Thursday, January 23, 2014

How Much Does a Garden Grow: 2013 Summary

As we sit under a blanket of snow and unseasonably cold temps (seriously, it was colder last night here than it was in Barrow, AK!), it is time to sum up the garden for 2013.  

So how much did my garden grow?

  • 3 ounces of dried herbs preserved ($10.17)
  • 1 ounce of carrots ($0.19)
  • 201 ounces of miscellaneous squash ($38.19)
  • 72 ounces of Brandywine tomatoes ($15.84)
  • 100 ounces of Hungarian tomatoes ($22.00)
  • 96 ounces of Ox Heart tomatoes ($21.12)
  • 232 ounces of Italian tomatoes ($51.04)
  • 257 ounces of Big Daddy tomatoes ($56.54)
  • 113 ounces of Black Krim tomatoes ($24.86)
  • 97 ounces of Amish Paste tomatoes ($21.34)
  • 81 ounces of Super Sauce tomatoes ($17.82)
  • 191 ounces of butternut squash ($36.29)
  • 8 ounces of apples ($1.78)
  • 30 ounces of corn ($2.45)
  • 55 ounces of beans ($9.35)
  • 26 ounces of miscellaneous peppers ($4.94)
  • 11 ounces of jalapeno peppers ($2.09)
  • 76 ounces of fresh basil ($76.00)
  • 1274 ounces of cucumbers ($204.71)
  • 594 ounces of zucchini ($124.74)
  • 26.5 ounces of blueberries ($11.93)
  • 4 ounces of radishes ($0.24)
  • 5 ounces of peas ($0.95)
  • 6 ounces of strawberries ($1.08)
  • 82 ounces of potatoes ($7.38)
  • 9 ounces of leeks ($4.50)
  • 11.5 ounces of greens ($6.90)
All for a grand total of 229.0625 pounds of produce, a total retail value of $774.44.  Subtract $303.88 in expenditures, and I cut $470.56 off our grocery bill for the year.  All on a modest suburban lot with very littel sunny growing room.

Overall, suburban gardening can be a rousing success.  Not only do you save money and get a lot of exercise, but you can control exactly what varieties you grow (depending on climate) and how they are grown.  Could I have purchased more tomatoes than I grew?  Yes.  But it I wanted organically grown Black Krim tomatoes for eating or Amish Paste tomatoes for canning, I pretty much had to grow them -- even our local farmer's market has limited all-organic offerings and no listings of tomato variety.

So stay tuned.  This experiment will repeat, as I track how much my garden grows in 2014.  I'm excited to share January results with you, because the year is starting with a bang!



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