The hose is MY rain dance

We are getting a nice rain after not having a drop of water fall from the sky in the last couple of weeks. It seems that whenever I turn on the hose to water the gardens, about 2-3 hours later we get rain. I guess the hose is my rain dance.  

The rain is a welcome gesture since I had just finished transplanting and seeding a few of the fall crops. I transplanted 6 napa cabbage and 5 bok choy seedlings. I also seeded snap peas and beets. I was hoping to plant the lettuce seedlings and carrots seeds but there isn't enough room in the gardens right now. Since I want to keep my fall garden contained to just one of the 5X12' raised beds, I still need to wait for the soybeans, bush green beans, and tomatoes to finish ripening.  

This past week I began harvesting peppers - lots of peppers. Enough that my total vegetable yield for 2012 has increased to 316 lbs! Wowzers.  

This is great for a home vegetable garden but man, it sucks to be a farmer. I looked up the average price per pound of organic produce across the US and determined how much money I would have made if I were to sell everything I harvest. To my surprise, I would have only earned $560 to date (or $2.54 per square foot). Sad face. How is this possible given the cost of seeds, soil, pots, lighting, and TIME.  

I do not think I will be quitting my day job anytime soon.  But, if I did, I would go into organic garlic farming. Talk about a cash crop that perpetuates itself!  On average, organic garlic sells for $6.50 per pound at the grocery store ($2 per bulb at the farmers market). Garlic grows over the winter (October to July), the cloves from the prior year become the seeds for the next year, and very little effort to maintain the plants is necessary. Seems like a good deal to me.  

Alas, I will have to save the daydreaming for another time. I am off to make some homemade onion soup using the onions from the garden. Now, if I only had a cow to make my own cheese from her milk...