I am getting closer to breaking even on the vegetable garden. This weeks’ harvests of lettuce, kale, rhubarb and broccoli put the crop value at $243.93. Expenses remained the same this week, $267.50, leaving the me still in the red at $-23.61. The good news is, there’s broccoli and rhubarb, two new crops to break the litany of lettuce and leeks. But yes, there were leeks, 2 3/4 lbs. of them, 34 oz. of lettuce, and 24 oz. of kale, too.
I picked a tiny little head of broccoli, but will be having more this week from the hoophouse, where the broccoli has recovered nicely from the cabbage worms’ snacking. My first head was just 4 oz, so I’m saving it for tonight when I’ll have another small head ready. Yum, I can hardly wait. Today is Dan’s last day of school for the year so it will be a celebratory meal.
In addition to the big gorgeous rhubarb leaves featured below, I also harvested the leaf stems, about 2 1/4 pounds of them, and am planning on a pie this week, a Rhubarb Custard Pie with Henbogle eggs and rhubarb. I’ve never been a huge rhubarb fan, but time to try it again. After all, at one point I didn’t like broccoli! I’m sure the rhubarb will be delicious. Right? I hope so because I’ve found an rhubarb ice cream recipe, and a rhubarb punch/martini recipe, too.
Thanks to Robin at Season’s Eatings Farm, I found a great resource for calculating my crop values at the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners website.
The MOFGA Organic Price Report surveys MOFGA certified organic farmers in Maine and publishes a monthly report on prices of organically produced crops. I’ve included the link on my Resources for Maine Gardeners Page.
This post is part of Daphne’s Harvest Monday series. Check out what Daphne and other gardeners are growing at her blog, Daphne’s Dandelions.
June 14, 2010 at 6:46 am
Boy, those rhubarb recipes sound good! Let us know how they turn out. Thanks for posting the link for calculating crop values. I have not been able to find one for our state.
June 14, 2010 at 6:59 am
The crop pricing survey makes things a lot easier, and is interesting in itself. I’ll be sure to report on my rhubarb experience.
June 14, 2010 at 6:55 am
Congratulations on the garden success – I’m impressed! And thanks for the ideas on the rhubarb… I’ve got quite a lot of it, and besides using it in handpies/turnovers, I’ve been at a loss.
June 14, 2010 at 6:58 am
I bet it would work in a chutney, too. Or maybe a sweet rhubarb sauce with some hot peppers added?
June 14, 2010 at 10:13 am
Great harvest! I am nowhere close to breaking even…but then, most of the money spent this year went into starting the garden from scratch.
The broccoli crown looks great. It’s amazing how resilient some plants can be against pests.
June 14, 2010 at 10:49 am
Thomas, I bet you’d be surprised at how quickly the crop value adds up. I was shocked really, at how quickly it has come to almost break even, and this is without tomatoes! You’ve been harvesting a lot, for quite some time.
I am amazed at the broccoli’s recovery. I gave it a good drench of Neptune’s Harvest liquid fish 2-4-1 fertilizer 10 days ago and I think it helped a lot.
June 14, 2010 at 1:46 pm
I’m with you on the rhubarb. I’ve never been a big fan, but I do like it cooked with strawberries. It’s such a pretty plant to grow too. I’m going to get some started next year. That’s a nice haul of leeks and greens as well.
June 14, 2010 at 5:21 pm
Congratulations on almost breaking even. Lovely harvest!
June 14, 2010 at 8:13 pm
I’ve made a rhubarb-vanilla bean jam a few times that I just love.
I adore your concrete castings. They are an inspiration indeed!
June 14, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Is that from the Christine Ferber book? I need to try that…. Glad you like the castings, they were fun to make.
June 14, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Nice harvest! Those leeks look great!!
June 15, 2010 at 1:59 am
Rhubarb custard pie! Delicious! I am a reluctant rhubarb eater but the custard pie idea sounds very tempting to me.
June 15, 2010 at 6:57 am
I hope you love your rhubarb. I keep wondering if I will break even at all this year. Maybe. We will see.
June 15, 2010 at 2:48 pm
the Rhubarb Custard Pie sounds delish.