How Much is This Gonna Cost Us?

People want to know.  How much are we planting, what is it, and how much is that gonna set us back?  So I'm here to spill it.  You may want to put the kettle on and settle in though, because this is going to be one heck of a list of lists.

First a key to use and help peruse:
SS means that we ordered this item from SeedSavers.com
B means that we ordered this item from Burpee.com
ZG means that I ordered these seeds from ZZiggysGal on Etsy.
BB means that we plan to purchase this item from my Dad's friend Mrs. Barbara who I have known 98% of my life.  She is a wonderful woman who first showed me what wonder plants/creeks/outdoors can bring into one's life.
Other places where we purchased/found things are listed.

What We Plant to Plant:
In our 2 backyard and partial front yard veggie gardens:

1. Cucumbers
-Japanese Climbing.  Seeds purchased new this year.  A new variety for us, but apparently great for pickles. SS
-A&C Pickling.  Left over seeds from last year.  They were huge and made great bread and butter pickles.  SS
- True Lemon.  Left over seeds from last year too.  We planted these in pots last year and I don't think they got enough consistent water.  We're relocating them in the garden so hopefully they will do better this time.SS

2.  Soybeans
- Envy.  These are new seeds we ordered this year.  I have never grown soybeans but they freeze easily and are loaded with protein so we're going to give them a try.  This variety does well in pots and small spaces so they may be potted if we can't find room. SS

3.  Beans
- Provider.  Both beans are new seeds this year.  I am looking to use more vertical gardening plants along a new bed that I am building. These are a bush, snap variety.SS
- Valentine.  A black bush bean that has rave reviews for drying.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained. SS

4.  Tomatoes
- Yellow Tomatoes   An obscure heirloom variety that I have lost the paperwork to... these are seeds left over from last year that we started a few weeks ago in our tiny greenhouse. ZG
- Cherry Tomatoes.  Again, lost paperwork left overs from last year.  They are doing great so far. ZG
- Other Heirlooms.  We will be picking up several plants from my Dad's friend Mrs. Barbara.  Her plants did so well here last year that we are saving our greenhouse room for other things and just spending the money on plants. BB

5.  Peppers
-Aji.  A left over from last year.  Really hot and dried really well.  We used plenty in our salsa and sauces, they have been slow to germinate in our greenhouse, but are starting to come around. SS
-Red Bell.  Left overs again.  Also slow to germinate, but moving along now. ZG
-Variety from Mrs. Barbara.  She always has interesting plants that are full of surprises.  One of her best are her peppers.

6.  Eggplant
- Long Purple.  An heirloom that takes forever to germinate.  We tried these last year, but only had a few tiny eggplants to show for the effort.  We started them earlier this year in hopes that will speed up production.  ZG

7. Squash/Zuchinni
- Yellow Longnecks.  We have some seeds left over from last year but I do not have much hope for the plants this year.  Squash bugs ate everything in sight over night last year.  We may just skip the squash and buy them from the farmers market.  I can think of other ways to use the space.  ZG
-Black Beauty.  Again with the squash bugs.  We will see. ZG

8.  Okra
- Hill Country Red.  I bought these last year, forgot about them and when I found them again it was like Christmas.  I cannot wait to see these babies grow.  SS  **We will be planting these in our flower beds and faking like they're flowers until they grow veggies on them.**

9.  Lettace/Arugula/Spinach/Kale
-Mixed Beds.  I have a few small mixed lettuce beds from Seed Savers and ZZiggysGal.  They are cut and come again, heirloom varieties.
-Buttercrunch.  Last year's lettuce that we didn't finish but did well.  ZG
-Spinach- Did well, but the rabbits got it.  I'm moving them in the bed, and hopefully the new fence will help as well.  SS
-Blue Kale.  Left over, easy to grow, super easy to freeze and use later.  SS

10.  Watermelon.
- Blacktail Mountain.  A great variety that produces small but tasty fruit.  We picked this because the fruit actually fit into our fridge whole.  They all ripened in one week though and we gave most of them away.  Left overs from last year.  SS

11.  Broccoli
-Waltham 29.  Heirloom left over from last year.  We ran out of room and only tried to seed 3 seeds, then forgot about them.  Better planning this year.  ZG
-Calabrese.  Unopened from last year.  SS

12.  Blue Berries.  New this year, I planted them in the front like shrubs.  They are fairly old (3+ years) but need time to settle before they really produce.  I hope for a few this year, but expect more next year.  From The Barn Trading Company here in Oxford.

13.  Strawberries.  New.  I am retro fitting a rain barrel to hold them.  I cannot wait!  B

14.  Corn.
-On Deck Hybrid.  These are the reason for my new garden bed in the back.  This is supposed to be corn you can grow in a 2 foot planter.  We will see because I am ready.  B

15.  Birdhouse Gourds.  Not a vegetable, but this vine did really well in our shady front bed.  It looked nice growing up the porch and we got a few gourds from it.  SS

16.  Luffa.  New as well.  Just couldn't pass up the opportunity to grow a luffa.  B

17.  Potatoes.
-Red.  Red seed potatoes.  I have already shared how I built their cages, but I may have to move them... From The Barn Trading Company
-Yellow From The Barn Trading Company

And I think that is it for seeds and plants.  We did order a few herbs (basil, thyme, dill) but we still have plenty of those seeds left from last year too.  It's just that they tend to be more delicate and can rot so easily, I thought better safe than sorry.  Oh, and there are herbs that came back from last year too!  Chives, mint, spearmint, rosemary, and thyme.  Plus I planted a few garlic cloves that had started to sprout and a couple of onions that went green in the pantry.  But I don't count those because they are "grocery store" variety and I do not expect them to actually reproduce.

So how much did we spend??  Luckily, we were able to pull most of our wants from last years supplies, and that makes sense because last year we spent over $120 just on seeds. That doesn't count soil, compost, building materials or the watering systems.  This year our new seeds cost us just $25.00 (ish) with plants (strawberries, blueberries, potatoes) setting us back $55.00.  Plus I bought fencing to build our potato cages which was about $20.00 from Home Depot.  And our new seedling containers- which were 4 @ roughly $3.00.  So $12.00 on them.  Another $12.00 on coconut conifer seed starter (ordered from Amazon) and we are just about there.  We are building the new beds out of scrap lumber salvaged from friends and kudzu vines.  There are still plenty of  big planters left over from last year as well.  I am planning on building a few trellises from scrap trimmings and kudzu vines, but I would love to find a nice willow patch as well.

The rain barrels were given to us by a company that no longer needed them, but we are going to convert them into rain barrels for around $20.00 a piece ($40 total), but an extra one will hold our strawberries.  We have been wonderfully lucky to find a great place with free topsoil and mulch to help fill our garden beds and our 18 months of composting are finally paying off as well.  Add to that the worm compost (I guess you can add in that $25.00 to our garden fund) and we're looking at a nice grand total.

In fact, let's add it up shall we?

Last year we spent over $600 in materials, dirt and watering system stuff and another $120 in seeds.  That was a grand total of about $720 for roughly 300 lbs of vegetables.

This year, with all of those numbers up there added up, we're looking at about $169 total.  Whew that is much better but hopefully next year it will be even smaller.  We're adding another element to our compost/pest control and our soil should be top notch.  Plus the worms will have paid for themselves and the rain barrels will be complete.  The same goes with the blue berry bushes and the potatoes.  Plus we will finally start working out which veggies give us the most bang for our buck.  We have a lofty goal of producing 750 lbs of produce out of our garden this year, but we are also trying to make sure we are growing things we will actually eat and use.

There is a lot of growing with gardens, emotionally, physically  spiritually- all of which we find to be ultimately priceless.