How much did I spend growing my own in February?
It's time to take a look at how much I spent throughout February to help me grow my own food. Monitoring how much food we produce to how much we spend.
Quail costs.
Throughout February I have been building an outdoor aviary for the quail. I feel they need somewhere bigger and out of the shed. I came up with a design of the aviary using decking wood which should last a long time. The decking along with the wire mesh and all other little pieces has cost £52.46 during February. I don't think I will need to buy any more pieces to complete this project. This aviary will also double up as a potting table or somewhere to grow more food.
I did also buy a new drinker which is intended for the quail but can also be used for the chickens too. This cost me £3.54
Seed potatoes.
I bought a few different types of seed potatoes in February from various different suppliers and in different quantities. I am hoping to work out which potato varieties work best for me and keep them for next year. In total, these potatoes cost me £8.80
Seedy Sunday
My day at seedy Sunday cost me £3.00 entrance fee with an extra £4.00 for gardeners question time. I also brought a few seeds while there which cost me ££5.59.
Seaweed feed and compost.
As I like to feed my seedlings with a liquid seaweed feed and had none left. I had to buy another pot of this feed. This cost me £7.99 for an organic feed. This feed might be a little pricey but it is the only feed I buy in.
I also had to buy a couple of bags of John Innes number 2 in order to pot on my seedlings which cost me £7.98 in total.
Total costs.
- Quail cost £56
- seed potato cost £8.80
- Seedy Sunday cost ££12.59
- Seaweed feed and compost cost £15.97
- This brings the total cost for February to £93.36
There we have what we spent this month growing our own in February. Do you keep track how much you spent let me know in the comments below?
It’s an expensive month Richard, in total this year we’ve spent £140 mostly on compost for the potatoes, seeds, seed potatoes, tubs, landscape fabric, chicken manure pellets, wood for the new raised beds and gardening magazines, we’ve taken a meagre £160 in value off the plots, so we are just in credit, but that will change soon when we invest in the polytunnel, which will take us to summer to pay off. It would be useful if you compared costs to value in the same post and included the chicken and quail feed and other costs. it’s very interesting to keep track of I find : All the best – Steve
£20 profit is still a good profit. As it’s still early there is still the high yields yet to come in.
My plan for comparing costs is at the end of the year tally up all costs and harvest and compare them for the year. The chicken and quail feed I haven’t bought and in February. A 20kg bag of chicken feed costs me £9 and lasts about 3 months the quail feed I reckon will last a whole year at the rate they eat it at.
I shall remember next month to compare the cost to value as a monthly basis as well as adding it all together at the end of the year.
Thank you Steve.
All the best Richard.