I think the tomatoes are finally slowing down (thank god, I’m not planting that many again, well, probably not, maybe…..). I got half a colander this time. About $9 worth
Two more Early Moon Watermelons.
Another Cantaloupe.
More Jalapenos and a couple more Habaneros, call it $6
My first two Charentais melons EVER! I took a picture of one, when they call them “about softball sized” they’re not kidding. But oh gosh are they tasty! I’ll definitely try these again next year.
If anyone else tries to grow these, the warnings about them splitting, within a day or so of turning ripe are correct. The reason you didn’t get a picture of the 2nd one I picked was because sometime in the previous 24hrs it had turned color and split. I cut it open to save the seeds and tossed the rest of it. The ripen and split that quickly.
My Mystery Compost tomato plant is HUGE. Its officially taller than me, even with the stem being bent the way it is. The tomatoes on it are looking like Black Plums. What I can’t figure out is how its getting enough sun. Admittedly that probably explains some of its hugeness, its spreading like mad to get leaves into the sun. But that doesn’t explain the decent amount of tomatoes that its about to produce……
I’ve now pulled a total of 7 little pumpkins (6-8inches long) out of the garden as the vines they were on were among those that have died. Still another 4 large pumpkins out there turning orange.
What else am I forgetting? Oh, I need to decide if I’m going to actually eat any of the okra I planted, or just admire it (it is a very pretty plant with pretty flowers)……
I like how you track the money side of things. I was kind of talking to my wife about this the other day. I planted one whole 4 X 4 bed with carrots…and go a pretty good yield…like 10 pounds.
But…I could buy 10 pounds of carrots for like $5…seems like a lot of effort for $5 worth of carrots. Focusing on tomatoes and peppers seems to be the way to save money…
Well, the thought was triggered by the many “look at how much money these folks saved by growing their own food” stories that hits the news periodically. Some of the numbers are astronomical. So I was curious as to how much I was spending vs how much I was saving…..
It does definitely depend on what you’re growing as to money’s worth.
But as someone else pointed out in the comments a few posts back: if I was dependent on buying all of this from either the grocery store or the farmers market, well, I’d probably not be eating so well. Certainly, previously, I rarely bought more than one cantaloupe or watermelon in a summer. While this summer I’ve lost count of how many of both we’ve eaten. How many salads from home grown lettuce and radishes and other vegis from the garden, that I’d likely have bought maybe half as much if I’d had to buy it at the store. So just that is worth it, even if everything else balanced.