From

Location

Message

Date Posted

milford, CT,

My patch is 1000 sq feet..I usually spend $150 Insectides and Fungicides, $ 200 soil amendments (Compost, humic, 0-0-50, kelp, etc), $200 fertilizers, $100 Soil tests/ Tissue Tests. $100 miscellaneous..Total= about $750 . How do others fair per year???

1/26/2012 9:56:58 PM

South East

to much, but cant help it.

1/26/2012 10:04:38 PM

Muddy Waters

Last year I spent 480 On spring soil amendments & mycorrihzae
Drip tape 900 or so misc. tarps visqueen fertz etc.aprox 500$ I figure 2 - 3 grand didnt really keep track.I used to spend about that on cigarettes.So its a wash.

1/26/2012 10:24:15 PM

Muddy Waters

Thats for a 8000 sg foot patch,Oh and I almost forgot I won 900$ at the bowling alley the week I spent the 480$.

1/26/2012 10:26:26 PM

Torrance, Ca.

All I know is I better slow down!

1/26/2012 11:48:20 PM

East Jordan, MI

I don't know, not sure i want to know, and definitely don't want my wife to know.

1/27/2012 12:04:00 AM

Dorval,Quebec

I spend more money on gas getting to some of my patches,lol

1/27/2012 12:05:02 AM

JACKSON, WISCONSIN. ; )

wow right to the point.. it is a hard number to say. some costs a long term cost some a seasonal cost some costs to support clubs..

1/27/2012 12:06:41 AM

Minnesota

I'm one of the cheapest growers, I make my own liquid fish!

1/27/2012 12:07:16 AM

Tinykinville

youll be much happier if you dont keep track milford lol

1/27/2012 12:27:31 AM

Cameron

We spend @ $1000 - $2000 per year depending on the needs of the soil. Besides all the stuff Milford mentioned, there are the costs of manure (if you don't have your own source), truckload of sand we add every 2-3 years, a load of worm compost yearly, the farmer to come down & subsoil our gardens, the cost of the farmer to load & unload your pumpkins for the weigh offs, entry fees, seminars & patch tours attended, etc, etc

Jane & Phil

1/27/2012 7:42:38 AM

Omaha, Ne.

A LOT.... Just give up some things. Going to football games, vacations, fishing, bars, and eating.

1/27/2012 8:32:56 AM

Rhode Island

more than id care to mention. we growers will go without other things needed just to purchase more supplys that might put us ahead of the competition.
we cant help ourselves--lol----now thats an addiction
pap

1/27/2012 9:05:27 AM

Johnston, Iowa

Like Mark, I have a 1,000 sq foot patch, and I would guess I spend about the same as him each year. I remember that last summer with 6 weeks of no rain, the water bill was also a factor, LOL

1/27/2012 9:16:09 AM

Ashby, MA

I did not add it up last year or the year prior (my first year). But I can tell you, I know I'm spending more every year. Like cntryboy said, "don't want my wife to know."

As far as hobbies go, we could be doing something that's far worse than growing giant fruit. At least we're home and in our own backyards.

As an added bonus and the only reason my wife turns a blind eye on my very time consuming hobbie... my young kids love the giant pumpkins. My 11 year old son likes to give guest to our home a tour of the patch. He's able to answer most of their questions too...

For me, see the enjoyment people get, especially kids, out of seeing a giant pumpkin makes all the hard work worth it.

As Steve Sperry said once:

"We grow-em to show-em!"

1/27/2012 9:30:55 AM

Greenfield, Mass

Oh dear, what have I gotten myself into.... Well I'm hoping to spend less that most of you guys. I'm thinking of going a more organic rout as I'm a card caring cheapskate and my time is worth less than my money. Hopefully my chickens start pooping more.

1/27/2012 9:56:27 AM

Little-TON - Colorado

This information is confidential.....Me wife might find out....you think WIZ iZ nuttZ...?

1/27/2012 10:01:46 AM

Ohio

LOL, looks like I am in the same camp as the Wiz, if my wife only new.............sheesh.

1/27/2012 2:53:53 PM

i do spend some money here and there for supplies but find alot for free just gotta go get it your self. manure leafs compost worm castings all can be found
the most costly part

100 gallons of sweat
3 gallons of blood

1/27/2012 3:38:51 PM

Billerica,Massachusetts

actually i really don't want to know

1/27/2012 3:59:35 PM

Mt Vernon Ky

I dont want to know that way I will not lie to my wife

1/27/2012 4:37:59 PM

Massachusetts

god, everyone is so afraid of the wife!!!!! i just look her straight in the eye and say just under a 100 bucks dear!!! thats for everything! nothing but honesty in our family!

1/27/2012 4:44:45 PM

Mass

125.00-150.00 in Diesel in the 550 just to take the 1107 to the Durham Fair weighoff and go back and get it 3 days later! Went to 7 weighoffs in all; Goshen, Bethelehem, Durham, Cooperstown, Big E, Topsfield, Rhode Island!! took the halfton to the rest. Niagara, winter meetings/dinner, spring meeting, 2 summer tours, Never mind the rest of the expenses. Ive got a grand in travel alone last year for sure.

1/27/2012 5:19:14 PM

Novar, Ontario

Better hobby than many. Not scared of my wife because she doesnt read this site. lol. Second year and just gathering stuff up, so it will be a little more in the short term. Probably long term too as I get to know more. Just havn fun, couple of brews in the patch, lotsa good people visiting. Good stuff. :)

1/27/2012 6:46:38 PM

Deer Park WA

Does that include selling the old family farm, quiting our jobs and building a house clear across the state just to be in the same "Golden Zone" as folks like Handy, Holland, LaRue, Daletas, Sherwood and Starr?

If not then only about a thousand bucks a year or so!

Come on SPRING!

1/27/2012 6:56:09 PM

Upa Creek, MO

I had to create a sinking fund last year just to pay off all my growing supplies debt.

1/27/2012 7:06:34 PM

Connecticut

About 250 - 300 for 2-3 plants and I spread it out, 20 here 50 there....

1/27/2012 7:28:20 PM

Boise City, Oklahoma, USA

Trust me, if I added up what Competition Growing cost... I might go the rest of the way around the bend. You BET that's confidential info that the SBH doesn't need to know.

1/27/2012 11:50:53 PM

East Jordan, MI

lol marley, The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!

1/28/2012 12:44:54 AM

Belmont, NH

The wife asked me one time how much I spent growing these pumpkins. I was like,"what do you mean by how much" She says, "just how much do you spend. Do you spend $150" I said "do you mean total or per plant". I got "the look" and then she walked away. Oops.

1/28/2012 7:10:58 AM

Ri

between #000 and #0000 ya thats about right Pete

1/28/2012 1:09:47 PM

Littleton, Colorado

I just remind her from time to time that I've been doing this since I was 12. I ask if she thinks she can talk me out of it after 44 years? Not that it does much good to remind her, but I will continue to do so anyway!!!!!

1/28/2012 2:44:42 PM