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One Hundred Dollars a Month

I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.

How to Grow Your Own Food – Weigh In Wednesday

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This year my goal is to grow 2,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables. I think I can do it. With 16 raised garden beds, a greenhouse, a raspberry patch and a few more planting beds sprinkled throughout our property, I believe growing 2,000 pounds of food is an attainable goal. Even if I do live right in the middle of high maintenance suburbia, and my neighbors think I’m nuts. ~Mavis

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This week I finally hit the 5% mark, having harvested just over 100 pounds of food from the backyard garden. I was able to harvest beets, broccoli, peas {both snap and English} strawberries, chard, basil, red onions and even a few carrots this past week.  It should be smooth sailing from here on out right?  The forecast for the next 7 days is calling for some crazy good weather, which means I’ll probably start to pull some of my cold weather crops like broccoli and any remaining lettuce.

I need to get out there and plant a few more squash seeds and start to think about what I’m going to plant this fall. I’m hoping by the end of the week to pull in a big harvest of English peas, so that should help towards next weeks total.

Wahooo!  I’m excited.  It’s starting to feel real now.  I can do this.  I can grow 2,000 lbs of veggies.  Just you wait and see!

Here is what I have harvested so far:

Basil 1 lb 10 oz

Beets 11lb 120z

Broccoli 3lb 10 oz

Broccoli Rabb 1lb 6 oz

Cabbage 6lb 1 oz

Carrots 3 oz

Chives 13 oz

Kale 1 lb 4 oz

Lettuce 14 lb 0 oz

Butter Crunch 12 oz
Mixed Greens 4 lb 2 oz
Romaine 10 lb 11 oz

Mint 2 oz

Onions 1 lb 15 oz

Green Onions 13 oz
Red Onions 9 oz
Scallions 6 oz

Oregano 3 oz


Mushrooms 9.25 oz

Shiitake 9.25 oz

Go HERE to read more about how I grew mushrooms.

Peas 1lb 2 oz

English Peas 7 oz
Sugar Snap Peas 5lb 15 oz

Radish 11lb  4 oz

Easter Egg Radish 2 lb 3 oz
Crimson Radish 1 lb 5 oz
French Breakfast 7 lb 12 oz

Spinach 2lb 5 oz

Sprouts 10 oz

Strawberries 5lb 1 oz

Sprouts 10 oz

Mung Bean Sprouts 7 oz
Sandwich Sprouts 3 oz

Swiss Chard 21 lb 14 oz

Miscellaneous 3lb 4 oz {This means we let someone come and pick vegetables, and this was the total weight of all the vegetables combined}

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So that’s what I’ve grown so far this year… How about YOU?

Are you keeping track of what you’re growing this year?  Are you weighing your produce too?

Total Food Harvested in 2012: 104 lbs 6.25 oz

I have spent a total of $$473.47 on seeds, soil, plants and supplies for this year.


EatSmart Precision Retro Mechanical Kitchen Scale ~ Amazon

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How To Grow Your Own Food – Mavis’ Vegetable Garden Tour

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Things are really starting to heat up in the garden.  For the first time this year I am starting to see tiny tomatoes forming on some of the 100 heirloom tomato plants I have growing in the raised garden beds.  It’s so exciting!  I’m hoping by this time next month my counter tops and windowsills will be covered with brightly colored tomatoes.

The English peas I planted are flowering, so hopefully it won’t be too much longer.

The broccoli side shoots need to be harvested, and the French Breakfast radishes should be ready to pull in about another week or so.  The potatoes we have planted along the back fence are ready to be covered with dirt and the carrots and cabbage are growing like crazy.

I’ll need to pull out my canning jars soon so I can pickle some beets. Wahooo!

Fresh mint and my first pink poppy.  I sooo want to pick it!

View from the back of the garden.

Pretty soon I’ll have a hard time walking between the raised garden beds, and when that happens, I know I’ll be putting in some long hours in the garden.  Right now I’m still only spending about 10 hours a week outside working the land… But pretty soon here, I may just have to pull the kids away from all their summer projects {painting, building, cleaning} to come help me pull some weeds so I can stay on top of things.

Either that, or start bartering vegetables for duties with my neighbors.  We’ll see.

So what’s new with YOU?

How is your garden growing so far this year?

Have your tomatoes started to set fruit yet?

If you are looking for a sprinkler for the garden, this Noodlehead Flexible Lawn & Garden Sprinkler rocks!  Amazon currently has it on sale for only $11.90, and I love it!  Plus, if you have kids, they can run and jump over it too.

  • You control the spraying of only that which you want watered
  • Conserves your water by not spraying streets, sidewalks, buildings, windows, people or cars
  • No more brown spots in your lawns, simply point more noodles at them
  • Adapts to any shape or pattern you can imagine
  • Perfect for flowerbeds, sideyards, lawns, patios, courtyards, vegetable and herb gardens

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

How To Grow Your Own Food – Mavis’ Vegetable Garden Tour

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Well folks, in case you didn’t get the memo, summer has arrived. Wahoo!  Our backyard is bursting with color {and vegetables} and I’m having a hard time photographing of it all.  It seems like every time I turn around there is something I missed.

This I know for sure, this week we will be eating a ton of veggies.  There is broccoli, cabbage, peas, lettuce, strawberries and chard to pick.  Pots to replant and hedges to be trimmed.  We’ll also try and clear a little more brush in the backyard to accommodate what I hope with be a giant squash patch.

Summer vacation is finally here and I have big plans {and a ton of new projects} for this summer, and I can’t wait to get started.

Here is this weeks tour of our backyard garden…

The 16 raised garden beds are overflowing with vegetables and herbs.

Onions and strawberries, beets, chard and our 1 year old rhubarb plant.

Carrots love tomatoes… Who knew?  Celery, beets and now beans are growing in the pallet garden.

The bean teepee and hubbard squash is nice and green.

The potato tower is still going strong, and the zucchini and cucumber plants are coming along nicely.

Here’s a shot from the back of the raised vegetable garden.  Pretty neat-o if you ask me.  I’ll be shopping in my backyard for my groceries 24/7 in about another month.  I can’t wait!

So how’s it growing in your garden?

Have you planted anything new recently?

I think I’m going to plant a packet of Tiger’s Eye beans today.

Peace Out Girl Scouts, I’m off to water the garden.  Have a great day!

♥ Mavis

The Beginner’s Guide to Growing Heirloom Vegetables $14.77 ~ Amazon

Are heirloom vegetables more difficult to grow than conventional hybrids? The Beginner’s Guide to Growing Heirloom Vegetables debunks this myth by highlighting the 100 heirloom vegetables that are the easiest to grow and the tastiest to eat.

Marie Iannotti makes it simple for beginning gardeners to jump on the heirloom trend by presenting an edited list based on years of gardening trial and error. Her plant criteria is threefold: The 100 plants must be amazing to eat, bring something unique to the table, and — most importantly — they have to be unfussy and easy to grow. Her list includes garden favorites like the meaty and mellow ‘Lacinato’ Kale, the underused and earthy ‘Turkish Orange’ Eggplant, and the unexpected sweetness of ‘Apollo’ Arugula. ~ Amazon

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Mavis Garden Blog – Woman Fined For Growing Food In Her Front Yard

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Holy Garden Crack!

Do you know they are fining people for having a garden in their FRONT yard?

What do you think?

Live dangerously, plant a garden! The Edible Front Yard: The Mow-Less, Grow-More Plan for a Beautiful, Bountiful Garden~ Amazon

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Mavis Butterfield Etsy