So I’ve already told you I cheated and bought some ‘factory’ grown plants from one of the mega stores.  Now it’s time to calculate the total costs so far this year that have gone into the garden.

So for the plants and seed alone we are at  $54.72.  Add the pellet tray I bought for $9.99 to start the seed inside we come to a total of $64.71.  Consider that we’ve spent close to $100 for vegetables and herbs so far this year.  The biggest problem with the experiment this year is I’m so far behind.  It’s already mid-june and I still don’t have everything in the ground.  I’m beginning to wonder if the entire effort is worth it so far for the year.  

Anyway, to sum up for now:

Total spent to date: $64.71

Time spent: ~4 hours

Saving to date: $0

In cleaning up and updating some of the parts of the site I found this page buried in an old version of the DB. I’ve restored it but kept it out of the nav for now. I need to restart this

Discmoon

God, I am so far behind on writing this it isn’t funny. So on that note, here we go.

The economy has hit hard and close to home. In fact it’s hit dead center. Which makes it a perfect time to bring an idea I’ve been having for a little while. It starts with a personal dream and a desire to get back to my roots a little. Now before I get too sentamental and goopy let me explain. The experiment originally was going to be to see if we could go the summer without buying ANY vegetables of herbs. Now the plan was to plant at the first opportunity, however I ended up getting sick in the middle of April with the flu and then an ear infection so I got behind. Then the weather and trying to find work put me farther behind.

ANYWAY, I have managed to get some traction on the project and have begun the process of curbing our spending. However to try to get a little caught up, I cheated a little. I bought herb plants from Home Depot. I know, I know. It’s about 4 times more expensive than planting BUT, it turns out they are about the same price as buying a package of herbs from the grocery. SO! With that in mind, and considering that the plants will continue giving for months (hopefully year round if I bring them in in the fall) I think the cost is worth it get gain some ground.

Here are a few photos of the herbs on the front porch:

German Thyme	Arugula!
Giant Mint	Jalapeno Pepper
Tomatoes!	The Porch

In addition I’ve planted the seeds for the vegetable garden into one of those pellet greenhouses. As of last week they looked like this:

  

Seedlings.

I’ll try to take some updated photos tonight. Next steps: plant the seedlings into the garden space, and plant the lettuces.

I’ll also tally up the expenditure thus far, including all seeds and supplies as well as a running tally of the vegetables bought to this point this year. I’m hoping that within the next month that cost will slowly shrink.