Projo Offbeat Blog

Like a lot of other people during this recession, I've tried to be more frugal and self-sufficient. As a result, I've gotten to enjoy the world's most expensive lobster. The world's most expensive lettuce, too.

This is the summer that I got serious about gardening and also became a "lobsterman." It's incredibly satisfying when you and your family can sit down to a meal that you've grown and caught yourself. I just wish I was more familiar with that feeling.

With visions of feeding my family healthy foods at a low cost, I bought seeds in March and filled part of our kitchen with pots. I was pleased when some of the seeds actually developed into seedlings. When it got warm enough, I moved the seedlings outside. I also planted some seeds. So far, the biggest benefit from my garden is that there's less grass to mow in my backyard.

I've been most successful with the lettuce, although I now know that lettuce comes in many varieties, and I'm afraid I've occasionally mistaken a weed for a lettuce plant. At least nobody has gotten sick. The peppers and tomatoes have shown little inclination to produce anything. Zucchini is considered so easy to grow that it becomes a nuisance, but my four plants have provided me with just one piece of squash.

A good buddy and I have also spent part of the summer trying to act like rugged lobstermen at the Cape Cod Canal. We've had mixed success. We bought 10 used lobster traps and so far we've launched two of them, including one that disappeared. We have hauled empty traps (If we could eat starfish, we'd have probably gained 10 pounds), but we've also hauled our trap to find as many as three lobsters.

And so my wife and I have enjoyed a couple of lobster dinners this summer. Considering the cost of the traps, bait, etc., the average price of each lobster was probably about $30.

The salad, with home-grown lettuce, that accompanied the lobster probably cost $20. In defense of the lettuce, you should know that I'm figuring the price on the cost of the entire garden -- including seeds, seedlings, soil, fertilizer and one of those contraptions that let you grow tomatoes upside down. (Yes, I saw the ads and I bit, too.) If the other plants actually produce something edible, the average cost of everything will drop.

So far, I've grown and caught enough food to feed my family for maybe two days -- at the cost of, say, several really nice meals on Federal Hill. But even if I'd had more success, I'm not sure how much eating my kids would do. I suspect our two youngest children, ages 3 and 6, would rather eat a bug than a piece of lettuce. And all three of the kids are freaked out by lobster.

If I could learn to grow licorice and ice pops, I'd be a hero, but I'm already having enough problems.

 Tags  Cape Cod Canal Federal Hill frugality lobster self-sufficiency vegetables

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