Follow a family on a journey towards self sufficiency. Is it possible for a suburban family with no gardening background to produce 80% of their own fruit and veg?
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
December 2012 Summary
December was a time of great excitement every time I stepped into the garden. Every bed was fully planted, and I was surrounded by greenery reaching out in every direction. Every morning it was an exciting time to admire how much the garden grew, the tomato plants out growing their cages, the beans scaling the fence, rocket appearing from nowhere, and watching all the little baby fruits being born. When I first plant out a bed I struggle to imagine what it is going to be like full grown. The whole seed to plant thing, I think will always amaze me.
The fruits of our spring labour had definitely started to show, with the month sky rocketing up from 28% last month to an amazing 46% vegetable self sufficiency. I think it is fair to say we are now producing half of the vegetable we eat. Wow that feel good to be able to say that.
Grown (g) Purchased (g) Grown %
Avocado 1800 0%
Beans 655 800 45%
Beetroot 836 100%
Broccoli 495 415 54%
Basil 20 100%
Bok Choy 1,445 100%
Capsicum 2,551 0%
Carrot 1,950 0%
Celery 500 0%
Cucumber 2,530 695 78%
Corn 400 0%
Chives 60 0%
Kohlrabi 930 100%
Lettuce 1,390 100%
Lentil 860 0%
Onion 3,145 0%
Pea 150 0%
Potato 940 1,910 33%
Pumpkin 2,215 0%
Rocket 125 100%
Spring Onion 170 100%
Silverbeet 695 100%
Shoots 100 0%
Tomato 710 1,105 39%
Zucchini 9,665 100%
Total 20,606 18,656 52%
Average 46%
A couple of the big highlights was getting our first cucumbers and tomatoes for the season. The biggest winner though for the month was the zucchini, we grew a total of 9.7 kgs . I still can’t seem to pick them fast enough. Literally within a week they are growing too ridiculous size, surprisingly still tasty. To not let any go to waste we have been stuffing them in everything from zucchini fritters to zucchini burgers. I don’t recall eating them for breakfast, yet!
How fruitful was December in your garden?
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Have you tried zucchini slice and chocolate zucchini cake?
ReplyDeleteNo I haven't, they sound good. I have tried zucchini chocolate brownies.
DeleteWell done! I just picked my first zucchini today, so I am envious of your crop! December feels like its been a bit slow for my garden, with lots of things growing but not cropping yet. But I'll do the calculations on the weekend and see how it truly went - appearances can be deceiving.
ReplyDeleteIndeed they can. I am more often surprised at how higher the score is than what I thought it would be. As a result keeping score is a real confidence booster.
DeleteAlso congrats on the first zucchini. Sadly I think my plants are starting to slow down. If only we knew earlier, we could have traded ;)
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