Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Pat Meadows <pat@meadows.pair.com>]

On Thu, 4 May 2006 07:09:15 -0600, you wrote:

>With Paul's permission, I am addressing the entire list.
>
>How does anyone figure the worth of their own labor, when they don't get 
>paid for it?
>
>I am asking this question of a couple of different lists that I'm on, 
>because I have always had a problem figuring what my labor is worth, when 
>trying to figure out what the true cost of gardening ( or for that matter 
>any other project I'm doing ).    
>
>For example, compost can either be bought or made, which is more cost and/or 
>time effective.
>
>Once everyone has had a chance to answer, I'll share the results of what 
>people on other lists have said.
>

It depends on the circumstances.  Discussing it without
knowing the circumstances is like discussing how many angels
can dance on the head of a pin, IMHO.

Example: I'm not a position to make money at present.   For
various reasons, I can't work even part time.  

OK, so my available time is basically whatever 'productive
time' I have per day or per week.  (This is after tidying
the house, doing dishes, laundry:  routine stuff that has to
be done on a daily basis.  I don't count the daily routine
as 'productive time'.)

In my case, I believe I average about 1 to 2 hours per day
'productive time'. Health problems make this time small for
me, someone else may average 10 hours per day productive
time.

When you know how much 'productive time' you have available,
then it just comes down to how you can most profitably spend
that time.  

So the only cost, as I see it, is the 'opportunity cost';
that is, you can only do one thing at a time.  If I'm
transplanting plants, I cannot simultaneously be making
soup.  Etc.

So I balance one thing against another:  which is more
profitable?  Not profitable in the sense of money saved,
necessarily, but which is more profitable in the sense that
it will benefit our household in one way or another.  Some
things make life more pleasant for us, other things I do
save money.  Some things I do make life more healthy for us
(grow veggies, etc.).  

But I don't fool myself into believing that someone's going
to pay me $10 for NOT growing green beans, for example.  So
I don't count my time spent planting and tending the green
beans as a dollar 'cost' of the green beans.

On the other hand, if you have an endless source of paying
work (i.e., someone is willing to pay you for all your
waking hours), then maybe you would count your time as a
'cost' of the green beans.

Pat
-- 
Gardening in northern Pennsylvania.  

Eat local food, change the world for the better!