Saturday, August 6, 2011

Garden Accounting - July

So I tallied up my "income" from the garden for July the same way I did for June - here's what I came up with:
I finished off June still "owing" $28.83 for supplies, seeds, started plants, etc. Well, July definitely payed that off, and more! This month's total: $179.89, which puts the garden very firmly in the black, with a balance of $151.06 (can't wait to see what happens when the tomatoes start rolling in!)

The big payers, oddly enough, were the herbs - I figured I harvested $46 worth of chamomile (that's a lot of tea! And we will certainly use it - never realized how much I spent on my winter evening soother/summer afternoon cooler!) and $12 of chives (a fresh bunch for our pizza every Thursday, as well as a bit for soup here and a little to go in my omelet there). We also brought in quite a bit of dill, which went toward making almost $20 worth of pickles. I love how the plants that need the least care and attention (all of these are prodigious self-seeders) provided the best return!

Here's the complete tally of what came in this month:

10 oz spinach
5 green onions
1 head of garlic (I was desperate!)
20 pints of rhubarb (the plants I divided this spring are doing so well I had to thin them out - they were showing signs of rotting at the base from overcrowding in this hot, humid weather!)
167 grams of chamomile
4 pounds of peas
1 quart of cherries
13 1/2 pounds of swiss chard (frozen for soup this winter)
3 oz  green beans (didn't plant nearly enough!)
4 pounds potatoes (again, I got desperate)
3 zucchinis
1 pound broccoli
2 slicing cucumbers
Dill, garlic, and cucumbers for 5 quarts of pickles
1/2 pound tomatoes (one big early one)
1 1/2 pounds of carrots

This was very much an "in-between" month. The spring crops were petering out, and the big summer vegetables were just getting going. Now it's time to start planting the fall veggies and canning up all of the summer bounty!

For the continuation of this series, click here.

2 comments:

  1. Nice tally!

    Yes, my tomatoes are petering out a bit, and I'm waiting for the beans to pick up again, plus waiting for the fall seeds to come up. At least with the rain we've been having, I don't have to water.

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  2. I love your tally system. With everything ripening in the next month you are going to get way ahead. Gardening is a lot of work but it does pay off. Happy canning!

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