I will prepare a complete final report on my 2010 crops in the next couple of weeks. It will have individual vegetable yields, market value, annual costs and crop failures as well.
As we sit here with 13 inches of snow today, the weatherman just said we can expect temperatures in the 60's on Sunday. Good ole' unpredictable Hampton Roads weather! Bring it on!
I wish all of you a very Happy New Year!
Veggie PAK
1424 pounds!! Dang......I have not weighed what I get, but I will this year for sure. But 1424 lbs is amazing!
ReplyDeleteAstounding harvest total! Well done!
ReplyDeleteThat is pretty darn incredible. I am really looking forward to seeing your final report. Good job!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you had a very good year in your garden! I have enjoyed following your blog and look forward to following your garden adventures for an entire gardening season.
ReplyDeleteezzirah, you will be pleasantly surprised when you begin weighing your produce. When you see the numbers in your records, it's like an inspiration to keep honing your gardening skills.
ReplyDeletekitsapFG, Thanks! It was very enjoyable getting to that total, but there were several non-germinating/poor germinating crops that tied up row space resulting in a lower total yield. I won't be trying those vegetables next year.
Mr. H, Thanks! I expect next year will be even better!
Robin, yes, it turned out to be a very good year. In 2008, which was my highest previous recorded amount, the yield was 1,240 pounds. Thank you for your kind help with getting things straightened out on my blog.
Thanks to each of you for visiting and commenting. I also have enjoyed your blogs and have learned new thing from them, so, you all keep up the good work too!
And, it goes without saying, thanks to Daphne for setting up the Harvest Monday meeting place!
Have a safe and wonderful New Year!
Veggie PAK
That is a lot of vegetables to harvest in a year (and to eat). It was a good vegetable year!
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays!
vrtlarica, It was a good vegetable year, and I'm going to try to can much more next year than I did this year. It's a lot of work, but it sure is enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting and commenting.
Happy New Year to you!
Veggie PAK
That sounds like an impressive harvest and I have to admire your methodical approach. I'm usually in too much of a hurry to start cooking / eating, and I seldom weigh my produce.
ReplyDeleteWe mustn't forget too that weight is not the only important measure of success - lettuces and salad greens don't weigh much, but they do cost a lot to buy. If we follow the concept of VSR, we would perhaps avoid growing the (heavy) potatoes, onions and carrots and concentrate more on the light but expensive herbs.
Mark Willis, you are correct in the VSR concept and I agree with it. I will be considering the VSR factor when I am tallying the value of my organic produce. I will also use it to consider how I will use what I plant. I want functional results. I want vegetables that I normally eat. Boosting the annual tally with something that I don't normally use is not my desire.
ReplyDeleteFortunately for me, there are Harris Teeter Supermarkets in this area, and they each have a great organic produce section where I have been able to identify most of the per pound values for the crops I grew. A physical local market survey provided the remaining prices for all of my vegetables that I have grown.
My main factor in determining which vegetables I will grow next year is: "Am I able to can them for future use when the yield is heavy?" It's impossible to eat everything you grow at once, and I don't want to just give it away. So canning is the method I choose for preservation. I'm dabbling with dehydration, but have only done beef jerky and apple slices so far.
Thanks for visiting and contributing with your comments. I hope you have a wonderful New Year!
Veggie PAK
That is nice that you got a good harvest before the snow hit. We are buried right now. And great total for the year.
ReplyDeleteTHat is a serioulsy nice harvest total!! May the next year be just as productive next year!
ReplyDeleteWow very impressive, almost 1500 lbs of produce, it's a lot of work.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is an impressive haul! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteDaphne, Ottawa Gardener, Mac, and meemsnyc, Thank You for visiting and sharing your inspirational comments!
ReplyDeleteGreat work VPAK!
ReplyDeleteGreetings from rainy Southern California.
ReplyDeleteI added myself to follow your blog. You are more than welcome to visit mine and become a follower if you want to :-)
May God bless you and your family in 2011 ~Ron
And always remember: Smiles don't have to be saved for a rainy day. It's good to waste them :-)
Great job, Veggie PAK! Weighing 1,424 pounds of produce is equally as impressive as growing 1,424 pounds of produce!
ReplyDeleteOhiofarmgirl, Thanks! It was a lot of work, but it was fun too! Especially showing my grandchildren how to garden organically.
ReplyDeleteTHE OLD GEEZER, Thanks for visiting, and I will surely check yours out! God bless you and yours as well.
.09 Acres, I currently use 4 different scales to weigh my crops. Which scale depends on which crop. Herbs are usually in ounces, while tomatoes are in the hundreds of pounds over the length of a season. I enjoy growing it and tracking it.
Thanks to all of you for visiting and sharing your comments!
Happy New Year!
Veggie PAK
Congratulations on your awesome harvest! This was one of those posts where I enjoyed reading all the comments as well. I'll have to check out what VSR is. I think I'm too scatterbrained to keep up with weighing my produce, but may be inspired to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteThat's quite a harvest! I think it'd be too disappointing to weigh my harvests. We have also had some very unseasonable weather. I did get outside to clean my car. It took a good hour or so. Now the harvest from that activity - I could weigh!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year! I'm finally getting caught up on my blog reading :)
ReplyDeleteCorner Gardener Sue, Thank you for your interest and kind comments about my blog!
ReplyDeleteVSR = Value for Space Rating. Mark Willis, one of the above folks who shared their comments, has a very good look at VSR application in his blog of 3 Nov 2010 which can be found at: http://marksvegplot.blogspot.com/2010/11/vsr.html
It makes sense to me to employ this method of evaluation of the benefits of planting a particular vegetable. If I had enough space, I would plant everything I like to eat! However, as is the case with most of us, space is limited. Check out Mark's post. You'll enjoy the wisdom it provides.
As far as weighing the produce, I bought a scale that I keep hanging just inside the doorway to my garage. I also additionally bought the typical tray that hangs on three chains, and looks like a big scoop. You really don't need that if you re-use plastic grocery bags, doubled to prevent accidents, and simply hang the hand-hole of the bags on the "S" hook that came with the scale. That makes it very easy to weigh. I keep a pencil and pad near it so I can write down the date, item, and weight. You can put that info in your files later. That way, you don't interrupt your harvesting. I think weighing your produce is a GREAT inspiration to vegetable gardening! It allows you to gauge what you want to plant next season based on the success or failure of this season. All types of scales are available. Get one that works for your vegetables. You may prefer a tabletop model. Check them all out, but I hope you get one.
Thanks for visiting!
Veggie PAK
Wendy, If you weigh your harvests, you get good data on your gardening efforts. It's still beneficial even with bad harvests due to weather. It let's you see how well you fared against the elements, so to speak. In 2009, my annual harvest was not even 1,000 pounds, while in 2008, it was over 1,300 pounds. Weighing produce let's us establish a track record through the years. Down the road, you will be glad you have all the data on the harvests, good or bad.
Hopefully, now that your car is cleaned out, you won't be "weighting" in traffic. Ha! Ha!
Thanks for your visit and comment!
Veggie PAK
foodgardenkitchen, This weather is perfect for catching up on your blog reading!
Happy New Year!
Veggie PAK
I sincerely thank each of you, and all the previous visitors, for visiting and commenting about my blog. Blogging is a wonderful way to share our vegetable gardening experiences with each other. That way, we can increase our knowledge on the subject of vegetable gardening!
Thank You,
Veggie PAK
Boy were you lucky to have done completed your harvest just in time. The snow was really bad this year.
ReplyDeleteflutietootie, It looks like the snow isn't over yet. The weatherman is calling for it again tonight!
ReplyDelete