Monday, June 8, 2009

Monday Harvest Tally

Tally time! I thought last week that I wouldn't have much of a harvest. Well I was wrong. You would think I would know when certain harvests start. I do it year after year, but nope. I'm always shocked when I go out and it is time to pick this or that.

The greens were no surprise. I harvested 1.7lbs of them last week. Next weeks harvest will be even smaller, but they are still producing. I have a little block of six seedlings for a succession crop. It should go in today or tomorrow.

The herbs were a complete surprise. Sometimes I feels so clueless. On 6/1 I saw that the lemon balm needed to be picked; on 6/2 the chamomile and oregano; on 6/5 it was thyme; on 6/6 the garlic scapes (though those are recorded under alliums); on 6/7 there was dill. Most of these herbs were dehydrated. The dill had little eggs on them. Sadly I picked them off when I harvested. I'm sure my black swallowtail caterpillars are on their way. Though I picked dill, I still have plenty left for my caterpillars. Never fear the ones left will be well fed.

Then I noticed my marguerite daisies had started to bloom. In force too. If I don't keep them picked, they won't keep blooming. So I started chopping off their blooms keeping their stems long to put a vase. Wow, they have really spread. Last year I had just a few plants. Now there are tons. I let them grow in the no mans land near the house under the eaves. This is a spot that gets no water. Weeds have trouble growing here. The daisies seem to thrive. I may have to rip up some that are near the garden gate. If the plants get much bigger, I won't be able to open it anymore.

Since I picked some daisies that are the core of my spring bouquets, I had to add some more stunning flowers. I picked some peonies, iris, chives and false indigo. I'm not much of a flower arranger. I'm more into wild unkempt bouquets. When one flower starts to fade, it gets pulled out of the vase and more go in its place. I have now picked a total of 91 flower! Wow! 70 of them were daisies. These daisies are small. They don't add much to the tally individually. They are only $0.15 flowers - about as cheap as they come. But when you have 70 of them that is $10.50. Hmm. It really seems cheating to add flowers to my monetary total. I'm going to still do it mind you, but I would never buy them in the store. The herbs and greens I would buy, but not flowers. Maybe at the end of the year I'll look at the total without the flowers too. I mean really $43.40 in flowers this week? It's just wrong.

I hadn't spent anything for a while, so I was due. I bought myself a rosemary plant. It was only $2.99 and well worth it.

A major change this week is getting some real numbers for my herbs. I had issues with using the price of the herbs in the little plastic packets. They hold less than one ounce and cost around $2-$3. This would put the herb price over $30/lbs which is ridiculous. I found a farm on the web that had most of the herbs that I grow. They sell in 4oz bags. I used their prices. The prices may change yet again if I can find a more local price list for herbs. My flower prices were also take off the web. But who sells chive and false indigo flowers? No one. So there are guesstimates.

So here are the totals:

  • Greens 1.73 lbs
  • Herbs 0.88 lbs
  • Alliums 0.25 lbs
  • Flowers 91

Weekly total: 2.87 lbs
Weekly spent: $2.99
Yearly total: 12.87 lbs
Yearly earned: -$126.15

13 comments:

  1. Awesome! What a beautiful bouquet!

    That's a lot of money to save! YES!!!!

    And everyone who enjoys your wonderful harvest will benefit so much more from all those fresh veggies loaded with vitamins... and nutrients... which is likely lost during storage/shipment of grocery bought produce! : )

    Beautiful photos Daphne!

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  2. Oh wow! So much! I got tons and tons of lettuce today!

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  3. I agree so much about herbs -- they do have a high return! Unlike, in our area, potatoes, which need a pound of seed potatoes to return a pound of harvest. :)

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  4. I love the bouquet!
    I, too, am awaiting my black swallowtail caterpillars to arrive -- except they will eat my parsley to the ground (that's why it's overgrown at the moment).
    In your photo of greens, I see that you harvested some mizuna -- my favorite salad green!

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  5. Daphne, your chard looks great- mine is all bug eaten, just makes me sad! Time to start more. I have so much to do out there :)!

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  6. Wow! Your garden is going BONKERS! You went from 0 to 6 in like no time flat. WOW - your pics are yummy-ummy - keep em coming. And thank you so much for the award!

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  7. The bouquet is so pretty. Makes me with I had a lot of flowers growing in my little yard.

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  8. Tony-zone, usually it is just me enjoying the harvest. My husband doesn't like to eat his vegetables. He does eat corn and potatoes so at least he will have something from the garden. I also want to make salsa this year. I know he will eat that.

    Pam, great! Maybe tomorrow we will get rain and you will get to quit hauling water.

    Accidental Huswife, I hope my potatoes produce more than that. Since it is the first year I'll find out.

    islandgardener, thanks, I occasionally find the swallowtails on my parsley or my carrots. They seem to like my dill better. If I find them on the carrots I move them over to my dill. I much prefer them eating that. Carrots are hard enough to grow.

    DirtDigger, thanks, oh how sad that you lost your chard. The only thing that eats it here is usually the leaf miners. I check the leaves for eggs at least every other day. It works. I did have one caterpillar (that I couldn't find, but it was that kind of damage) that ate one to the ground and was on another for a bit. That poor chard is tiny compared to the others. All the others have those big chard leaves you find at the store. This one is about 5" tall at the most. I'm hoping it will eventually catch up.

    Carol, thanks, a lot of the garden is growing like crazy. Some if it is struggling. There is always something that decides it doesn't want to grow. Every year it is something different.

    Anon, Thanks. Though my veggies are my pride and joy, I just couldn't live without the flowers. They don't get quite the loving care, but they are still loved.

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  9. Your chard looks spectacular! Nice False Indigo too, I tried growing that plant once but it never really did anything.

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  10. Hi Daphne,
    Your harvest looks great. I am also calculating the value of my harvest this year, but I don't have your variety or yield. Your numbers are impressive. That reminds me...I have to see what some of my harvest is going for in the store now for my next total. I see you're calculating by the pound; that seems more reliable.

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  11. Go Daphne!!! Your harvest is totally awesome and your flowers look great! I'd give anything to persuade oxeye daisies to grow in my Cultivated Wild Meadow, but so far, no luck. Maybe someday!

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  12. I need to cut some daisies as well, I have the wild oxeyes that grow like CRAZY around here.

    I harvested almost the last of my lettuce, I just started more Green Gem for a party I'm throwing next month, along with some radishes.

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