Moving into the new apartment, where we'll be living together alone for the first time in our adult lives, gives us an opportunity to create a living space that meets our own shared desires, without having to compromise with renters and roommates. This is a really exciting prospect for me. We get to design our environment in a way that suits us, and reflects ourselves, rather than one that meets the generalized expectations of what is normal in order to not scare away potential renters.
As I consider what we will move into the new place, and what we will sell, I find myself considering what purposes each room will serve. Our bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen still serve the usual purposes, but our living room is where my mind keeps drifting towards when I lose focus on studying.
For us, the living room will probably be used mostly for acroyoga and game nights, where we usually end up on the floor. What would be the purpose of a couch in this room? We have a couch currently, but honestly, I more often lean against it than actually sit on it. So we're probably going to sell the couch, and use the money to buy cushions, which make sitting on the floor much more accessible for many people, and are easy to put out of the way when it's time to do acroyoga.
We already don't have a tv, so our living room in my minds eye looks like a mostly empty room, with some house plants near the window, a crash mat, yoga mats, and some brightly colored cushions. Certainly, far from what people expect in a living room, but is serves the needs and functions of the room.
I can't wait to move!
Monday, April 7, 2014
Saturday, April 5, 2014
The prefect day for transplanting
Is a day exactly like today: overcast, with high humidity and a slight mist. The high humidity and cool temperatures allow plants to start working on rebuilding their root structures, without suffering much water loss through their leaves.
I took advantage of the weather by moving over the rest of the walking onions, and transplanting green onions, lettuce seedlings, and one artichoke. So now the first 3/2rds of the garden bed look like this:
I'm thinking about getting a second garden bed just to grow kale, swiss chard, basil, cilantro, and more lettuce. I think once I have the rosemary, thyme, and sage in this garden bed it'll be pretty full. On the other hand, I might pot up the rosemary, sage, and thyme and keep them on the patio. I'm not sure yet, and it would be another $25.
I took advantage of the weather by moving over the rest of the walking onions, and transplanting green onions, lettuce seedlings, and one artichoke. So now the first 3/2rds of the garden bed look like this:
I'm thinking about getting a second garden bed just to grow kale, swiss chard, basil, cilantro, and more lettuce. I think once I have the rosemary, thyme, and sage in this garden bed it'll be pretty full. On the other hand, I might pot up the rosemary, sage, and thyme and keep them on the patio. I'm not sure yet, and it would be another $25.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Is gardening frugal?
Some would claim that it is not, citing the cost of your time, fertilizer, tools, etc. I believe that gardening can be frugal, if:
If you're looking at per sq ft yields because you've got a small garden like me, this table is a good stating place. This site is also very informational, and tracks a garden's costs and profits through the year.
- You identify the plants you eat a lot of and are expensive and grow those. Eat a lot of russet potatoes? Probably not a good idea to grow them, because they're so dang cheap. Like chives? Well, they are really easy to grow, and cut herbs are expensive in the store, so go ahead. Raspberries are also super easy, and pretty expensive. My general rule is: grow leafy vegetables, herbs, and berries. Buy root vegetables and squashes, plus anything that doesn't get enough heat here. This is a of course a very generalized rule; there are superior and exceptional tasting varieties of every crop, and if you really love eating them, than it might be worthwhile.
- Find out what crops grow well and easily for you, in your climate. For me, beans and squash are tasty, yes, but we just don't get a big enough crop to make it worthwhile. However, I grow a lot of kale, swiss chard, and chives, because they just do fantastically here.
- Develop your soil's fertility cheaply or for free. Use composted kitchen scraps and lawn clippings, check out coffee stands and see if they'll give you coffee grounds, collect deciduous tree leaves during fall. All of these are free or nearly free sources of fertility that will make your garden really produce. Coffee grounds are particularly useful because if you layer it thickly enough it acts as a wonderful weed block.
- Don't get carried away and buy a pile of tools. Really, unless you have a big garden, all you need is a shovel, a trowel, and maybe a rake and garden fork. You do not need to buy rototillers or other fancy and expensive doodads.
- Realize that gardening is a skill, and may take some time to develop. Some people are fantastic their first year, but many have entire crops fail before they figure out what they need to do.
If you're looking at per sq ft yields because you've got a small garden like me, this table is a good stating place. This site is also very informational, and tracks a garden's costs and profits through the year.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
A garden, small, efficent, and cost effective
Along with moving into an apartment, we're getting a new garden plot in a very near by community garden. In the past, I've had much more room to work with, more like a quarter acre than the 50 square feet I'll be working with this year. As I have so little room and expect to have very little time to devote to the garden, I'm developing this garden with an eye towards ease of maintenance and maximized value.
As I paid $25 for the year, if I don't spend any more money on it and don't count my time spent gardening, then I only have to make $.50 per square foot to break even. Since I find gardening both relaxing and enjoyable, I think it's fair to not count the time I spend in the garden as an expense. Additionally, I intend to work the garden care into my daily walk, so I'll likely only spend 5 or less minutes on the garden each day on average. I do however, expect to buy some seeds, namely basil, cilantro, lettuce, kale, and swiss chard. I don't expect to pay more than $2/per packet, although I might end up buying starts. Thus, I expect additional expenses to total between $10 and $20, meaning that each square foot has to produce $.90 to break even. This should be relatively easy, given the plants that I have selected to grow.
Now, as to the plants I selected, there are three primary considerations, as far as I'm concerned: How much we like to eat it, how easy it is to grow in our region, and how expensive it is to purchase in the store. We like to eat a lot of leafy green vegetables and I love fresh herbs. Fortunately for me, these crops are very easy to grow in my area. They are also often the most expensive crops in the store. Why so expensive if they're so easy to grow? High demand is one reason, but the other reason is that, unlike crops like pumpkins, onions, and potatoes, leafy greens and fresh herbs are both more difficult to ship, and have a much shorter shelf life. Most root crops, for example, can be stored for months without a noticeable decline in quality. Leafy greens and herbs however suffer a noticeable decline within a week. But since I'll be harvesting minutes before dinner, I don't have that problem!
This is what the garden looks like right now:
Or rather, one end of it, and my feet. I promise the sides are actually square, the camera angle just makes it look funny.
What you see here is what I've been able to transplant so far, namely: chives, garlic chives, walking onions, and elephant garlic/perennial leeks (elephant garlic is actually much more closely related to leeks, can be harvested in the 'leek' phase, and is perennial if you replant the bulbs), which I'm still experimenting with. As you might be able to tell, I like alliums. A lot.
Over the next few days I also intend to transplant over mint, lemon balm, rosemary, sage, thyme, an artichoke, and oregano. All of these come from my current garden, so I'm not including their costs (I'm pretty sure they count as sunk costs, but in a good way). I will start basil and cilantro seeds indoors soon, along with lettuce, kale, and swiss chard.
Over the course of the year, I intend to record how much I spend on the garden, and how much I'm able to harvest from the garden. That, and any experiments I happen to do along the way.
Total spent so far: $25
Total pounds harvested so far: 0
Total harvest value so far (approximate, based on cost per pound in store): $0
As I paid $25 for the year, if I don't spend any more money on it and don't count my time spent gardening, then I only have to make $.50 per square foot to break even. Since I find gardening both relaxing and enjoyable, I think it's fair to not count the time I spend in the garden as an expense. Additionally, I intend to work the garden care into my daily walk, so I'll likely only spend 5 or less minutes on the garden each day on average. I do however, expect to buy some seeds, namely basil, cilantro, lettuce, kale, and swiss chard. I don't expect to pay more than $2/per packet, although I might end up buying starts. Thus, I expect additional expenses to total between $10 and $20, meaning that each square foot has to produce $.90 to break even. This should be relatively easy, given the plants that I have selected to grow.
Now, as to the plants I selected, there are three primary considerations, as far as I'm concerned: How much we like to eat it, how easy it is to grow in our region, and how expensive it is to purchase in the store. We like to eat a lot of leafy green vegetables and I love fresh herbs. Fortunately for me, these crops are very easy to grow in my area. They are also often the most expensive crops in the store. Why so expensive if they're so easy to grow? High demand is one reason, but the other reason is that, unlike crops like pumpkins, onions, and potatoes, leafy greens and fresh herbs are both more difficult to ship, and have a much shorter shelf life. Most root crops, for example, can be stored for months without a noticeable decline in quality. Leafy greens and herbs however suffer a noticeable decline within a week. But since I'll be harvesting minutes before dinner, I don't have that problem!
This is what the garden looks like right now:
What you see here is what I've been able to transplant so far, namely: chives, garlic chives, walking onions, and elephant garlic/perennial leeks (elephant garlic is actually much more closely related to leeks, can be harvested in the 'leek' phase, and is perennial if you replant the bulbs), which I'm still experimenting with. As you might be able to tell, I like alliums. A lot.
Over the next few days I also intend to transplant over mint, lemon balm, rosemary, sage, thyme, an artichoke, and oregano. All of these come from my current garden, so I'm not including their costs (I'm pretty sure they count as sunk costs, but in a good way). I will start basil and cilantro seeds indoors soon, along with lettuce, kale, and swiss chard.
Over the course of the year, I intend to record how much I spend on the garden, and how much I'm able to harvest from the garden. That, and any experiments I happen to do along the way.
Total spent so far: $25
Total pounds harvested so far: 0
Total harvest value so far (approximate, based on cost per pound in store): $0
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