Dinner From The Garden

Tonight we had San Choy Bau using lettuce grown in my own garden! How amazing is that! And it was great!

DH liked the home grown lettuce, and we had some iceberg my Dad had got for us, and I'd like to grow some iceberg too, but DH says he prefers the mignonette lettuce. Hee! I am so chuffed!

One of the things that used to annoy me about the credo that to save money you should start a vegie patch is that no one ever talks about the set up costs and the return on investments you get out of it. I have a great time gardening, and I enjoy looking out my window to see verdant greenery which produces food I like to eat, but I always wanted to make sure this was going to be worth my time and effort.

Tomatoes are now $5 a kilo for the cheap ones. I am seriously considering frozen and tinned vegetables simply because of the cost. The quality of the vegetables are variable, and it's disheartening to be paying so much money for something that doesn't even look good. If nothing else, the sheer freshness factor is always a good argument for a vegie garden.

So far, the garden has cost $278. That covered a no-dig haybale garden bed, a second equal length garden bed that I am filling with corn, and decent compost and manure to improve other parts of the garden as well. However it's an investment as well as an outlay. I'm still in my apprenticeship. When the next few years are done, I will have a more permanent lay out, chickens, probably a compost corner, and much more knowledge and confidence. My friends and I have built this together. I can't thank them enough for their time and expertise, which is another factor in the outlay and setup I needed to consider.

So, I am going to tally up my garden here. Every time I eat from the garden, I shall count that as savings. I want to make sure that I get $278 worth of vegetables out of my garden. So, I guess salad greens for two adults and a 3year old... I'd say $2. I haven't bought lettuce in a very long time, actually, so I am guessing wildly. There's tomatoes growning already, so I have high hopes. I did plant a LOT of them!

Garden was started on the 13th of November.
Cost of Garden: $278
Saved: $2

Total Cost $276
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Sarah