One Hundred Dollars a Month

This year my goal is to grow 2,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables. I think I can do it. With 16 raised garden beds, a greenhouse, a raspberry patch and a few more planting beds sprinkled throughout our property, I believe growing 2,000 pounds of food is an attainable goal. Even if I do live right in the middle of high maintenance suburbia, and my neighbors think I’m nuts. ~Mavis

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This was a busy week both at home and in the garden.  I took a mini trip to Idaho, and as soon as I got back, The Girl and I went foraging for over 30+ pounds of plums, {we went back last night}. We also picked a few more baskets of wild blackberries, canned a boatload of jam and harvested almost 100 pounds of fruits and vegetables as well. Crazy!

For the most part, this was a transition week in the garden.  We planted out broccoli and kale for the fall, and started to work on the greenhouse pallet gardens for this winter.  Although there are plenty of things left yet to harvest, I am getting a little nervous about reaching my goal of trying to grow 2,000 pounds of fresh fruits and veggies in the garden.  I sure hope all those potatoes, pumpkins and tomatoes are going to help.  Otherwise I maybe growing tons and tons of lettuce and kale both indoors and out just to reach my goal.  We shall see!

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Here is what I have harvested so far this year:

Basil 1 lb 9 oz {how to make pesto}

Beans 21 lbs 3 {green bean salad, how to can green beans, dilly beans}

Beets 48 lb 140z {how to can beets}

Blueberries 3 lb 11 oz {mixed berry pie recipe}

Broccoli 4lb 14 oz {pasta salad with broccoli, carrots, and sun dried tomatoes}

Broccoli Rabb 1lb 6 oz {chickpeas with broccoli raab and bacon}

Cabbage 53lb 14 oz {how to make sauerkraut}

Carrots 116lbs 12 oz {carrot cake recipe}

Cauliflower 4lbs 11 oz {cauliflower hummus rocks!}

Chives 1lb  3 oz {chalkboard painted herb pots}

Cucumbers 26 lbs 1 oz

Hubbard Squash 21 lbs 2 ounces

Kale 1 lb 12oz {how to make kale chips}

Lettuce 14 lb 6 oz {bbq chicken salad}

Mint 4 lbs 12 oz {Fresh Pea Salad with Spinach, Feta and Mint}

Onions 20 lbs 10 oz {Kentucky Fried Chicken Cole Slaw}

Oregano 4 lbs 15 oz

Mushrooms 9.25 oz {read more about how I grew mushrooms}

Peas 38 lb13 oz {fresh peas and bacon recipe}

Pears 8 lbs 5 oz {how to make pear jam}

Peppers 1 lb 7 oz

Potatoes 40lb 8oz {potato soup recipe}

Radish 15lb  12 oz {how I bartered radishes for avocados}

Raspberries  2 lb 7 oz {how to make a raspberry buckle}

Spinach 2lb 5 oz {garlic spinach dip recipe}

Sprouts 10 oz {how to grow sprouts}

Strawberries 11lbs {dehydrated strawberries are awesome}

Swiss Chard 21 lb 12 oz {rainbow Swiss chard recipe}

Tomatoes 18 lb 7 oz {roasted corn salad with tomatoes and feta}

Zucchini 156 lb 2oz {how to make zucchini relish, zucchini salad, zucchini brownies}

Miscellaneous 8lb 2 oz {This means we let someone come and pick vegetables, or did not get a chance to weigh them individually, and this was the total weight of all the vegetables combined}

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So that’s what I’ve grown so far this year… How about YOU?

How is YOUR garden doing?

Total Food Harvested in 2012: 695 lbs 14.25 oz

I have spent a total of $509.05 on seeds, soil, plants and supplies for this year.

Life is good!