real concern. Gardens used to be a lot more common than they are today, and I’ve never read anything about their prevalance causing increased prices (though I’m sure it is possible).
My own gut feeling is that if more people gardened, prices would actually decrease on some items.
For example, when we order our garden seeds, we often consult with our friends who garden. We try not to overlap, which allows our little group to swap certain seeds, saving everyone money. Similarly, some of us have rototillers — others don’t. If all of our neighbors gardened, we could swap equipment around during the season, saving each other money.
Interesting question.
November 2nd, 2008 at 11:18 am
This is an interesting study. Since moving to my husband’s 650 acre organic family ranch 3 years ago I must admit your garden seems the perfect size. The larger the garden gets the more expensive (in my experience). Especially when you factor in the costs of farm equipment, mechanical repairs, irrigation, and fuel. The satisfaction of eating one’s own food is immeasurable though.
November 2nd, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I bet if you had actually bought your herbs, they would have cost even more than $25. I find it hard to use up a whole packet or bunch of store-bought herbs, and I usually end up throwing some away. I’ve always thought one of the great things about growing your own must be the ability to go pick a single sprig when that’s all you need.
November 2nd, 2008 at 12:31 pm
I’d love to hear your plans for weed suppression with the horse manure. My in-laws gave me a barrelful a few years back, which I used to amend my bird/butterfly garden. By August that year, I had a nice crop of oats and timothy to go with the sunflowers and rudbeckia. :p The birds loved it, so I let it be, but I’ve been hesitant to use manure in other areas where aesthetics are more important (like the front of the house).
November 2nd, 2008 at 1:10 pm
This is in comment to the horse manure. I have put cow manure on my garden for over 5 years now and while I do have some weeds, these are easily controlled with hand weeding and putting newspaper between the rows with straw on top to hold it down. The newspaper keeps the weeds from growing through (generally) and helps with the maintenance of weeding.
Personally, I enjoy the alone time in the garden weeding. For some reason, my kids don’t like to bother me when weeding (perhaps because I will put them to work). I think the manure is worth the extra effort of weeding.
November 2nd, 2008 at 1:42 pm
J.D., I would be very interested to see what youre results would be if you tried a GrowFood.com section of the garden alongside your regularly-grown garden. I may try the same and blog my results. They seem to be able to grow shockingly large organic gardens in any soil. It seems Dr. Mittleider broke all the rules of growing. My manuals should come this week and I’m eager to pore over them.
November 2nd, 2008 at 2:45 pm
The differences in size are absolutely crazy. Just finished looking at houses in Baltimore that had square footages similar to your garden, and someone posted owning 650 acres. Man I would be in trouble on the east if I didn’t like hanging around a lot of people constantly.
November 2nd, 2008 at 9:00 pm
You are absolutely right about the economics of herb-growing. Not only is it cheaper to grow them at home, you get better herbs.
When I was married back in the mid-nineties, we attended an herb fair in downtown Savannah, at which I purchased several plants, including a baby bay tree. That little stick and three leaves grew into a small bush over the next four years. I was amazed at how pretty it was. You know how bay leaves in the grocery store are small and light green in color? These leaves were at least two and a half inches long, usually three, and dark green and glossy. When I pruned the tree the air around it exploded in bay scent. Good old regular Laurus nobilis. I can’t imagine how long the leaves in the grocery store have been sitting in storage. I’d guess maybe two years or more.
I experienced similar results with the other herbs I grew. The difference in color, scent, taste, and quality were just astounding.
If you’re buying it in the grocery store, you’re being ripped off. Even if it’s a dollar a bottle on clearance. Perhaps especially then.
November 2nd, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Hey, JD, I know that you’re an experienced organic gardener … but I want to throw out a reminder for everyone ELSE that manure (the real, raw, smelly stuff that JD just put down) can allow harmful-to-humans bacteria to get into your food supply. The stuff you can buy from landscaping stores has been sterilized to prevent stupid city slickers like me from screwing up.
November 2nd, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Adam: Growing open-pollinated plants and saving seed from year to year sort of cancels out the whole threat of the price of seeds going up. I still have not learned how to save seed and I hope to do so someday.
Oh, I forgot. Compost. There’s a nifty gadget you can get now, sort of an indoor compost cooker, and it’s electric but uses very little power. But it heats your kitchen scraps to just the right temperature to let you compost *everything* leftover, even meat and dairy.
Presto… free fertilizer, and way better for you in the end. I believe it was U of Calif. at Davis where they tested organic veggies versus conventionally fertilized, and the organic were more nutritious across the board. Only stands to reason: the native fare of plants all over the world is what’s left over of the rotting remains of other living things.
And I see someone’s written about manure. Here’s a tip: You should not be using raw manure anyway, whether or not it’s got bad germs in it. Organic farmers always rot manure down before they use it because the fresh stuff burns plants. Think about what dog doo does to your lawn if you leave it on the grass and you’ll get the idea.
What’s put E. coli on organic produce in the past several years has not been the fertilizer that organic farmers use, but runoff from cattle feedlots, where cows’ GI tracts are irritated by the grain they eat and they are more susceptible to virulent strains of E. coli.
November 2nd, 2008 at 9:12 pm
OK, OMG, I’m sorry about all the comments. Now a thought about food preservation. I recently checked Sally Fallon’s and Mary Enig’s book Nourishing Traditions out of the library. I do not fall in lockstep with every single thing in that book, but I am fascinated by what I’ve learned about using lacto-bacteria for food preservation. For instance, instead of using vinegar to make sauerkraut, one would use whey. I was in a store recently where they stocked traditional sauerkraut and, curious, I checked the ingredient list. Sure enough, it was whey-based and not vinegar-based. Wow.
Apparently a sort of simultaneous pre-digestion AND preservation goes on that leaves the vegetables in a fit state for consumption for far longer than they’d last even in a root cellar. You also get more nutritional benefit–more bang for your buck or return for your effort, as it were.
I want to own the book soonish and start experimenting with this stuff myself. I’ve already obtained kefir grains through a listing on Freecycle, and I want to play around with piima next, since that’s one method of obtaining whey. I’ve always hated pickles but I’m curious to know whether it was the vinegar turning me off and whether I’d like lacto-fermented stuff better. I already know I like sour cream and can stand to eat plain yogurt so… we’ll see.
But, if you like pickling, the book’s worth checking out and there’s your answer for how to keep scads and scads of produce. A root cellar may not be practical for some people, especially if they have cats.
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:41 am
I miss my garden! Yours is so inspiring!
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:09 am
This is my favorite post of the month. While some people think gardening is “stupid”, I think there is a whole quality of life big picture that is being missed. It isn’t just about saving money (though that is a focus of your blog), it’s also about your health, your connection to the earth, etc. And I think part of what drives us to consumerism excess is a disconnectedness from the world around us. Getting in touch with something as basic as what we put in our bodies gives us tremendous insight into our needs as well.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:40 am
Such a productive garden! Living in an apartment for all my life, I’m jealous. My “garden” consists of several potted succulents and a potted rosemary. My basil and jalapenos died last winter and I haven’t replaced them yet. I’m going to be getting some chocolate mint this weekend, which I’m excited about.
Be sure to plug that indoor grow light into a kill-o-watt meter to add it to the costs!
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:46 am
I’d recommend scraping that horse manure off your garden and getting some cow manure instead or just till in leaves from your trees. Both cows are horses digest (or perhaps I should say don’t digest) plant matter like seed about the same. The difference is that most cows each grains or 99% weed free hay/alfaha but horses get more of their feed from grazing. This means horse manure is usually (this might not be the case if the person you got the manure from doesn’t have much room to graze) packed full of weed seeds. I found out the hard way that using horse manure in the fall causes an explosion of weeds the following spring and summer.
November 3rd, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Your garden is bigger than my house I think! I’ve got a small garden on my urban lot in Los Angeles, maybe 100 sq ft. It doesn’t produce a ton and small space gardening amplifies some of the problems (pests, disease etc), but it’s a nice hobby and we enjoy the produce. I do garden organically but that’s also cause I have pets and I don’t want them getting sick licking a pesticide covered plant.
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:37 pm
To everyone with small yards: there are so many ways to sneak vegetables into your landscape. We’ve got about 0.14 acres, and have a house, garage, driveway and patio taking up 60%-ish of the space. The back yard (North side of the house) gets little sun and is on a hill so planting veggies is a challenge. We address that by having our fruit trees (peach, lemon, and lime) on the hillside and have a 10′ x 20′ plot back there that gets full sun for 3 months and partial for another 3 and that’s all we can do in the traditional garden areas. However, we’ve got perennial herbs along the front walk, containers on the patio get planted with vegetables rather than annuals for color (eggplants have the prettiest flowers!), and the front yard is slowly being converted to vegetables, too.
At first I was wary about the response from neighbors to winter squash in my flower bed last year, but I got so many positive comments that I planted another corner with corn this year and grew onions and garlic in the first flower bed. For next year I’m considering removing the front lawn (about 10′ x 10′) and planting tomatoes and peppers. Some neighbors have asked if I’m worried about people stealing the produce, but it hasn’t happened yet.
By continuing to expand into every available bit of dirt and sunlight, I’m hoping that within 2 years I’ll be growing at least half of our produce for the year.
November 3rd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Ther are a lot of ’small space gardening’ tricks that you can use to reduce the amount of ‘bad’ and increase ‘good’ things (even yields) that go on in a typical garden. Intercropping, companion planting, container gardening, vertical gardening, succession planting, year round gardening and so much more. I have a very small space that I use for growing vegetables and will usually plant a low growing plant with a medium hight or vining plant and a tall growning plant in the same bed at almost the same time. For example (this is a native american trick I learned from another blog - I wish I could remember the url cuz I would deffinately share it!) I plant a corn variety pack (with different maturity dates) first and when they are mature enough and the soil has warmed enough, the beans and the squash go in (I usually plant my jack-o-lanterns here). I don’t plant them like I would if they were growing all by themselves because that is asking for trouble, I reduce the number of plants for each type so they get enough sunlight and air circulation. You might try it and see if it works for you… Same with Tomatoes and Carrots, if I didn’t have the carrots growing in between the tomatoes, I wouldn’t get any carrots because I don’t have enough space to dedicate to just carrots when other vegies have a more important roll for my family. This has allowed me to grow things that my family has never tried before (like purple carrots - yummm) and still have all the things we know we like. I even got my kids to like certain vegies out of the garden that they swore they hated when it came from a can or frozen in a bag or even from the produce section at the grocery store!
Happy gardening!
November 4th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Neat - you made about $11.20 an hour doing something you love! Viewed from the perspective of earning money / frugality, that’s better than some things and worse than others. I would struggle to save as much money per hour by clipping coupons and looking for good sales. Viewed from the “job” perspective, that’s a pretty lousy income. Viewed from the hobby / having fun perspective, that’s a great value!
I did one garden patch too late in the year to get anything out of it this year, but I got the experience to try again next year. Next year I’m planting tomatoes, peppers, onions, and maybe garlic and basil (depending on how space works out) in the small patch outside our kitchen window, plus I’m putting squash and a potato pile in the back corner of our property. We might also prepare our front yard to be turned into a garden next year.
November 4th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Well, net of expenses it was really a bit more than $5.34/hour, still, being “paid” any amount to do something you enjoy just doubles the fun in my experience
Have a look at “Square foot gardening” if you are interested in increasing your yields in small spaces.
November 5th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Props to you for gardening. My first attempt in the Georgia clay failed for the most part this year, although I did discover that hot peppers, rose mary, and oregeno thrive without any attention, even water during a drought.
I’ll keep adjusting my garden menu to find what works, then buy the rest fresh from road side vendors. The best of both worlds.
November 9th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
This has been a fascinating series. I hope you continue it next year; I love reading about your progress! In Arizona, we’re just getting started with gardening as our mild winters are the most prolific time of year. Check into Pinetree Seeds for your seeds. http://www.superseeds.com Inexpensive, and the shipping costs are good. Very economical, my FAVORITE seed catalog. I just love looking over the descriptions and pictures from Pinetree.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I’ve really enjoyed reading your updates now and again. I live on a small city lot in So. Cal - 5227 sq feet. So your garden seems large - but I grew up on an acre - in that respect, it seems just right.
We don’t do any gardening currently, but I do have plans to do square-foot gardening. Step 1: start composting. Step 2: build two small square-foot plots, and build from there. Step 3: consider planting an avocado tree.
Hopefully I can get motivated to DO it. With lots of projects around the house, a part-time job, and a 2-year old, it’s tough.
Now I have to go google the “quick no-knead bread” recipe that someone else mentioned…
November 20th, 2008 at 8:40 am
To Chris de Vidal: My grandparents introduced me to Dr. Mittleider when I was growing up. It really does work. My grandfather pulled out I would guess somewhere around 2-300 pounds of tomatotes from a 5×5 plot with only 15-16 plants. The larger tomatoes weighed in at a wopping 4-5lbs and were big enough to make at least 4-5 nice size tomatoe sandwiches. It was quite impressive. And the planter was on a paved backyard by a pool. 6″ deep. He had another that was only 2×5 that he used for zucchini and we could not eat the stuff fast enough.
I have since used it here in North Carolina and it really does work. It allows me to grow more in less space which is really really nice.
Definitly worth looking into if you are looking for ways to increase yield out of a container garden. For my family I can plant just 2 tomatoe plants to keep us going all summer.
I have really enjoyed these posts as I have always wondered how much I really do save. I think I need to hit up some herbs too.
Keep the posts coming…
November 22nd, 2008 at 9:39 am
I am not an experienced gardener by any means… and I am not patient in the least bit. I like to do the “simple” fruits and vegetables that require less work and produce throughout the season.
For instance: zucchini, tomatoes (Roma & other varieties), greenbeans, soybeans(edemame (sp?)) in several batches throughout the season, strawberries and red raspberries. Everything can be started as as seeds in mid-April under a grow lamp in the closet. .
Next year, we will be planting 3 year concord & niagara grapes, and possibly a blackberry bush or two.
As I look outside, it is snowing. I am dreaming of Spring already, and this is our first week of snow!
~M
November 23rd, 2008 at 9:37 pm
I am so glad to read the summary for the year. I’ve been really anxiously waiting to see if it would ‘pay off’ for you. I live in Colorado and have had this perenial guilt about not growing a garden. I was very curious as to how your costs would measure up - especially since for me to grow a garden here - most costs as well as labor would be significantly higher. To me - 5.34 an hour is decidedly not worth the effort, and since I would expect my water costs to probably double the fixed costs, 2.68ish an hour is even more not worth it
I applaud you for your efforts and understand that your vegetables are most likely much better than anything I buy at the grocery store, but I’m now completely free of any guilt, or any notions that a garden would be better for my bottom line. thanks - love the blog
March 18th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
I’m just catching up on this project, and I’ve been very intrigued. Thank you for doing this.