Gardeners: What do you really save by gardening? Community Project!

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Hmm, we just put in a new garden with deer fencing. As we spent around $350 on fencing and $350 on compost that is a one time cost, how do we handle that to get a real idea of what our cost/benefit is? Should I average it out over a certain number of years (its life expectancy) and plug in that number?

Also, I am considering also tracking what I spend on food in general now versus over the summer when I have my own produce. Having food in the yard to draw on for meals will allow me to lean heavier on veggie/fruit meals and snacks, replacing other foods.
 
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Defintely factor in your up front costs for this year... by the end of the year you can figure out what percent of pay off you got, and it will help you figure out if you will need 1 more year to pay it off/break even... if you already paid off and benefited this year. Its a good spreadsheet to see where you end up quickly. I probably spent a good $450 on my garden last year, and $100 the year before to get where I am now, where I barely spent a thing.

So far from this, I learned I need to increase my compost ability... AND if the numbers are in the positive this year, next year I can spring for a pump for the pond and irrigate that way rather then from our houses' hose!
 
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I use cardboard egg cartons for my seed starters. When ready to transplant you can cut them apart and leave them in the cardboard and cover with dirt. The cardboard is so soft that it will break down in no time.
You can use newspaper in the ailes that you walk in with pine-needles on top to keep the weeds out. Have you ever noticed that there is no grass or weeds under pine trees
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For compost we use all our coffee grounds, tea bags, veggie scraps, you can use newspaper, cardboard, corn cobs, grass clippings, hedge trimmings, Livestock Manure, Plant stalks, pine needles, old potting soil, sawdust, seaweed (if you can get it), straw, tree leaves, wood chips, and twigs. So use those cleanings out of your coop for a beautiful veggie garden.....it is a natural fertilizer, you know
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Never use these items for composting
Bread and grains, cooking oil, any type of dairy products, dead animals, diseased plant material, dog or cat manure, grease or oily foods, meat or fish scraps, noxious or invasive weeds, weeds with seed heads.

Also....Did you know that the calcium in eggshells encourages cell growth in plants? You can even mix crushed eggshells directly into the soil around tomatoes, zucchini, squash & peppers to prevent blossom end rot, and eggshells also help deter slugs, snails and those dredded cutworms. What other people would have access to mroe eggshells than us folks here on BYC
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Defintely factor in your up front costs for this year... by the end of the year you can figure out what percent of pay off you got, and it will help you figure out if you will need 1 more year to pay it off/break even... if you already paid off and benefited this year. Its a good spreadsheet to see where you end up quickly. I probably spent a good $450 on my garden last year, and $100 the year before to get where I am now, where I barely spent a thing.

So far from this, I learned I need to increase my compost ability... AND if the numbers are in the positive this year, next year I can spring for a pump for the pond and irrigate that way rather then from our houses' hose!

Yes, compost is big on my list as well. I am getting goats in a couple of months and plan a big compost heap, so hopefully I won't have to buy it next year. I am also going to be using a green manure, like fava beans, over the winter.

Woops, that reminded me that I will be spending another $150 on drip, ouch. So for this year my upfront costs are:

Recurring:
Seeds: $53
Bark: $48
Total: $101

One Time:
Fencing: $350
Compost: $345
Drip Irrigation: $150
berries: $75
Total: $920

Grand total: $1021 - I think I felt better having NOT figured this number out. Aaack.

So, my regular amount should be around $100, versus this year which is running around $946. However, if you average life expectancies out for the one time purchases, this is more what it looks like:
Fencing: $23 (over 15 years, it says 30 years but I am erring on the side of caution)
Drip: $30 (over 5 years, should last longer though)
Compost: $100 annually general cost
berries: $15 over 5 years (should be one time, but some will inevitably need replaced)

When you take those numbers and add in the recurring costs of bark and seeds, it looks like it's around $269 annual cost. I know that this seems like an overly complicated way to look at it - life expectancies and averages- but it helps me to feel better about this year's enormous expense
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So maybe I need to do a couple of spread sheets, one with average out costs and one with annual costs.
 
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Eggshell are also great for baby worms. I have found many an eggshell in my composter full of growing baby worms. I don't know why they like them but they do. And my GodDaughter will tell you, "Worm poop makes the flowers grow!"
 
2010 Start up costs:

$3.78 New trowel
$3.94 Peat pellets for transplants.

That's it. Anyone wana guess who saves her seeds?
 
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Eggshell are also great for baby worms. I have found many an eggshell in my composter full of growing baby worms. I don't know why they like them but they do. And my GodDaughter will tell you, "Worm poop makes the flowers grow!"

I would actually encourage adding Red worms to your compost pile. You can actually collect them inyour own back yard by looking under a pile of mulch or you can order them from a catalog. The reason I say this is because the worms will filter your organic waste through their systems and turn it into nutrient rich humus. Talk about somw awesome, natural fertilizer for the garden
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We haven't a clue.....could it be Mr. Saddi?
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Yep we save our seeds here too... AND we trade with people over on the always wonderful THEEASYGARDEN.com!!! *hint, hint*
 

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