The Tomatoes are Ripeneing and the Piggy Bank is Growing

We have Color and Harvest.....
It is a start

Well it was 88 days since planting the Stupice and Early Girl varieties.

That time lag may bother some who are used to 65-70 day Early Girls, but remember I prune heavily on the bottom set so I give up the first set of fruit.

The following video will show our pruning methods.




Our "harvest" so far has yielded just under 10 pounds. That is far cry from our Thousand Pound Goal, but we have a long season coming. But the 8.25 pounds have generated a whopping $5.00.

Shirley said we had to eat the first couple pounds ourselves.

Growing Tomatoes for Health and Wealth is getting to be a good project. I love the activity and we are generating a lot of interest in a customer base for the tomatoes

The Garden Behind the Barn has generated a great Harvest and also provided and is providing cash flow. We harvested about 15 # of spinach on a small bed about 10' feet long. Besides what we ate our Neighbor begged for a supply and we sold a total of $15.00, not bad from a $1.79 seed investment. We will plant spinach back in September for some fall Spinach.

And as the Tomato Video shows, we set out about 24 Red onion sets in January and out yield was
over 35#

Our KY Pole Beans are yielding about 3# a day and easy to sell at $1.75 per pound. So far besides what we ate and are eating we grossed about $20.00. Seed cost and Trellis $13.50. We should harvest another 60-70 pounds before we get too hot and the beans quit blooming.

We will plant some Bush beans in September again for a fall crop.

Th point here is almost anyone with a small patch of ground, or a patio, can spend some time relaxing time after their hectic Business life and grow some nutritional food and possible "market" the surplus.

If you would like more detailed ideas about these concepts, may I recommend

A couple of Books from the Mittleider System.


Six steps to Successful Gardening is a must for anyone's Library

And of course as a great companion, add Mittleider's Let's Grow Tomatoes

More on the Economy of the Garden.....Getting Healthier and Wealthier

What makes more Sense?

Spend a little Money, Quality Healthy
exercise, or Work more Hours to Trade Dollars for food products,
you have no control over?

With the rapidly changing economic conditions here
in the US and Globally for that matter,
many are having to re-evaluate their Time
and Financial Priorities.

Regardless of your "living Style" or property arrangement,
almost everyone can
successfully improve their Health and "Wealth"
by getting involved in
GROWING some or all of their
Fresh Vegetable and Fruit requirements.

There are tons of resources available for those
who live Condominiums
and Apartments, with only "patio"
or Courtyard availability.

Check out these links :

Vegetable Gardening in Containers
excellent article by
Sam Cotner, Extension Horticulturist, Texas A&M

Here is another Good article by
John Jett
WVU Extension Service
Extension Specialist-horticultural

More Container Gardening

For those blessed with a bit more usable Square Footage, larger Gardens,
(300-1,000 square feet) can produce a just about all need for a family during
the seasons, and leave some to sell to recover cost and in many cases, yield a PROFIT.

Our tomato experiment this year, with the Goal of a Thousand Pound yield of marketable Tomatoes will be interesting to Follow. The premise is based on 24 Plants, on approximately 300 square feet of gravelly soil. We had broccoli and onion planted earlier, now Harvested for Positive Cash Flow.

It is very easy to market our Tomatoes for $1.00 a pound to local restaurants
and individuals who are too busy too plant their Own, which should net close to $1,000.
We are not talking retirement here just "fun Money"


The Baby Boomers in the US are constantly seeking avenues of Better Lifestyle, More Income and a Healthier Existence and Gardening on a small scale can provide all of the above. 100 well tended tomato plants will require about a hour a day through the season on average and can be easily a $3,000 top $4,000 BONUS for having the Fun and getting Healthier

Tomato plant on the right, planted 03-22-08, has 37 set fruit which should mature to average 4 ounces each. The blossom above this set a re heavy. Picture taken 06-11-08


The most important benefit of this "Business Plan" is the Wellness aspect of being "off my duff" and out in the garden, bending over hand weeding, tieing, shaping and pruning the Tomatoes.

Check out the Video Journal of this experiment at;

Growing Tomatoes for Health and Wealth

And don't forget to visit our Sponsor links around the site.

The Hydrangea offer from Wayside Gardens is Awesome!

This is the Time for Action...The Sky is not Falling

Economy Makes Seeds Explode
Headline Chico ER, May 26th, 2008
Ellen Simon
AP Business writer

"High prices at the pump and the produce aisle have sent the HOME Gardeners to their yards with a mission: grow-it-yourself dining. Sales of vegetable seeds, tomato transplants and fruit trees are soaring as enterprising planters seek to grow their own food."

This isn't anything new to our household and many thousands of other Avid gardeners.

I just Posted a new video following our Tomato For Profit Business Model, which included the harvest of Red Onions yesterday. we had $3.00 and a few hours invested in 24 onion sets and yielded 41 pounds of beautiful naturally grown "Sacramento Reds" Current retail value is $.89 per pound locally, which yielded a $ 33 ROI, not to mention the quality freshness and the health benefits of getting outside and "tending the Garden"

Compound these little bits and it isn't hard to find yourself saving a bundle, which helps offset the "rising" cost. We are actually looking forward to $1,000 added income this year form our Tomato Plantings. I feel better working outside and along with my Vitamin regimen, I am better than before my Coronary.

Check out yesterday's progress Video and the Red Onion Harvest.



Check out the wonderful catalogs to your right, it is not too late in the season to get something done outside, on the patio. Be creative with container gardening.

Just do and the "bad news of the economy" will be easier to handle.

It has been working for us for 30 years or more.
Garden for the Health and Wealth