The first harvest for the 2011 gardening season is lettuce from the hoophouse.
This was lettuce planted in the fall which overwintered, a mix of an unknown butterhead type and Red Sails. The week of 4/17 I harvested 7 oz., and this week I harvested 19 oz. My garden expenses to date are $301.43 which leaves me in the red for gardening with crop value at just $5.59, and seasonal net of $295.84. Ouch. Ah, well, we seem to be running about 2 weeks behind last year, so with luck I will soon catch up.
This harvest is part of Daphne’s Harvest Monday series on her fabulous blog, Daphne’s Dandelions. Click over to see what other gardeners are harvesting this May.
May 2, 2011 at 9:04 am
The harvest season is just getting underway, the garden economics will soon switch to being in the black. The overwintered lettuce looks very good. The protected crops are invaluable in providing fresh fare when everything else is just not ready yet.
May 2, 2011 at 9:06 am
Enjoyed seeing your harvest for the week. I noted you are in Maine. What zone are you? Do you have heat in your hoop garden?
May 2, 2011 at 9:31 am
I still have a few expenses that aren’t in my tally yet. I’ll have to get to it. The receipts have been sitting on my desk for weeks.
I’m glad you finally got your first harvest. My harvests are actually ahead of last year. The timing is the same. Which is not a statement of the weather, but of being in the city now and not suburban. We have so much pavement that things are warmer here at night. And the volume is more, which I account to planting closer and harvesting the babies. Also I was doing lettuce trials last year so didn’t want to steal any outside leaves. I wanted the head as good as possible. This year I’m stealing leaves from the heads all over the place.