today’s harvest
Another 2 lbs of produce from the garden. But my % homegrown is falling since we are buying more and more from the store. This week 7 lbs.
today’s harvest
I’m tallying the proportion of my family’s vegetables that I grow myself. I’m doing it by weight – this is just over 0.5 lb of lettuce. I don’t think the lettuce is really worth keeping track of, but I’ll add it in anyway. I picked a half lb of small peppers yesterday to add too. Garden grown: 222 lbs – Store bought: 98 lbs Proportion of home grown: still 69%
tallying my homegrown versus store bought vegetables
I’ve weighed all the vegetables and fruits in our house now and here’s what I’ve come up with: Garden grown: 221 lbs Store bought: 98 lbs Proportion of home grown: 69% Wow. I had no idea. This includes 34 lbs of my winter squash, 19 lbs potatoes, 11 qts canned tomatoes, 75 pints of other canned fruits or vegetables and 24 lbs of fresh tomatoes ripening on my counter. I’ll put the tally on my sidebar. I’ll keep track as we buy and grow for a year. I know the…
how much of my family’s vegetables do I grow?
I write in my header for this blog that my goal is to grow all of my family’s vegetables. I never actually figured out what amount I do grow and if I am getting better – or worse… In my Gardening class yesterday, Roger Swain said that NE grows only about 7% of our local food and the rest we import from elsewhere. We have so much land we could use, but we don’t. He said home gardeners don’t really contribute a significant amount – and we could. In 1944,…
frost predicted
Right on schedule – Oct 10 – a frost is predicted tonight. I thought it would be late this year, but no, right on time. In the dusk, my husband and I picked all my green tomatoes and peppers, plus a few squash, watermelons, zucchinis, and one eggplant. We covered the beans and lettuce with row covers. It doesn’t seem cold enough for a frost to me, but it’s predicted so we’ll see. My counters are covered with baskets! Peppers are in a trug on the floor. We’ll roast and…
sweet potato harvest
I harvested my sweet potatoes today. I just had one small row that I grew at my community garden. With a very bad vole population this year, I was afraid I find all sorts of half eaten tubers. But only one had nibble marks. And many of the tubers were pretty good size. I was surprised to see several were sprouting already – underground. What’s that about? The hot weather? I’m glad I got them out of the ground a bit early. I normally would wait ’til after a frost…
peppermint Swiss chard for the food pantry
It was very pretty, but I dislike chard. I only planted a little just to see if I might like it – not – and it’s been growing like crazy all summer. So I harvested it and donated a big bunch. They appreciated it.
another farmers market
I sold honey again at our local farmers market. This time I sold all 2 dozen lbs I brought with me and took orders for about 30 more. Now I’ve sold all of the honey I hoped to sell – about 60 lbs, half of what I had. The trick was bringing Suzie! She is a great sales dog! She got lots of attention at our little table. I also brought a basket full of gourds to sell. I sold a few at 50 cents each, but not many. I…
This is a journal of my vegetable gardens. Skippy thinks the garden is his, even though I do all the work. We're located near Boston, in USDA zone 6. I have bees, chickens, fruit trees and berry bushes, too. I use all sustainable organic methods and strive to grow all of my family's vegetables myself. -Kathy
weeks and counting until my last spring frost
My garden this week
Skippy’s vegetable of the month – Egyptian walking onions!
