Lettuce in abundance

How much I saved by growing my own - October 2017

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 (4 beds)
  • 3.6sqm of aquaponics grow beds (3 beds)
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.
250g blueberries $8.95 = $17.90
4x bulbs of garlic $5.45 = $21.80
4x Cabbage $3.95 (organic) = $15.80
10x Leeks $2.99 = $29.90
Warrigal Greens (New Zealand Spinach) $5.25 = $5.25
Herbs (Basil, Oregano, Rosemary, Mint, Garlic Chives, Thyme) $3.75ea = $22.50
2 doz eggs $8.45 each = $16.90
lettuce $3.95 ea (organic) x8 = $31.6052.
Total = $161.65

What we were gifted

My Father in law gifted us a yellow cherry tomato plant... still trying to find a space to put it though as we had already planted out our tomatoes.

What we spent

To try and fix our tomato issue we bought some additional additives.
Seasol - $13.95
Agricultural Sulphur - $7.70
Blood & Bone - $4.98
Day old chicks - $34
Chick Feed - $9
Total = $69.63

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

With egg production on the down because of one broody chook and still waiting for our spring time harvests we fell a bit behind but we're still in the green. TOTAL SAVED = $92.02 Grab my free growers guide for sub tropical climates.
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