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A Gardener's Resolution for 2009

anniesgranny
15 years ago

John asked me to bring this over from my blog, so here it is:

I've been reading a few other blogs today and some, like Daphne at Daphne's Dandelions, have made a resolution to keep track of their garden expenses versus yield. I've basically made the same resolution. My problem this year was that I forgot to weigh a lot of my produce, or it was handed over to a neighbor across the fence before it could get weighed. I wish I had a produce scale that could hang in my garden!

Daphne was wondering how to estimate the value of her produce. I rounded off the amount I felt my produce was worth to $2 a pound. I don't know how close that was, but I went by the prices charged at the local farm markets. I raised mesclun for a pet rabbit, and that was costing $6 for 10 ounces (a one week supply) in the store, so that harvest from one packet of seeds was a tremendous saving! My garden was small, and I usually picked about 7 pounds of assorted vegetables two or three times a week. At $2 a pound, that was quite a savings.....assuming I would have actually purchased that much to begin with, which I wouldn't. Mr. H got quite sick of eating green beans every day.

In 2008 I had the expense of building all new garden boxes. This cost was kept quite reasonable because I reused wood from a deck we had removed from our house for most of the project. I also used a lot of leftover seed from previous years. My main expenses were for compost to fill the boxes and for fencing to keep the new puppies out of my new garden. My total expenses were $380.80. That was some expensive produce, but most of that was a one time expense. Now that the boxes are built, filled and fenced off, there should be minimum cost for 2009.

I already have almost all of my seeds for 2009, which came to $0. My daughter bought them for me for Christmas, plus I have a few left from the 2008 season. All I need is one packet of broccoli seeds, as Ed Hume Seeds didn't have the variety I wanted.

I want to buy a few boards to join my 4'x4' beds together to make one long bed. And I'll probably add some boards to last season's mesclun bed to make it deeper, as I want to plant potatoes there in 2009.

I'd like to buy 4 raspberry bushes, 64 strawberry plants and one or two blueberry bushes. I lost one of my three blueberries a couple of years ago, and it must have been my pollinator, as I only got a cup of tiny berries last summer. Since I have no idea what kind the other two are, I may buy two varieties and replace one original that isn't looking terribly healthy. I will also buy tomato and pepper plants, as I won't be back home early enough to start my own.

I would like to begin the installation of a drip watering system. I currently have large Rainbird impulse sprinklers that do a good job, but keep the foliage wet on the tomatoes, squash and cucumbers. Those plants would do much better with drip irrigation.

I want to start my own "real" compost pile. The ugly black composter is a joke, and the bottom of it will be turned into a planter for some sweet potatoes in 2009. I'll definitely buy one more load of compost to top off the new beds, as there has been some settling, but my neighbor has saved her leaves for me, so I can start my own compost pile next spring. That should end my need for purchased compost in the future.

So those are my garden resolutions for 2009. I can't hardly wait!

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

Comments (4)

  • jbest123
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow, here goes. The hard part is separating the value of tangible benefits like veggies from intangible benefits like enjoyment, relaxation, therapy and aesthetics. I am 70 years young so I cannot spread the cost of recent purchases for a very long time but assume a young man/woman starting from scratch. If you buy good quality equipment it will last you a very long time, like the pitchfork I am still using that was my great grandfathers. If you buy quality tools, you should be able to distribute the cost over 20 Â 30 years. In addition, most gardening tools are duel purpose tools used for general landscaping. Some will say how about the value of your time; you cannot count the value of your time unless you plan to get a second job with that time. The cost of my conversion to RBGing including irrigation was about $650 for another $100 I could buy all new hand tools for gardening. Therefore, my annual cost for the hardscape and hardware would be $25 - $35 per year. I save some seeds from year to year and the seed packs I buy will last for at least two years. If that would bump my annual cost to $50 per year I am still ahead because last year I got 70# winter squads, 35# potatoes, about 100# tomatoes, about 100# of cucumbers and zucchini combined and about 40# of broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage combined. Even when I give most of it away, I know I am $$$ ahead.

    John

  • anniesgranny
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I also hesitate to put a dollar value on gardening. For instance, I could join a gym for exercise, or I could garden. I could buy pills to lower my blood pressure, or I could relax in my garden. I could see a shrink for depression or I could grow a garden. How do you put a price on the physical and mental benefits of gardening? How important is it to be able to consume organically grown, fresh, delicious fruits and veggies rather than the tasteless, chemical laden produce from the grocery store?

    Even if I were to give it all away, it would still be worth it to me just for the self satisfaction I get from producing something as beautiful and as useful as a vegetable garden.

    Granny

  • engineeredgarden
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Even though my fall garden failed miserably, because of the weather...It was fun! I actually counted the number of each vegetable harvested from my summer garden, but might have to weigh it this year. That would be the best way to place a value on it, in dollars. Looks like i'll be using the digital fish scale a little more frequently!

    EG

  • rangerbubba
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My DH and I are starting this year! Here's our approximate rundown of costs:

    4' x 8' cinderblock raised bed, filled, with fence=$175
    Seeds=$30
    Wonderful Pomegranate Tree=$8
    Garlic & Onion Patch=$20

    We're also doing some more decorative landscaping that I will be sticking edibles in as well, so I'll be laying out for more compost as we used all we had in the 4x8 bed. But it's starting costs. I know I paid about $3 for the 3 heads of organic garlic I planted, and I've got 20-25 heads coming up now--even with the $4 bag of compost I'm still coming out ahead there. My secondary goal is to slowly convert half of the front yard into decorative edibles, which will involve split rail fence and hardscaping--$$$. But I need to get the backyard going first. Baby steps!

    Also, we're just got married in October, so the entire 4' x 8' bed was paid for by Home Depot gift cards--how's that for a wedding gift! We've considered getting divorced and remarried so we could score another round of those :)lol.

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