This week marked a big milestone in The Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden. I officially crossed over the 100-pound mark of harvested vegetables! But what do I really show you to mark this momentous occasion, a big pile of veggies? Nah…how about the awesome tomato pie I made from those homegrown tomatoes that put me over the top? Thanks to my very funny west coast Internet friend I know and love as “finnyknits”.
If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t know about one of the most awesome meals anyone can ever make with tomatoes! She emailed me to share her version of the recipe she got from her favorite blogger. Finny described it as one of those meals you can’t stop thinking about after you eat it and I have to agree. It was fabulous! I encourage everyone to give this easy to prepare meal a try and you’ll impress everyone that is lucky enough to get a taste. Thanks finnyknits! (By the way, finnyknits was also one of people that provided seeds for my Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden so it only seems fitting that I share this milestone occasion with her in some way).
Back to the garden; When I took on this project, I had no idea how much would come out of my little 240 square foot garden based on weight. All I knew is that it had to produce enough food to keep my family of four supplied with all their summer vegetables. Well, I’m here to tell you, 100 pounds is more than enough! Most of the time, the production outpaced the consumption in my house, which gave us the pleasure of sharing the excess with friends, neighbors and especially the local shelter.
But now that summer is winding down and school kicks in this week, I suppose in the near future, I’ll declare “victory” in my little 30’ x 8’ garden. Like many people across the country and especially the east coast, my garden has suffered in these last few weeks. It’s now a constant race to keep ahead of the diseases that are gaining a stronghold on many of my tomato plants.
And just for the record, this is NOT the official “wrap” on the Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden Project, …just a late season update to share with you my excitement of breaking through an important milestone while realizing that things really are winding down. Who would have thought a total investment of $15.05 would yield a harvest of over 100 pounds that is still going strong?
Once I do make my official victory declaration post, I’ll post a final video to summarize the entire story. That should be fun and I expect to have that ready within a couple weeks, when I finally do tally up the numbers on a pretty darn successful and very fun project.
JL
About Joe Lamp'l
Joe Lamp'l is the Host and Executive Producer of the award winning PBS television series Growing A Greener World. Off camera, Joe dedicates his time to promoting sustainability through his popular books, blog, podcast series, and nationally syndicated newspaper columns. Follow Joe on Twitter
Well Done. Amazing effort and a bounty to share. I hope it inspires many more to go for it.
I’m hopping in late. But that’s really an awesome feat! 100-pound harvest for less than $25? Maybe, I should challenge myself, too.
Spring, spring come on now!
Joe – thanks for the link to Finny Knits – I found her recipe for Best Tomato Sauce Ever and because I am determined to show my husband that MY “gravy” could be as delish as his I will be trying this recipe ASAP.
Jeph, I guess that is such a testament to where we live. Although many people have lost their tomato crops for the year, mine are still hanging in there (although no where near like people in California). They seem to be growing them faster than they can eat them, kind of like your squash. I ripped my plants out a month ago and now I’m only down to tomatoes and peppers. Thanks for the update.
Joe – that pie looks great! I’ll have to check with Finny’s site for the recipe…
As someone else said, I’m surprised your garden is winding down as much as it is. We picked the first of the corn this past week, and I harvest/processed/froze three pounds of hot peppers (see the blog), and there’s TONS more still left on the plants. The kale, chard and squash just won’t stop, and I’ll have more pumpkins and gourds than I know what to do with this fall! Heck, I even still have some leeks left to harvest.
Congrats on the garden success!
“Grape Juice” TC, “Grape Juice”
What’d you have to drink with that tomato pie? Tomato juice? ;~P
Fine job on the harvest Joe!
Hi Daphne. I suppose I could easily extend the garden through the end of the year without spending another dime. I already have the seeds, etc. But, I won’t have the time to keep up with keeping you informed or shooting and editing video. So, I guess that’s why I mainly considered this a summer challenge. But now that I’ve done so well, I should keep it going “unofficially” at least. Maybe in the next few weeks, I make the official claim to victory on the original challenge but keep the blog posts going to see how long I can go.
Thanks for the idea and I just make take that approach!
Congrats on getting over the 100lb mark. I was wondering why you were going to wrap up your garden so soon when all the fall veggies are so good. I didn’t realize your challenge was a summertime challenge. Personally I thought you were doing so well that you could have done the fall garden and still stay under $25. I’m farther north than you are and my fall garden was mostly put in toward the end of July and beginning of August. I keep waiting for the heat to abate before planting some spinach and mache, but if it doesn’t quit soon, I may be too late to get a crop.
Oh, if anyone can do it you can!
Maybe you could bump up your amount to $35 for a 12 month garden…just so you have an emergency fund.
:~)
T
Wow Theresa, what a difference between the west coast and east coast. Your part of the country is certainly made for an endless growing season. Maybe that explains why so much commercial production comes from your parts. We get a fraction of the time to grow and harvest. The heat, humidity and pests don’t waste any time pouncing on the plants and wreaking havoc on our season. Squash is one of the hardest things to get a long season out of here. The plants basically rot away at the base pretty quickly.
Fortunately, we can grow cool season crops and I’ll be doing that very soon. It won’t be part of the $25 Victory Garden though. Maybe I’ll expand the program next year to do a 12 month garden on $25! Whew, not sure I’m ready for that but I bet I could do it.
Thanks for the kudos!
j
Yippee Joe! I knew you would make it over the 100 pound mark! It is so wonderful that you documented this.
As gardeners, we always knew that we were getting a lot of produce, but to have solid numbers from you on just how much we can save is so valuable. It just validates what we do. Now we can officially say, “SEE! It is fun AND I save money!”
I have to say that I am surprised at how fast your garden winds down compared to mine. I forget sometimes about our different climates and growing seasons. I am still in full blown zucchini, squash, tomato and corn season here. I do have lots of powdery mildew and have lost several plants, but the ones that are left are going strong. I have finished all the lettuce and am sowing my next crop. Our carrots grow all year round here. We are harvesting and planting the next crop now.
Are you able to grow any fall veggies where you are or does it get too cold?