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 morning I sent The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird out to pick a few vegetables.  Her first load was a little over 32 pounds.  She still has more beans and carrots to harvest, but this is what a typical haul is looking like these days.

The tomatoes are growing like mad, and with the impending heat wave {upper 90’s in the forecast} I’m hoping my counters will be so full of tomatoes by the end of August, that I won’t have room for anything else.  Because if there is one thing I’ve been looking forward to this year… it’s tomatoes.  Lot’s and lot’s of tomatoes.

I must admit, I’m pretty excited with the latest tally.  I just hit the 25% mark, and we still haven’t gotten into tomato, potato, or pumpkin season yet.  Wahooo!  I think I can do this!

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Here is what I have harvested so far this year:

Basil 1 lb 7 oz {how to make pesto}

Beans 12 lbs 4 {green bean salad, how to can green beans, dilly beans}

Beets 48 lb 140z {how to can beets}

Blueberries 1 lb 14 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 44lb 13 oz {how to make sauerkraut}

Carrots 101 lbs 1 oz {carrot cake recipe}

Cauliflower 4lbs 11 oz {cauliflower hummus rocks!}

Chives 1lb  1 oz {chalkboard painted herb pots}

Cucumbers 4 lbs 2 oz

Kale 1 lb 4 oz {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 9 lbs 15 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}

Peppers 1 lb 1 oz

Potatoes 37lb 0 oz {potato soup recipe}

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

Raspberries  2 lb 5 oz {how to make a raspberry buckle}

Spinach 2lb 5 oz {garlic spinach dip recipe}

Sprouts 10 oz {how to grow sprouts}

Strawberries 7lb 5 oz {dehydrated strawberries are awesome}

Swiss Chard 24 lb 5 oz {rainbow Swiss chard recipe}

Tomatoes 1 lb 12 oz {roasted corn salad with tomatoes and feta}

Zucchini 106 lb 6 oz {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: 522 lbs 9.25 oz

I have spent a total of $496.58 on seeds, soil, plants and supplies for this year.

Keep fruits and veggies fresh longer with the Progressive International Lettuce Keeper.  Amazon currently has it on sale for $13.98.

See more Fruit and Vegetable Keepers