Monday, February 2, 2009

Counting Coins

I thought that I should take a few minutes to tally up what we've spent so far to get our property ready to be an urban farmstead. I have separated the expenses by category:

CHICKEN EQUIPMENT - Budget $200
Children's Playhouse..................$80
Plastic Dishpan.......................$ 1
Plastic Crate.........................$ 1
Diatomaceous Earth....................$15
Crushed Eggshells.....................$ 0
Poultry Waterer Heater................$ 0
Poultry Feeder........................$ 0
Oyster Shell Dish.....................$ 0

Garden - Budget $300
Member to Member Seedswaps............$ 5
Mushroom Kit..........................$28

Aquaculture - Budget $300

Miscellaneus - Budget $200
1000 Mealworms........................$20
Oatmeal...............................$ 4
Aquarium..............................$ 0

6 comments:

ChristyACB said...

Wow, it looks like your budget might make it! I so blew mine already :)

Keep us updated on some of those handy things you're doing to decrease the cost. Maybe it will rub off!

Carolyn Evans-Dean said...

The budget has a chance...at least until I start work on the chicken coop. I was pricing the cost of the wire for the run and the price of 2x4's to build it...Yikes! I am planning a trip to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore to see if there are any things that I can buy used to reduce the costs.

Anonymous said...

You are doing really well on your budget.
Another place you might look for supplies is the recycle place. We don't have one here in the country but all my brothers and sisters live in metro Atlanta and one brother gets great "finds" for free at the recycle place.
Also there is a freecycle site (on the internet)in different cities,that might be helpful.
On tomato cages, we made our own out of hog wire. You might find used wire in the recycle places, too.
Good luck.
Pam

Carolyn Evans-Dean said...

Thanks for the ideas, Pam! We haven't had much luck with our local Freecycle, so far, but I keep checking! I'm an optimistic type. We're thinking about making some things out of wire to support the plants. Of course, that depends upon finding the proper wire for the chicken run and having enough left over to use on the other projects, like plant supports! That would be a bonus.Once the weather breaks, we are planning a trip to my parent's house. Their home is a farmhouse with a couple of barns full of goodies that we could probably re-purpose.

Judy T said...

Hi. I'm new to your site. Another potential for materials...If there are any construction sites near you, ask if they have a debris pile or dumpster. There is often lots of useable wood and stuff in them that ends up in the landfill. We LOVE construction dumpsters! You do want to ask first, but they're generally OK with you taking what they aren't going to use. Otherwise, they pay to landfill it.
Judy

Carolyn Evans-Dean said...

Doh! (sound of me smacking my head)I forgot about that one! I volunteer with some agencies that build low income housing and there is a major construction project going on less than a mile from my home.Today's temperatures are supposed to be in the mid 40's. I hope that someone is working on those sites today.This looks like a job for TheMartianMan!Thanks for the idea, Judy!