The cucumbers finished up a couple of weeks ago, and it was another good cuke year, thanks to the cucumber trellis, picured above. (Again, another year's photo since I didn't take a picture of cukes this year.) The ability to grow my cucumbers "up" instead of letting them lie on the ground means that I lose fewer of them to disease or critters, and the vines stay healthy longer. What you see above is a great example. That photo is from a year that the vines got some powdery mildew on them, but it didn't affect the fruits, and it didn't kill the plant since the trellises kept them aired out. I really had no powdery mildew on the cukes this year, and next to no cucumber beetles.
Consequently, I brought in 79 cucumbers totalling 19 pounds, 12 ounces. I found a mid-season price on non-organic cukes (again!) at 99 cents per pound, making our total value $19.55. I planted the equivalent of one package of seeds, so $3.69. Total net value, $15.86. (And remember, this would be higher if organic cukes had been readily available when I wanted them in the store.)
However, cucumbers are another example of the benefits of the garden. Would I buy 20 pounds of cucumbers if I didn't garden? Almost certainly not. But since I did have them, the generated two forms of savings that are hard to quantify:
1. As long as cucumbers are in season, they form the backbone of my lunch, usually along with some cheese or meat. As I noted in the linked post, I can have a pretty significant lunch with some tasty additions from the meat and cheese aisles and still bring the meal in under $1. For me, cucumbers replace sandwich bread or pasta at lunch time. If they replace, for you, a lunch in a restaurant, the actual savings is even greater.
2. I put up several jars of cucumber relish this year. Other years, I put up pickles. Regardless, these jars will compliment our meals all winter, serve as gifts for friends and family, and perhaps be sold at holiday craft fairs. The value-add of making a pickle product really boosts the value of the garden.
So, in sum:
2011 Tally to Date: 77.18 lbs of crops; $93.71 saved
Stay tuned: we still have onions, leeks, and tomatoes to tally when they all finish.
Cucumber harvests seem to have run hot and cold this summer. I had a total of, say, 12. My mom had about 4 or 5 bushels. Thank goodness she lives close and is generous with her produce. :)
ReplyDeleteAt least you got enough cukes to go with each of your Amish Paste tomatoes, if I remember right! :-)
ReplyDeleteA normal sized green cucumber here costs about $1.60 each! I got about 14 cucumbers with a $2.50 plant from a girl earning some pocket money. So I'm very happy with my small but beneficial harvest.
ReplyDeleteI pulled it out last week and used the chicken wire for my snake beans. They are 6 weeks old and I picked my 1st 10 this week. Next week I should get 20 snake beans. And those seeds were free :-)
We love cucumbers but I'm not liking the higher prices at the grocery store. This year we didn't plant them. Our loss. :o(
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