Yield/money saved per plant

littlesapphire 8/12/2011, 11:05 am

I'm very seriously considering expanding my garden next year to include two more 4x4 boxes, and since my husband and I are both data junkies, I decided I should make up a chart with how much produce each plant yields and how much money each square/plant saves us (or makes us, however you want to look at it).

The yield data here may or may not be correct; I did the best I could finding the information, but it always varies by cultivar and of course how well your plant does. The prices listed are lowball guesses and prices I've seen at Walmart when the veggies are on sale. If anyone has any better figures, let me know!

Also, this only includes the plants I plan on having next year. If anyone has any additional data for other plants, I would love to add it to my chart! Just let me know Smile

Enough rambling; here's the spreadsheet!

littlesapphire 8/12/2011, 11:15 am

For kicks, I plugged in the veggies I plan on planting next year on the far right side of the spreadsheet, and added up how much money I would save/make! $306!!!

AprilakaCCIL 8/12/2011, 11:16 am

The money you can save will eventually replace the money you spent in making/filling the boxes. Love your savings chart.

cienfuegos 8/12/2011, 12:38 pm

where are you getting the prices from? for my data i used organic produce/whole foods type of pricing. its not fair to compare your produce to regular market/commercial stuff. I also use off-season pricing, not because its expensive and helps me feel better about my self but because i bought a freezer and store many vegetables that will go into the winter months wh[en they are at their highest prices. good luck with the spead sheet.

littlesapphire 8/12/2011, 12:44 pm

Like I said above, I used some lowball guesses, as well as prices I've seen on veggies on sale at Walmart as well as bulk prices I've seen at local farms.

I wanted to get the lowest prices I could think of, so that the average person could look at that chart and say, "Hey, for the same price I spend on cheap Walmart veggies, I could have delicious home grown veggies!" You're welcome to replace my prices for your own, of course. It's just that I rarely buy organic farmers market produce because we're on a tight budget, and I wanted to see how much I would actually be saving.

littlesapphire 8/14/2011, 10:19 am

I spent some time in the store this morning, gathering prices of all the veggies I put in my spreadsheet. So now the numbers are more realistic. Plus I added a few more veggies.

My total hypothetical savings for next year now? $518!!

shannon1 8/15/2011, 6:43 am

Yep, that sounds more like it. I was shocked to see pablono peppers at the store priced $4.99 a lb not organic and looked very sad next to mine:D

TN_GARDENER 8/15/2011, 7:06 am

Let's just say that each year my garden ends up being a hobby. Smile

littlesapphire 8/15/2011, 8:23 am

LOL TN, I know what you mean. Last year was my first year with my SFG, and I know I spent way more than I gained back. But I'm fairly sure I've already made enough in produce to have paid for the box materials.

Of course, last year I was such a bad gardener that I hardly got any produce, but don't tell anyone that.

No_Such_Reality 8/15/2011, 6:54 pm

I was shocked for weeks, red, orange, or yellow bell peppers have all been $1.99 each in the main grocery stores for weeks. Maybe the season is just starting, but green Bell peppers have been low in price for a while, but even then, 50-79 cents a piece.

And, how much should I plan for the heirloom melons I planted? I can't buy them in the store around here. I can't even find them at a farmers market.

The other major savers will be salad mix. It doesn't take much space to have a perpetual growing spring mix going. Much cheaper than the $4.99 pre-mix store packs that rot before you can eat them.

Tomato just a so-so savings but tend to be much better than the store.

Cukes about $1 each in savings. If not more. We like the hothouse english cukes. So I'm experimenting with varietals trying to get it right.

**camprn** 8/15/2011, 7:16 pm

Red and orange bell peppers are still running at $5/lb here in NH. I can hardly wait for my poblanos to come in. Yield/money saved per plant 959632

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Yield/money saved per plant

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So how much for the heirlooms you can't buy?

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