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Post by daylilydude on Sept 19, 2017 4:27:22 GMT -5
As far as the money you spend each year for gardening... do you get it back with the production from the garden??
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Post by meandtk on Sept 19, 2017 8:52:13 GMT -5
Not yet. It is an expensive hobby so far.
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Post by spike on Sept 19, 2017 8:53:25 GMT -5
Our grocery bill. I grow it and I can it or freeze it and we eat great all winter. I shop for meat, flour, sugar on sale and can/freeze that also. Come winter all we really need to buy is milk, eggs, butter etc.
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Post by paulf on Sept 19, 2017 9:31:46 GMT -5
Since I tend to be quite anal about inputs and outputs (it's the economist in me showing up), you would think I would have a handle on this question. I equate this one to whether I would keep track of my expenses if I were to going out on a first date with a gorgeous lady I wanted to impress. My garden is my attractive friend and no expense gets spared..up to a point. For the guy who weighs and counts every tomato grown you would think I would have the numbers tallied up for the past 40 or so years and could spout them out at a moment's notice. Not going to happen.
We grow whatever we want, we eat what we are able, we preserve what we feel like preserving and give the rest away to whoever will take it. I don't drink on a regular basis, I don't smoke, don't do anything addictive except eat chocolate and even less of that lately..blood sugar you know. So gardening is my drug of choice (and flowers is that of my wife). If we tried to put the pencil to cost/benefit it would most likely be scary. I have threatened to think about keeping track. An unfulfilled threat.
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Post by september on Sept 19, 2017 9:35:57 GMT -5
I think so. I've had most of my equipment, hoses, etc for many years, so those costs are negligible. Only the seed and a bit of fertilizer to pay for, and some electricity for running water. Boards to replace on the raised beds every few years.
We eat on our fresh or our frozen vegies all year, enough is put by to last til the next season. Some of the more expensive "fun" gardening stuff I've received as birthday presents, or if I buy it myself, I consider it a recreational cost because I'd rather play in the dirt then spend money for entertainment elsewhere.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Sept 19, 2017 9:43:25 GMT -5
This year I feel like I'm ahead with my garden financially! I literally only had to buy 3 seed packets this year- I had everything else already on hand from trades and prior use. We picked up free llama compost to enrich my gardens instead of spending several hundred to have plain compost delivered as well.
I did buy herb plants this year to the tune of about $30, but most of them are perennial and will give me herbs for several years if I care for them properly.
I do not have a vast quantity put up this year, which is unusual for me, but I have so much put up from last year and prior, that this year I determined that we were going to concentrate on eating what was already there and then sort of starting over next year.
But what I have put up this year so far is items that I will for sure use. Tomato Sauce, Raspberry Jam, frozen kale shreds for soups, and today I'm pickling beets for the hubs to eat to his delight all winter long. Swiss Chard and carrots will also be in the freezer before garden's end, as well as frozen tomatillos for green chili.
So this year I'm definitely ahead. Those are valuable grocery items I won't need to purchase.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Sept 19, 2017 11:01:39 GMT -5
I definitely get more than I put in, unless you figure in labor, in which case I am WAY underpaid! lol And many of the things I grow are not available locally, though you can get anything online, for exorbitant prices. And who can put a price on being able to go out and pick those fresh herbs, tomatoes, and many other things, that simply won't hold up to shipping?
Water goes up 90-100 dollars in one quarter, due to irrigation, and I occasionally have to replace things, like the Agribon, irrigation equipment, etc, but that lasts a long time. And seeds, of course, but we try to save by trading!
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