Harvest Totals: January 2012

Last year, I was pretty good about weighing my produce and writing down how much I harvested.  I just did it for the season as a whole though, and this year I want a better idea of how much I harvest and when I harvest it.

The chickens were the stars of January's harvest.

For that reason, I am tallying up my harvest totals each month, and tracking how my harvest changes from month to month.  I created an elaborate, yet simple, spreadsheet that allows me to input the pounds harvested of each crop, and the number of eggs.  Based on the value per pound, the spreadsheet calculates the estimated value of the produce, and gives me a total for the month and for the year.  I've selected the value per pound based on average market and grocer prices for each organic produce item.  I've assumed organic, small farm raised eggs can go for $4.00/dozen.

Only greens were harvested in January.

I've even included costs (such as seeds, potato seeds, supplies and chicken feed) so that I can get an estimate of my Return on Investment (ROI).  For January, our ROI is negative because I've included the cost of all the seeds and other supplies that I bought for the spring and summer growing season.  Before long, we should have a positive ROI!

Here is the chart generated by my spreadsheet; every month I will update it.

January isn't exactly known for being a big harvest month, but I managed to harvest over 5 pounds of greens and 94 eggs, with an estimated value of $43.00! 

I can't wait to see my spring and summer totals!