Every month, my wife and I track how much time and money we spend growing food. This is the report for August 2009. (Here are the results for 2008.)
After late July’s blistering heat, August has been relatively cool around Portland. Our fruits and vegetables have been producing excellent crops. Kris is constantly busy in the kitchen, canning and preserving food. We’re eating fresh salsa all the time. And hard as it is to believe, I’m almost sick of blackberries.
Fresh berries in a bowl of cereal == a great breakfast! Photo by Kris.

This is actually the best year we’ve had for blackberries. They started producing at the end of July, and there’s been a non-stop flood ever since. Sometimes — in mid-winter — I think I want to plant more blackberries. But during the month of August, I’m reminded that this is a silly idea.
The blackberries aren’t the only prolific producers this year. Our young plum [...]

Every month, my wife and I track how much time and money we spend growing food. This is the report for July 2009. (Here are the results for 2008.)
Welcome to Oregon, where for the past week it’s been hot. How hot? Here’s the temperature graph from the National Weather Service for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday:

The heat hasn’t prevented us from working in the garden. We’ve been watering the thirsty plants, and we’ve begun harvesting their fruit. It’s hard to believe that just three months ago, this was a bare patch of earth. Now it’s grown so lush that it’s difficult to photograph:

But how have our harvests been? Let’s find out.
Currently currants
Remember how last year Kris and I couldn’t find a price for our currants or gooseberries? They’re just not available here in Oregon, so we used the same figures for them as we did for our other berries. But earlier this month we stopped at [...]

Every month, my wife and I track how much time and money we spend growing food. This is the report for June 2009. (Here are the results for 2008.)
It’s the beginning of summer, and that means our garden is lush and green and growing. It also means there’s nothing exciting to write about. We’ve begun to harvest a couple of things, but mostly our chores have become routine. We weed and fertilize while we wait for the crops to ripen.
One problem we’ve encountered this year is weeds. There are always some weeds to be pulled, but as many GRS readers warned, spreading horse manure on our vegetable garden caused more weeds to sprout. Kris is the weed-puller (and plant-fertilizer), so she puts the most hours into the garden. She spent four hours working on food crops this month, while I spent three, all of which were harvest-related.
Harvest
As our harvests begin, I want to remind you [...]

This is a guest post from MLR at My Life ROI. If you like this post, check out his website or subscribe to his feed.
One thing I love about reading Get Rich Slowly is that J.D. is always willing to get his hands dirty and throw on a different hat. J.D. is a do-it-yourselfer. From writing monthly updates on his garden progress to giving instructions on how to make homemade pumpkin butter and muffins, J.D. does it all! One DIY post caught my eye in particular, though.
J.D. mentioned that the best way to save money on home repairs is regular maintenance. He mentions in the article that he met with a series of contractors to get quotes on things he did not want to do, like painting the house. The point was not that he met with a bunch of contractors — it was that there is a lot of value behind regular maintenance.
J.D. [...]

This is a guest post from my wife, who has her own fan club around here. “You should have a section at GRS called Kris’ corner,” one reader wrote recently. That’s unlikely to happen, but she’s happy to drop by now and then with recipes and helpful hints. Here’s what she has to say about fresh berries.
Berry season is beginning in Oregon. Strawberries ripen first, and they’re followed quickly by raspberries, blueberries, currants, and blackberries! While these berries are ripe in your area, prices can be so low (especially if you pick them yourself) that you’ll want to stock up.
But what should you do with all of that fresh fruit? Here are three techniques to make those berries do double duty (now and later). These methods are so easy that it’s just silly not to use them.
Freeze the berries whole
The secret to freezing berries whole is to freeze them first and [...]

Every month, my wife and I track how much time and money we spend growing food. This is the report for May 2009. (Here are the results for 2008.)
What a difference a year makes! Our fruits, berries, and vegetables had a slow start last year (and then were further slowed by a cold, cold June). This May was warm — very warm. Our food crops loved the weather, and they’ve shown explosive growth.
As a reminder, here’s what the garden looked like at the end of April:
A blank slate…

And here’s what it looks like now:
Tomatoes, onions, peas, cucumbers, squash…they’re all here!

First harvest
The sunny weather produced lots of growth. The peas and raspberries and blueberries and fruit trees all look amazing. We’re going to have huge crops. We have a couple of small snow peas on the vine, and the tomatoes are blossoming. But only three crops have yielded fruit through the end of May:

In its [...]