That year, I decided to see if gardening was still a losing proposition. I weighed everything that I picked. I brought in over three hundred pounds of tomatoes, corn, okra, green beans, peas, broccoli and I don't remember what else we had growing that year. I finally told Jon how much we had produced, everything was coming off like crazy, I was having trouble keeping up with it, so I wasn't going to weigh any more, the garden was more than paid for! i don't know how much we produced in the long run, but this was one tired out mama by the time the season was over. I was shocked when I realized that I was tempted to pray for the first heavy frost so that I could stop canning. When school started and all the teachers didn't have much time, they started to
call me a offer what was left in their gardens so that it wouldn't go to waste. That was the year that we had two pints of veggies a day for 9 months for our family. I sure wish I h
ad pictures of my shelves, it was a true work of art.
Anyway, one of my children told me yesterday that you don't save any money growing a garden, with the water, blah, blah, blah. Efficient drip system, etc. didn't make a difference in the opinion. Working the soil, improving it, blah, blah, blah . . it just won't make any difference. So-o-o-o, I am going to track every lousy dime I spend on my gardening, figure as closely as I can what I have spent so far. Keep a ledger on ALL of it. Even the time will be tracked . . . time is money! I will prove her wrong if it kills me!
So, here is what I found this morning while I was out hand pollinating my squash. Can you
believe that ? I just can't fail at growing zucchini . . come on, it is a weed, according
to most people. I want to have so many that every one has to lock their cars in the church parking lot, to guard against my "generosity"!
1. Yellow squash, not my favorite, but hey, time for a challenge, and if I still am not crazy about it, I can pass them on to Sarah! 2. Regular tomatoes, not just the cherry! 3. Poor old grow boxes on hold till I can use both hands, or until Jon can do the lifting . . . one hand just won't lift those boogers! Some times I miss the grip I had when I milked goats!
1. The first yellow bell pepper 2. The red bell pepper has a little sister. 3. Yippee! zucchini! Really!
7 comments:
Sharron your garden is looking awesome! It's definitley worth it for starters even if you don't make money this year the knowledge you gain on gardening in your climate and using your dirt is priceless! They will all look to you when hard times hit and you can't just go to the store to buy what you want. Your first years are learning years and who wants to be learning when your life and the lives or your family are depending on it! Your doing so well, you and Crystal are inspiring me to get the weeds pulled out of my garden and "Grow" again. There is something to be said for getting down in the dirt and planting something and watching it grow. It's a testimony building experience and strong testimonies are priceless! So as far as I'm concerned you are way ahead.
I am excited to know the price comparison - I must say, I am siding with "the daughter" on if it is cheaper.
Don't get me wrong - home grown veggies are definitely TASTIER!!! But so much work, time effort, etc. Maybe us young mom's just don't get it.
Yellow squash - try baking it in the oven, with other veggies (peppers, mushrooms, onions, etc.) - lightly coat them with olive oil, salt and pepper and then bake them 10-15 mins. at 400 - just long enough to make them tender, but they have a nice crisp also.
My mom would always pan fry them in butter.
I love your garden! I think it is a huge blessing to be able to grow your own food.
Way to go Sharron. It looks so good and you are doing the right thing!
You are quite the farmer. A garden I may have the patience for but not all the record keeping you are planning on doing. Now THAT seems like work to me...
I love yellow squash!!! Maybe Sarah and I could share what you don't want. :)
did you use seeds or plants. i tried seeds last year and had very little success, so back to plants from me. that makes it more expensive. oh well. your garden looks tons better than mine. but i am still excited to see what it produces.
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