How much we saved by growing our own

How much I saved by growing my own - January 2018

Each month I report on how much money we’re saving by growing our own organic produce. You can read about our previous months here.

Why am I doing this?

Well as a young family currently on a single income we are really starting to watch where our money goes.

How I am doing this?

We’re often sharing produce between the family as well. I am including what we’re gifted, the way I see it, the more you can encourage your extended family or friends to grow their own food the more you can save just by sharing. Pricing wise I am comparing to current local organic prices, or if I can’t find organic I just find the regular price.

How much space do we have?

We don’t have acreage, this is an average suburban block (approx 600sqm) that we rent so we can’t even rip up the lawn to make space for more garden so we’re growing with temporary raised garden beds and aquaponics systems which consists of the following amount of space:
  • 6sqm of raised garden beds (3 small beds and one larger bed)
  • 3.6sqm of aquaponics grow beds (3 beds) plus we've just added another one so now we're at 4.8sqm in the aquaponics system
and loads of pots! We also have 2 chickens that help with eggs and also free fertiliser. You can find our awesome chicken coop here.

What we produced this month

Prices are based on Australian organic in season prices at time of publishing this post.
Herbs (Basil, Garlic Chives, Rosemary) $3.75ea = $11.25
1 dozen eggs $8.45 ea = $8.45 (Chickens on strike!)
Swiss Chard $4.95= $4.95
Butternut pumpkin x3 @ $3.95 = $11.85
Spring Onions $4.95 = $4.95
Limes = $7.98
Lemons = $4.95
Total = $54.38

What we were gifted

We won the aqua gardening prize of $200! This has helped us setup the new system.

What we spent

A Bunnings trip which never ends well, we purchased Corn Plants, Cos Lettuce, Zucchini, Capsicums and a chilli plant. Plus some odd bits and pieces for the aquaponics system.
Total = $50

Things that we’ve sourced for the garden for free

We didn’t get any freebies this month.

Total amount we saved by growing our own

After having a baby in December, and the heat of summer, this result is to be expected. If it wasn't for winning the prize for a blog we put on the aqua gardening website we would have almost been in the red this month. TOTAL SAVED = $204.38 Grab my free growers guide for sub tropical climates.
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