For anyone who has ever wondered how much grocery money they could save with a killer garden, Henning Sehmsdorf has some pleasantly surprising numbers.
A shorter answer for more math-challenged folks: Almost all of it.
“The only thing we buy at the store is coffee and cleaning supplies,” Sehmsdorf said.
The 67-year-old former University of Washington professor will be in Stanwood this weekend to show how he and his wife started a garden that eventually allowed them to quit their day jobs, and also quit going to the grocery store.
The Snohomish Conservation District has invited Sehmsdorf to its spring small farm clinic 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at the Stillaguamish Grange, 6521 Pioneer Highway.
Speaking by phone during a midday break at his 50-acre Lopez Island farm, Sehmsdorf said he is always amazed by how strongly people react when they hear his family’s story.
“People keep coming to us and saying, ‘This is so beautiful. Can you make a living? Can someone else replicate this?’” he said.
“What we’re saying is, yes and yes.”
Here’s how.
The farm allows the family to sharply reduce their most basic needs – food, transportation, housing, health care and entertainment – which take up 75 percent of the average two-person family’s budget, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Their grocery bill is almost nonexistent, they have no commute, they built their own house and they hardly ever get sick because they eat well, he said.
After their basic needs are met, the couple sell the surplus food, which brought in $11,426 in 2003. That might not seem like much, but Sehmsdorf said it covers the other 25 percent of his family budget, for things such as utilities, household supplies, clothing, education, charity, insurance and pension.
The key was adjusting their lifestyle to fit their long-term goals. Sehmsdorf and his wife, Elizabeth Simpson, used to work full-time jobs and farm in their spare time. As the farm grew, they scaled back their professional careers, sacrificing income but meeting their needs nonetheless.
“Both my wife and I had professional salaries at the University of Washington,” he said. “Now, 11 years later, our quality of life is in no way lower, just our lifestyle is different.”
Sehmsdorf offered a few tips for beginners:
* Start small. A quarter-acre garden worked in your spare time can produce a lot of food. It’s easier to expand with experience. Sehmsdorf now farms 50 acres and includes livestock, but he started out camping on the farm during weekend and summer visits.
* Don’t go into debt. Sehmsdorf bought 10 acres in 1970 before he married and poured a quarter of his pretax income into paying it off in four years. He avoids costly machinery such as tractors, preferring simple hand tools.
* Don’t just look at the money. Talk about your goals as a family, then write it up as a plan. His family chose complete self-sufficiency, considering spiritual and health benefits, too.
“This idea of waiting until your golden years and then start living never made sense to me,” he said.
Others might just want a nice garden for salads. Figure out those goals at the start and plan accordingly, he said.
Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or smorris@heraldnet.com.
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