Harvest Totals: July 2012

I knew July was going to be our biggest month this year--but it wasn't until I saw the spreadsheet that I realized JUST how big a month it was.

We harvested 180lbs of produce, 70 eggs, and it all had an estimated value of $789 (based on local farmers market prices).  That's 6x's the poundage of any other month this year!

Our big producers were the tomatoes. We got 100lbs of Rutgers tomatoes, and over 20lbs of Sungold tomatoes.  We also harvested half of our potatoes at the beginning of July (25lbs).  The shitakes, while not huge in poundage, made a big contribution to July's value (with over 7lbs).

Harvest Totals: May 2012

I'm pleased with our steady improvement in our garden every month.  This month, we harvested 23 lbs of produce and 87 eggs, for a rough value of $118.  The most exciting part of this month is that our Return on Investment is finally positive at $28! Our combined value of produce and eggs this year (based on local farmer's market prices) is almost $400. Our investment cost is based on the amount of money spent on seeds, potato seeds, plants, soil, electricity/water for seed starting, chicken feed, etc.  All garden-related expenses are added to the investment cost--ours was roughly $370 so far this year.

Our poundage went down from last month, but our estimated value grown increased because we were mostly harvesting collards last month, and this month we harvested a ton of snap and snow peas (which are more expensive than collards, here).

Harvest Totals: April 2012

Things finally started to pick up last month.  The big ticket items for April were greens.  We harvested 6 lbs of lettuce and 20 lbs of collards.  And we harvested 4 lbs of other veggies -- like snow peas and cabbage.

I'm pretty pleased with our performance so far this year--and the best is yet to come!

April was a vast improvement over the earlier months.

Harvest totals: March 2012

This post is a bit late... but I did tally up our harvest totals for March and add them to the spreadsheet.  We had a lot more greens this month.  The overwintered kale and tatsoi both started to flower, so they were completely harvested, wilted, and put in the freezer to use later.

All told, we harvested almost 16 lbs of veggies and 97 eggs in March--definitely an improvement over February!

Harvest Totals: February 2012

Well, the last eggs were laid and the final count is in for February.  We harvested 8 lbs of vegetables (collards, kale and carrots), and 81 eggs for a rough value of $45.  The chickens were slackers this month--down a dozen eggs from the previous month.  I think this might have something to do with June going broody.  But we picked up their slack by harvesting a few more pounds of vegetables, so we improved a little from the last month.

Things are pretty slow still--given that it is winter, that is to be expected.  But I'm expecting a large increase in our production in a couple of months. Tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and beans are pretty big crops in the garden.

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!