harvest tracking

[mr_yan]

Anyone else track their garden harvest by weight?

I tracked my harvest last year in great detail - date, weight, item harvested. This year I am only keeping a running tally of the weight harvested.

Last year my goal was twofold: to figure out how much it cost per pound grown and what veg really produced and what was a quantified waste of space.

This year I have pulled out just over 5 pounds of food as of 6/17, based on what we have spent on seeds, new containers, and the like it is at a cost of just over $15 a pound (that is if all food plants get wiped out tonight).

I call my "labor" and time as free as I would be spending it in the garden even if I didn't get food out of it.

Last year we grew over 112 pounds at a cost of just over $1 a pound but I spent a lot to make container mixes and trellises.

 

[klevelyn]

That's great. You will find each year the cost goes down. We bought fencing and tomato cages last year and they will last for years. So the cost of supplies can be spread over the life time of your gardening.

I save some of my seeds and plant the next year. A great way to save some money.

 

[Wombat]

I also keep track of what I plant but not down to the last pound. Occasionally it does cost me more to produce than it retails for in the markets, if there's a glut of supply but I know where the fruit and veggies came from and what fertilizers etc. were used. Freshly harvested fruit, herbs and veggies from your own little plot is hard to beat!