Gardening Part III: 2013 Recap

September 15th. A day in history that brings together:

USA Today, Lehman Brothers, Christopher Columbus (Mayflower departs England), and Dan Marino (birthday)

AND…..  

Bemidji, MN 2013 First Frost Date!

While the first frost date for Bemidji, MN pales in comparison to other noteworthy events on September 15th, it does mark the conclusion of my garden’s harvesting season. 

Even during a shortened year (109 days between last and first frost dates, 123 days is average for Bemidji, MN), 2013 was my first profitable year. So much so I was able to cover my expenses since my garden’s inception in 2011! With the recent addition of rain barrels, I hope to further expand my garden in 2014, improve my yield of green peppers and okra, and increase variety with the addition of rhubarb and asparagus.

Consistent with SMART goals and QAPI , I enjoy collecting and analyzing data. I find progress is very difficult without being able to measure outcomes and identify areas for improvement. Below is a summary of all data collected from my initial garden in 2011 to the end of 2013.




Raw Data Spreadsheet

2013 Goal Review 
Profitable

• Total Profit: $110.54
• Revenue: $151.50 Expenses: $40.96
• Return on Investment (RoI): 3.7
• Does not include water and time costs

Garden size > 200 ft²
Learn how to grow plants from seeds

• Tomatoes and green peppers were successfully transplanted
• Plan to try okra and cucumbers next year

Build and test rain barrel watering system

• Building and installation complete, testing still underway
• 3 x 50 gallon capacity (150 gallons total), plan to add 2 additional barrels next year
• Please email me if interested in detailed instructions in building your own system!

2013 was a historic year for gardening success, expansion, and innovation (rain barrels). Next year I plan to expand my garden to 300 ft2, add rhubarb and asparagus, perfect my rain barrel system, and reach a RoI of greater than 5.0. While September 15th, 2013 pales in comparison to other historic events, I will remember it as my first profitable gardening year :).

Next Post Topic: Book Review IV: When Helping Hurts

Gardening Part II: Gardening Goals

SMART Goals. Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time bound. I love setting goals and am a supporter of using the SMART model of goal setting. 2013 is my third year of gardening. I believe I am turning the corner of becoming a successful gardener. I had no goals in 2011, one goal: preventing deer from eating my garden, in 2012, and have established the following as my goals for 2013, 2014, and beyond:

2013 -

• Profitable (even if minuscule)
• Current progress
• Expenditures: $40.96 (excluding rain barrels)
• Does not include time or water
• Revenue: $22.00
• 53.6% of the way to turning a profit as of 7/14/13
• Garden size > 200 ft²
• Of note, median/mean garden size is 96/600 ft²
• Some big gardeners out there
• Learn how to grow plants from seeds
• Build and test rain barrel

Russ' Remarkable Rain Barrels :)

2014 -

• Garden size > 300 ft²
• Return on Investment (ROI): 3:1
• I believe 2014 will be a breakthrough year. I feel I have learned enough to start maximizing production and many of my upfront costs out of the way.
• $1 per square foot ROI

• Cost effective plants via Cheap Vegetable Gardner
• I utilize ~75% of my garden for planting purposes (25% for rows)
• Need ~$1.33 per square foot of growing space
• Thus (for 2014) 300’(0.75) x $1.33 = $300
• Transplant rhubarb/asparagus
• ~10 ft²of rhubarb and 15 ft²of asparagus

Long Term -

• Increase garden size by 100-200 ft² per year
• $1.5 per square foot (total ft²); $2 per planting square foot (excludes rows)
• Greenhouse effect
• Living in northern Minnesota I need to lengthen growing season
• Expensive, will need to do research
• Self sufficient garden with use of composting

Please send me pictures and your own gardening goals (past, current, or future) you may have. I look forward to evaluating if I met my goals in the fall!


Next Post Topic: Fantasy Football: How to Win Your League Without Watching Any Games Part I

Gardening Part I: Overview

What do a deer, sprinkler, and 43 million households have in common?

- All can be found in a garden.


I am especially fond of the motion activated sprinkler for predator protection.






According to the National Gardening Association, 2009 saw 43 million households (37%) in the United States participate in home gardening, a 7 million household increase from 2008! In 2008, an estimated $2.5 billion was spent on gardening supplies equating to roughly $70 per household. Breaking down individual gardener characteristics by percentages and comparing to general population percentages:

• 68% are 45 years and older (20.6% general population are > 45 years old)
• 3.3 
• (Individuals 45 years and older are 3.3 times as likely to garden as an individual less than 45 years old)
• 67% do not have children in the home (38% of general population)
• 1.76
• 79% have completed some college (57.3% of general population).
• 1.38
• 64% are married (48% in general population)
• 1.33
• Economically, middle class households (household incomes of $35,000 to $75,000) are most likely to have a garden
• Have been gardening for an average (mean) of 12 years
• Median 4 years

Why Garden?
The most common reasons people garden:

1. Satisfaction
• 58% to acquire better tasting food
• 51% to acquire higher quality food
2. Savings
• 54% to save money on food
3. Safety
• 48% to be sure about the safety of their food
4. Productivity
• 40% to feel more productive

How do I compare to the average gardener?

• Demographics:
• Meeting the stereotype:
• Attended college
• Married
• No children
• Straying from the beaten path:
• 26 y.o. (24 when I started)
• 3rd year of gardening (median/mean: 4/12 years)
• Household income

• Reasons why I choose to garden:
1. It's fun!
2. High degree of complexity, autonomy, and strong connection (the more time and resources you invest the greater the likelihood a greater reward will be achieved).
• From Malcom Gladwell's book Outliers.
3. Economically neutral at the moment, potentially economically profitable in the future.
• I try to gravitate towards economically neutral hobbies.
• I also enjoy the challenge of designing profitable systems (I know weird!).
4. Physical exercise
• As my day job is almost entirely intellectual and indoors, getting outdoors and exercising is very enjoyable.
5. Socially rewarding
• As politics and economics interest only a small minority, a secondary benefit of gardening is I feel it allows me to connect socially with a larger sphere of people than I would otherwise.
6. Food does taste better, especially the lettuce and spinach, wow!
7. Potentially great teaching opportunity for children cover numerous topics:
• Learning/Researching
• Efficiency/Productivity
• Economics

Researching gardening statistics has produced fascinating results. I am particularly astonished by the recent growth in popularity of home gardening (7 million additional households in 1 year and the average (median) gardener has only been at it for 4 years!).

However, as exciting as it has been to write and thumb through gardening pictures from the last two years, it unfortunately appears I am a number of weeks away from getting seeds and plants in the ground. Bemidji currently has more than a foot of snow on the ground and the high temperature of the next 6 days is 42 degrees. In the interim, I plan to start growing seeds indoors and work on brainstorming a list of goals and plans to share in future blog posts.


Next Post Topic: Unemployment Assistance Part II:  Roles and Goals

Study Details (nerds like me!)

• Conducted in January 2009
• 2559 households surveyed
• Participant selection: Stratified random samples are drawn from among the Harris Poll Online® database members by age, gender, and region based upon their known proportions in the U.S. adult (18+) population. Estimates of the general population proportions are obtained from the March supplement to the Current Population Surveys (CPS).
  • Weighted Results: These results were weighted to the general U.S. adult (18+) household population based on known proportions among this population for education, age and gender, race/ethnicity, region, and income level.
• Sponsors: National Gardening Association in associaiton with the Scott Company LLC in general, and Miracle Grow in particular.