I just changed things around on the settings. Denise and I were talking about keeping track of totals, and she said that it made sense to divide our totals between fall and spring, since that's how we conceptualize our growing seasons. Spring/summer, fall/winter.
I didn't total everything from the spring -- there are still some winter squash and apples out front, and I haven't weighed the final tomatoes I plucked off the vines when I pulled them, but it's close enough for a first year.
384 pounds, pretty much. (This post also gave me a chance to catch up with the totals on the kitchen calendar. We are nothing if not high tech here.) That included a bit over 128 pounds of honey and some foraged apples, but not the blackberries we picked for free, nor the eggs -- they got a separate count. It will be interesting to see how the new square footage stacks up. That poundage came from roughly 188 sq feet under cultivation, plus the front yard (and beehives, and city parks, and neighbor's trees. . .). And personally, I'm not thrilled with that harvest. Between rotten soil and poor watering, I guess I'm lucky I got anything! And thank you again, bees. Thank you very much!
Here's to a prosperous and productive season this winter. I'm already able to give fresh food away. Three pounds of Siberian Kale is coming with me to homeschool park day. I've got a lot in the freezer and it's a year-round vegetable, really. Being able to share makes me feel like a rich philanthropist!
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8 comments:
Congratulations!
So: do you think you need to put an asterisk by these totals because it was the first year in the smaller garden? I am really curious what your fall and spring differences would be, too, albeit the fall crops will weigh a lot less.
Goodness knows I could never get around to weighing a thing. Maybe because it would put the item on a pedestal or something, make it precious? But I do see its utility: you're proving to yourselves what it is you can grow, and how much of it.
But I do completely hear you on feeling like some philanthropist when you give stuff away!
384 pounds is astounding. Your garden is so transformed I barely recognize it. I am also impressed by your bookkeeping. What about things you eat straight from the vine? Most of our (pitiful) harvest goes straight from plant to mouth.
Dang...128 lbs. of honey is alot! Oh, i'd love to have a hive for my garden....
I liked you before and like you even more now that I know you're a fellow homeschooler :)
I need to do a total like that. I kept loose track of everything, but it sure would be interesting to get a good count. I'd have to guestimate some as I never weighed my radishes at the start of the year.
Well done Stefani! That is a good haul and you should be proud (and well fed).
el, thank you. I will probably make a note of the different garden configurations -- it's all for my own records, mostly. I weigh because it's easier for me than keeping track -- 12 zucchini, 24 peppers, etc., but that might be a good way to go too.
Susan, thank you -- remember who made a bunch of that! The yard looks pretty different to me too, and I'm getting some blowback from the kids. They never ever played there anyhow! I don't count whatever we eat while growing. That's just gravy.
EG, you might want to make friends with a keeper nearby? Maybe they would house one or two on your property and you could have the benefit without the responsibility? They are peaceable creatures.
Kathy, thanks! It's a big lifestyle choice, but it's worked pretty well so far, even with this year's school experiment for half the kids.
Ribbit, it's been quite interesting. I guessed at some and wasn't 100% on top of things, but this is about how much it was. The really fascinating total would be how much I spend on produce -- does that go down? Why and in what directions?
kitsapFG, thank you very much. Growing heavy pumpkins seems to be the key!
Bumper crops darling. Congratulations! Lot's of honey, eh?
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