Paid for WDW trip by growing my own food

[magicmomms]

I just thought I'd share how I financed my family's first WDW trip by growing a lot of food in our backyard. I grew $2,000 worth of food in a year ( I suspect this year will be the same or more as I am learning and expanding the garden.) And those two years of work, have freed up 4 grand we can use on vacation.

I have been wanting to take my child and husband (since they haven't been), but money is tight. So I got proactive and set up an excell chart to show how much food I grow and what it's market value is worth, tilled up a plot of soil and got started growing. I grew about 1500# of food in my 2,000 square foot garden. I really could have done more, but I love to have a big pumpkin patch for Halloween decorating. Once I showed DH the numbers he was impressed and we started working out the WDW trip. It will be our first family vacation ever, and everyone is so excited! We are splurging, got a DVC rental at Animal Kingdom with a Savannah view and plan on eating really well with lots of character meals for DD4.

I learned so much about the booking process from this site, I thought I would give back a bit and help anyone who wants to start growing- or learn from what I did. Some other things that saved me huge amounts of money without gardening is tracking our food expenses each month. I keep a notebook with (for example) how much I spend on yogurt a month..It was crazy Ya'll! $80 a month on yogurt cups. So I nixed that cost and now make it for $10 a month. Thats a savings of $840 for the year and some months we were spending $150 a month on yogurt. That is crazy. We switched on a lot of things like that. SO my savings have really been more than $4,000. Lucky for me I have a nerdy personality and like tracking everything. lol

The biggest garden savings besides growing all my tomatoes for the year with canning and drying (which is work), is herbs/seasonings and lettuce.

With herbs if you do the math for a little container of dried oregano or whatever it comes out to like $85 a pound! Crazy!!! So while those foods aren't essential, I was buying them. A few dollars here and there don't seem like much, but added up, are a lot. I grow all of my own green herbs in bulk for really very little effort and then hang dry them in the house and store them in mason jars. I never have to run to the store either.

Spices- I grow all my own chili powders, pepper flakes, paprikas and the likes for pennies. Dry them and grind them up in a coffee grinder (reserved for this purpose) and store in mason jars. My spices are much better too.

Lettuce is a few dollars at the store but we never can eat it all before it wilts/rots. A packet of 1,000 lettuce seeds is $2 and it's easy to grow with minimal attention. I plant thousands of seeds and pull off the outer leaves of the lettuce as I need them, that way there is no waste and the plant keeps growing more lettuce, as opposed to cut once and be done. I let it keep growing all season. My toddler will eat our lettuce, but not the grocery store- the taste and texture are very different.

Green beans are very easy to grow and put out so much food, I imagine I will always grow these.

Onions have saved me a good deal of money, because I was always making runs to the store when I ran out, but having a few hundred to a thousand at home, eliminates the extra trip. Probably saves me from impulse buys as well.

This year we added a chicken coop, and our raising chickens for eggs. They are a lot of fun too.

I grow everything you can think of from okra, beans, squash, tomatoes, greens, melons, cole crops, potatoes, roots, fruits...everything! I just don't grow grains, because they need a lot of space to be worth it. I save my own seed from most things so I have lots of seed to grow the next year with. It was a process at first but has been really worth it.

Some other benefits are my daughter eats fruits and vegetables, none of us our deficient in vit d anymore, and my husband and I lost 40# together. All these changes after 1 year...and don't forget...I get my Disney trip!

I hope this has helped someone...my fingers are cramping! lol

 

[javeyloveschelsi]

That is amazingly awesome! Congratulations on such an accomplishment! I have been wanting to start gardening and growing my own food for quite a while now (and gardening is very popular around here), but I am clueless as to where to start (and am not known for having a green thumb--I figure I do well enough keeping the hubby, kids, and animals alive--haha!) and when I ask my friends for tips, they might as well be speaking Greek to me. Do you have any website or book recommendations that could help someone like me? Thanks so much for sharing and enjoy your trip!

 

[verleniahall]

we also have started a garden - and we will sell our extra at our local farmers market - extra income and can reduce our food budget

 

[kymom99]

My husband puts in a nice garden and my sister's family works it with us. We are fortunate to have 14 acres from my parents' estate. My husband cans wonderful pasta sauce and salsa. We also do pickles and green beans. It is so nice to never have to buy that stuff! It makes nice gifts too.

We have been trying new things each year. Maybe I will suggest lettuce! My dad was a part time farmer and my husband learned from him. My niece is very into organics. She made all her own baby food for her baby. She wants to raise laying hens. We are considering it. Live animals require a lot of commitment. I grew up with chickens and it was my job in the summer to gather the eggs so they wouldn't spoil. We also have foxes and coyotes, and neighbors' dogs to worry about.

Gardening is lots of work but very rewarding! Congrats to you for taking control of your finances this way. I hope you love your trip!

 

[lauradis]

I just thought I'd share how I financed my family's first WDW trip by growing a lot of food in our backyard. I grew $2,000 worth of food in a year ( I suspect this year will be the same or more as I am learning and expanding the garden.) And those two years of work, have freed up 4 grand we can use on vacation.

I have been wanting to take my child and husband (since they haven't been), but money is tight. So I got proactive and set up an excell chart to show how much food I grow and what it's market value is worth, tilled up a plot of soil and got started growing. I grew about 1500# of food in my 2,000 square foot garden. I really could have done more, but I love to have a big pumpkin patch for Halloween decorating. Once I showed DH the numbers he was impressed and we started working out the WDW trip. It will be our first family vacation ever, and everyone is so excited! We are splurging, got a DVC rental at Animal Kingdom with a Savannah view and plan on eating really well with lots of character meals for DD4.

I learned so much about the booking process from this site, I thought I would give back a bit and help anyone who wants to start growing- or learn from what I did. Some other things that saved me huge amounts of money without gardening is tracking our food expenses each month. I keep a notebook with (for example) how much I spend on yogurt a month..It was crazy Ya'll! $80 a month on yogurt cups. So I nixed that cost and now make it for $10 a month. Thats a savings of $840 for the year and some months we were spending $150 a month on yogurt. That is crazy. We switched on a lot of things like that. SO my savings have really been more than $4,000. Lucky for me I have a nerdy personality and like tracking everything. lol

The biggest garden savings besides growing all my tomatoes for the year with canning and drying (which is work), is herbs/seasonings and lettuce.

With herbs if you do the math for a little container of dried oregano or whatever it comes out to like $85 a pound! Crazy!!! So while those foods aren't essential, I was buying them. A few dollars here and there don't seem like much, but added up, are a lot. I grow all of my own green herbs in bulk for really very little effort and then hang dry them in the house and store them in mason jars. I never have to run to the store either.

Spices- I grow all my own chili powders, pepper flakes, paprikas and the likes for pennies. Dry them and grind them up in a coffee grinder (reserved for this purpose) and store in mason jars. My spices are much better too.

Lettuce is a few dollars at the store but we never can eat it all before it wilts/rots. A packet of 1,000 lettuce seeds is $2 and it's easy to grow with minimal attention. I plant thousands of seeds and pull off the outer leaves of the lettuce as I need them, that way there is no waste and the plant keeps growing more lettuce, as opposed to cut once and be done. I let it keep growing all season. My toddler will eat our lettuce, but not the grocery store- the taste and texture are very different.

Green beans are very easy to grow and put out so much food, I imagine I will always grow these.

Onions have saved me a good deal of money, because I was always making runs to the store when I ran out, but having a few hundred to a thousand at home, eliminates the extra trip. Probably saves me from impulse buys as well.

This year we added a chicken coop, and our raising chickens for eggs. They are a lot of fun too.

I grow everything you can think of from okra, beans, squash, tomatoes, greens, melons, cole crops, potatoes, roots, fruits...everything! I just don't grow grains, because they need a lot of space to be worth it. I save my own seed from most things so I have lots of seed to grow the next year with. It was a process at first but has been really worth it.

Some other benefits are my daughter eats fruits and vegetables, none of us our deficient in vit d anymore, and my husband and I lost 40# together. All these changes after 1 year...and don't forget...I get my Disney trip!

I hope this has helped someone...my fingers are cramping! lol

Go you!!!! I keep telling people where there is a will to do something there is a way...

 

[hollypoast]

Awesome, thank for sharing your story. Enjoy your vacation!

 

[neatokimmo]

That is awesome, I really like how you calculated how much you didn't spend because of the garden. Plus you know what was on every leaf and stem. Organic stuff is so much more expensive than regular things at the store.

 

[magicmomms]

That is amazingly awesome! Congratulations on such an accomplishment! I have been wanting to start gardening and growing my own food for quite a while now (and gardening is very popular around here), but I am clueless as to where to start (and am not known for having a green thumb--I figure I do well enough keeping the hubby, kids, and animals alive--haha!) and when I ask my friends for tips, they might as well be speaking Greek to me. Do you have any website or book recommendations that could help someone like me? Thanks so much for sharing and enjoy your trip!

I could help u more if I know what state/country you are in. Weather conditions dictate a lot. When I started growing...I grew a whole lotta of nothing. If you asked my family and friends today, they would tell you I have a green thumb and my abilities are natural, but this is not true at all. I didn't grow well for a long time, and what I grow well now is a result of a lot of attention. Gardening isn't hard, although a few days out of the year are strenuous. (like tilling day, planting day for tomatoes, and ripping the garden out for next year) But those are just a few days out of the year. I may be in the garden 15 mins a day, just checking for bugs, watering, and pulling a few weeds. But that is the key for me- to be attentive. Just checking on everything helps. If the soil looks dry and cracked I water immediately. If a plant fell over, I tie it up. My friends that try to grow that don't do well are lazy with it. They treat it like a hobby- oh I have an hour one saturday a month (kind of thing). I tell them they have to treat it like a newborn when they are seeds. The seeds need so much water and attention to sprout. Then like children as they sprout...then teenagers as they are getting really established. And by the time the garden is making food- they are like adults that can take care of themselves. Nikki Jabbour wrote an excellent book about growing year round- that is a great go too book. Eliot Coleman writes the best books for growing in the winter seasons. ( I couldn't believe that a person could have a garden with snow! But it is true! I do it every year now! Fresh veggies for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner...blows my mind!) Lastly, Carol Deppe wrote an excellent book about 5 essential crops to grow for sustaining oneself- and she is really detailed.

My husband puts in a nice garden and my sister's family works it with us. We are fortunate to have 14 acres from my parents' estate. My husband cans wonderful pasta sauce and salsa. We also do pickles and green beans. It is so nice to never have to buy that stuff! It makes nice gifts too.

We have been trying new things each year. Maybe I will suggest lettuce! My dad was a part time farmer and my husband learned from him. My niece is very into organics. She made all her own baby food for her baby. She wants to raise laying hens. We are considering it. Live animals require a lot of commitment. I grew up with chickens and it was my job in the summer to gather the eggs so they wouldn't spoil. We also have foxes and coyotes, and neighbors' dogs to worry about.

Gardening is lots of work but very rewarding! Congrats to you for taking control of your finances this way. I hope you love your trip!

Well since you can you'll get a kick out of this. When I first started I canned strawberry jam and pickles and gave them as gifts. lol Oh boy the jam turned blue and fuzzy and the pickles were sweet and mushy. They asked if I were trying to kill them. lol 14 acres is really nice. We are on 10 but only an acre is fenced in and able to be plowed, although we use much less than that. I really dream of owning a farm Our hens are secured really well- they don't roam free, but have a big enough run. We have bears, coyotes, fisher cats, foxes...just all kinds of creatures that like chickens. At night it sounds like a horror film...gives me the creeps! Especially the screeching owls.

That is awesome, I really like how you calculated how much you didn't spend because of the garden. Plus you know what was on every leaf and stem. Organic stuff is so much more expensive than regular things at the store.

Surprisingly, I thought that too...like oh Ill know my food is clean/healthy, but the most surprising thing is how different home grown organic food is compared to store bought organic. Which sounds stupid, but in our stores the organic food is limp and half past dead. A lot gets wasted. But when its out back you pick just the kales leaves that you need...and there is no waste. I found that very surprising. Right now its the slow time. We ate up all the winter stuff and the spring stuff is growing slowly still. It will be a couple weeks till there is food to eat again.

 

[worm761]

I love it! And I love the idea of tracking what you buy each month and how much you spend on each item. I might just have to start doing that.

I live in Florida and have sand for dirt. I can't seem to grow anything but jalapenos and weeds in it. So, this year I have started a small scale aquaponics experiment. I have everything set up and have my first spinach leaves poking through. I can't wait to have homegrown, fresh, organic veggies!

 

[Narnia_girl]

I love reading about your success with gardening. In the past we have had a large garden, but currently only have a strawberry patch and some herbs. One thing I have struggled with is growing bell peppers. We use a lot of red, yellow and green and they are expensive. I tried growing them last year and managed two peppers from six plants (that's way more expensive than buying them!! ) Do you grow peppers?

 

[magicmomms]

I love it! And I love the idea of tracking what you buy each month and how much you spend on each item. I might just have to start doing that.

I live in Florida and have sand for dirt. I can't seem to grow anything but jalapenos and weeds in it. So, this year I have started a small scale aquaponics experiment. I have everything set up and have my first spinach leaves poking through. I can't wait to have homegrown, fresh, organic veggies!

When we lived in NC there was all sand too, and the greens grow the best there. Spinach/collards Those sorts of things do really well in sand IMO.

 

[worm761]

Can I ask how you set up your spreadsheet to track your groceries. I am seriously interested in this.

 

[magicmomms]

I do grow peppers. I grow 100-200 plants a year from seed that I save, from about 25 different types of peppers. Some hot, some sweet. All different colors and all different ripening times. There are two important factors in getting a lot of peppers...just 2. The first is, when you plant out your transplant- remove all peppers and or blossoms. It seems counterintuitive, because you want as many as possible, but plants are like people. They want to make their babies and then rest. Their babies are the seeds within a ripe pepper. Once they are made they rest. All peppers ripen to a color other than green, so if it's green still they aren't ripe. A plant only has so much energy and when you transplant it- energy needs to go towards establishing strong roots- not making its babies. If you already have blossoms/peppers when you transplant, that's all you are going to get, because your plant will rest after that.

Same goes for rule #2. If you want a lot of ripe colored peppers- plant a lot of plants. Reason being is once the plants makes that first group of peppers (say yellow bell for example)- three or four will ripen together and then really nothing after that. The plant made its babies and is done. If you want a ton of peppers from a plant pick them when they are green- the plant will keep making them and keep making them, trying to get its seed (babies) made. That's why jalapenos are so productive- people eat them unripe in the green stage. They are ripe when they are red. When I save seed from a jalapeno plant I may get 25-50 red jalapenos- if I pick them all green I can get up to 200 peppers.

 

[magicmomms]

Sure you can ask. I have a notebook for the grocery stuff and spread sheet for end of year groceries. My main spreadsheet is for what I grow- not buy.

When I get home from grocery store- immediatley take out the receipt and notebook. I have sections in the book for meat/produce/dairy/grains/processed...ect. Then I write under sections subsections like
PRODUCE
then apples-beans-greens...ect. (Each month I draw a line across the bottem so I can start sorta fresh and keep organized.)
I write weight/$

Apples
5#/$7.99

That's how I do that. AT the end of the month I set up a basic spreadsheet. Each tab sheet is a month of its own for the year. I tally it up (each subsection and section) and use the sum function to add it up. SO I might have Apples in Produce section 30#/$55. AT the end of the year I just add up all the months like that.
It's nerdy, but doing this has brought my food bills from (so embarrased to say this) 1,200-1,700 dollars a month to $250-$500 a month. Big difference, but we actually eat better- it's just a lot less waste (plus I grow some) and I find better deals in bulk. For instance My DD eats nuts as her main protein source and I was spending hundreds on bags of peanuts from GS. Now I buy one huge bag every so ofter from Sam's club. I never would have done that before b/c I never imagined we'd need that much or more! Crazy how much we actually eat.

 

[magicmomms]

It seems time consuming, but, again, once it's set up its no big thing at all. The end of year one takes a couple hours though. I get to see patterns in our eating and then find ways to cut costs.

 

[eliza61]

Congrats.

I live in Philadelphia so no chicken coop possible, lol but well done

 

[magicmomms]

Congrats.

I live in Philadelphia so no chicken coop possible, lol but well done

My great grandmother lived in Philly a long time ago (before she passed) and everyone had chickens. I think she said there was a limit- 2 chickens or something like that. So it can be done, but the laws would need to be changed now. She also said that all the vacant lots in the city were food gardens the apartment tenants took care of and everyone shared what was grown. Landlords didn't freak out asking for money- it was just what needed to be done. People needed to eat.

 

[Starwind]

I live in Florida and have sand for dirt. I can't seem to grow anything but jalapenos and weeds in it. So, this year I have started a small scale aquaponics experiment. I have everything set up and have my first spinach leaves poking through. I can't wait to have homegrown, fresh, organic veggies!

We have had success with the Square Foot Gardening method ( http://www.squarefootgardening.com/ there is plenty of info to get one started). It does not use your existing soil. Actually, you could do it on concrete if you wanted to... It uses raised beds with a "soil" mixture that you mix yourself (or you can buy if in the US).

SW

 

[javeyloveschelsi]

I could help u more if I know what state/country you are in. Weather conditions dictate a lot.

We are smack dab in the middle of Kansas, so we definitely get all 4 seasons fully here. Thanks so much for the book suggestions, I will definitely check those out! Also, I think it would be great to start one and have my 2 older kids help out (they are 7 and 4) and teach them more responsibility and throw in a science/life lesson in it, the baby will be turning 1 soon, so I'm hoping he would enjoy being out helping too (as long as he is with me (mom), he is happy!)

 

[neatokimmo]

We have a lot of deer that wreck gardens here. We have been kicking around the idea of a greenhouse. Yes, it's 1K, but if we grew more expensive organic items like strawberries, pear tomatoes, herbs, and lettuce, I feel like it would pay for itself that first year.