Is it thrifty to garden?

The summer is drawing to a close; school starts soon and together with it a whole new routine of life. Two adorable new cloth lunch bags sit on our dining room table, one festooned with dragonflies and the other with white cats playing with a mouse toy. I’ve filled my Palm calendar with start dates, special events, school closings, and meetings galore. We’ve got our forms to fill and our supplies list at hand. And on our front steps sits a kind of deformed, but brightly colored Big Max pumpkin.

Big Max turned out to be a pretty big disappointment; the Vine Borers destroyed his chances to grow “up to 100 pounds!” as the seed package boasted. Our sole survivor of that esteemed pumpkin plant is about ten pounds and is lopsided because it was not possible to set it on its bottom to grow, because the vine was cracked and damaged. The stem is rotted and I am certain this pumpkin will no longer be around come October.

However, we do have two more pumpkins, the Connecticut Field Pumpkin variety, still growing in the garden, and one in our front yard. They are still green and appear to be still growing. Their vines are also damaged, but less so than Big Max. We may be able to harvest these last three pumpkins, and have them nearer to Halloween.

We harvested another Moon and Stars watermelon, which is juicy and pleasant, but not fully ripe. I felt so certain, when we picked it, that it would be ripe, so it was disappointing to split it open and discover pale pink flesh again. The first one we ate was actually sweeter and tastier. I chalk this one up to the fact that the deer broke into the garden (let’s face it, this garden is completely open to them, we might as well leave the door wide open at this point) and munched much of the foliage off the watermelon vine while the fruit was trying to grow. There are deer bite marks on the watermelon itself, but they failed to penetrate the skin. The damage from the deer probably stunted its growth and and lessened it opportunity to ripen. Plus, because I was out of town, my garden looks like it did not get enough water. I am just guessing, though, having never done this before.

We also harvested some lovely purple asian eggplants (3), a couple of greenbeans, and a funky little cucumber that was all plumped up on one side, and skinny at the end. Basil is still going strong as ever, and the marigolds look quite pretty along the edges of the garden. A towering sunflower that D planted is strong and tall and beautiful, its stem more than two inches in diameter.

Now I’m trying to figure out the economics of my garden. Did I break even? Was this purely a hobby, a pleasure to garden or did I actually produce enough fruits and veggies and to justify, in pure dollars and cents, the cost of renting a garden plot? I want to know because I am considering doing it again next year, and even expanding to getting two plots rather than just one.

Here’s how the costs break down, approximately.

Seeds: $10
Garden rental (not counting refundable deposit): $25
Tomato Plant: $5
Marigolds: $10
Organic Veggie Fertilizer: $5

Things I got for free:
Cantaloupes - they came up from seeds in the compost
Cucumbers - I swapped seeds with someone, trading some of my bush beans for cuke seeds
Eggplants - A fellow gardener gave me two plants because she had more than she wanted
Coffee Grounds - Improved the soil
Peat Moss - A friend was moving and gave me a big bag of peat moss that she no longer needed

Total Expenses… about $50 invested.

What I harvested or will soon harvest and the approximate market value:

Green Beans - maybe a pound or so, let’s say it was worth $2
Pumpkins - three. Figure about $15 worth of pumpkin.
Watermelons - two. $10
Eggplants - six. $4 EDITED seven. $5
Cucumbers - six. $3
Cantaloupes - five. $5
Basil - 3 large bunches or more - $4 5 bunches - $6
EDITED: 2 bouquets of marigolds - $2

EDITED to add at-home veggies:
1  little basket of cherry tomatoes $2
1 pumpkin $5
1 decorative gourd $1

Total estimated market value of my harvest: $42 $54

EDITED: Adding in the stuff I grew at home, plus the additional harvested items made me break even, even go over my expenses a little!!!!  

I think I’ll need to be either more frugal in my investment of money next year, or more fruitful in my harvest in order to break even. Here are some ideas for improving the returns on all the hard work I put in.

• Next year we will insist on a real deer fence. This year’s fence was obviously not up to the job! This may be more expensive, but is essential.
• Compost and coffee grounds - I will use more of these and they don’t cost a cent. I can even improve the soil with coffee grounds for my garden plot(s) this fall when we have the fall garden clean up day.
• More compost tea, to help feed the watermelon plants.
• A more co-ordinated watering schedule with other gardeners, so that when I go away for a two week vacation, my crops don’t suffer from too little watering.
• I have seeds from this year’s harvest will be mean I don’t need to buy as many seeds for next year.
• I can start the plants inside, and earlier, than I did this year.
• I can repel Vine Borers and other insects using techniques I’ve researched online. This may require the purchase of some Tea Tree Oil, and other non-chemical treatments, but it would go a long way to preventing the loss or damage of the harvest.
• Planning ahead really helps; it also will give my mind something to do when I’m longing for spring.

All in all, this was a really enjoyable experience, and there is certainly a value in that, even if it isn’t something you can put a price tag on. D and I had some really good quality time together in the garden, digging, weeding, and then sharing the delicious food. My children learned that veggies don’t grow in the supermarket and that green beans picked fresh are as delicious as candy. And I learned a lot of about how to grow vegetables and I now have a much greater appreciation for the challenges that farmers have always faced.

Speaking of farmers, here’s a link to a really wonderful farm’s blog which shares many wonderful fresh produce recipes along with beautiful pictures… http://straightfromthefarm.wordpress.com/

I look forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts on whether it’s frugal to garden, or is it just another costly hobby?