Value of my 2009 home grown veggies: $3,200.41
Less expenses: $231.10
Net value: $2969.31
Less expenses: $231.10
Net value: $2969.31
January 9, 2010: The Value of the Garden
Erin, over at Garden Now - Think Later, did a post about the value of our home grown veggies, and requested we enter our numbers for comparison. I happened to keep a spreadsheet on what my harvests weighed last year, so it was a simple job to calculate the monetary value of my 2009 garden. I did make a big error in my comment to her, when I entered the numbers from an incomplete chart. I noticed the error when the total weight was more than 200 pounds below my actual total for the year! So, here are my actual totals.......(*click on photos to enlarge)
Of course, there were expenses. Since my daughter bought my garden seeds for my Christmas present, my out of pocket cost remained quite small for the year. I'm afraid I wasn't very good about keeping track of it after the initial expenditures in the spring, but I don't remember spending much more during the season.
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WOW Gran! That's fantastic. I've already spent $250 on my seed starting setup and haven't quite gotten everything yet. Fortunately, my hoop houses only cost about $100 to make. I'm trying to remind myself that I won't have these kinds of expenses every year! I wish we could write off these expenses on our tax returns!
ReplyDeleteI hear ya, Thomas! My big expenses came in 2008, when I had to buy lumber for the north garden and yards and yards of compost to fill all of the beds, plus fencing. Of course, I had the garden shed built in 2009, but I'm not counting that as a garden expense, since it replaces the old shed and holds the lawn mowers.
ReplyDeleteThat's great. The lumber alone has set me back for years, I'm afraid. I might have to grow all high-end veggies like shallots to make up for it!
ReplyDeleteNow that is some serious results! You should write a book on growing veg, you're an expert. I am hoping for much better results next season. With the past seasons cool weather and then blight I had hardly any tomatoes, beans, melons or potatoes. Basically everything that weights a lot. Of course that ludicrous potato bin didn't help either.... :-)
ReplyDeleteExcellent value for your efforts AG.
ReplyDeleteI kept track of my garden economics last year too. My results were also good but not nearly that spectacular. I chose to amortize over five years the investment I made last year in the garden expansion project and I used the seasonal price for the veggies (which is invariably lower) - both things had the effect of lowering the value. Despite all that, I ended up with close to $300 of net value for the year.
Hi, Love your blog and follow it now a few 2weeks. We are moving to NE Washington permanently in 22 months but I will be spending the summer out there this coming summer.
ReplyDeleteLove the info you offer though and take it all as teachings.
Thank you for sharing your info and life since it helps all of us.
Adele
Stefaneener, Kitsap & Dan, the value is rather inflated (I used the same dollar amount for comparison sake). For instance, I can buy farm fresh potatoes for 69-cents, tomatoes for $1.99 and sweet onions for 59-cents per pound.
ReplyDeleteDan, I'm no expert...some years I just get lucky!
Adele57, welcome to my blog! Will you be moving to the Spokane area? NE Washington is much prettier then where I live in SE Washington, but my garden season is longer. I hope I can help you with your gardening. If you have any questions, don't be shy, I'll try to answer them.
ReplyDeleteThat is a lot. My totals were $750, but I used local organic prices were were higher. I didn't change the prices based on timing either since it was just too hard with the way my spreadsheet was set up.
ReplyDeletefantastic..hmm!
ReplyDeleteFantastic! I tried to keep loose numbers, but nothing like this since I had so much start up costs to contend with. This looks great!
ReplyDeleteDaphne, that's the problem with comparing to other bloggers. Our prices differ, depending on our locations and the seasons. During the main growing season, I'm in the middle of farming country, and we have little produce markets all around us, not to mention the many weekly "farmers' markets". Even in the off season, I'd never pay some of the prices that were given here. On the other hand, I've had to pay $3 for one red bell pepper!
ReplyDeleteThank you, teJan.
ReplyDeleteRibbit, I'm glad I didn't keep track the first year of this garden (2008)! It would have taken an entire year to recoup the cost of the maple tree removal alone! Of course, that was caused by a windstorm and mostly covered by insurance, but still....
ReplyDeleteHi again,
ReplyDeleteActually we will be north of
Colville about 20 miles. We will be having the negative temps in the winter time, but I am going to try winter gardening anyway. If I use hoops over the garden beds I think we might be able to grow a few winter veggies. I am going to try to start my herb garden this year while I am out there, giving my perennials a chance to get going good. Hopefully the deer won't get them while I am not the for the winter.
Will definitely be following your blog and will ask questions if I am not sure of things.
Adele
Adele57, that's cold (but beautiful) country! Yes, you will probably have a problem with deer in your garden, so I wish you luck!
ReplyDeleteWow! How awesome!
ReplyDeleteAG!! How awesome is that?! I think i'll start keeping tabs on how much my garden saves me in food costs. I'm sure that with everyone keeping a log of the value of their gardens that it could change legislation. Yay!
ReplyDeleteKalena Michele, it's a big undertaking to weigh and log everything. I wasn't sure I wanted to do it again this year, but I probably will. I didn't bring a scale with me, so I won't be weighing my AZ harvests, but I could probably make an educated guess at what they weigh...as much stuff as I weighed last year, I hardly need a scale any more!
ReplyDelete