This summer has been a whirlwind of events! Between general life, work, the garden, the bees, the chickens, the drought and my decision to go back to school this fall, I’m exhausted. Despite my exhaustion, I am incredibly excited about our veggies, all that has been produced and all that is still coming in the door on a daily basis!
To date we have harvested a little over 70 pounds of produce from our yard, with a 1-4 pounds coming in each day now. Crazy. I’m working on a price comparison page that I hope to have up soon so that I (we) can see what all the pound-age adds up to in real world $$$.
Although it saddens me to say it, it’s obvious that the garden is rounding the bend and will soon be a distant memory. Given that, I thought I’d do a a break down of what was planted (or already in the ground), what was successful and what was absolutely not successful (the * indicates that this was the first year we tried to grow this). This is only our second year attempting to grow a significant amount of our veggies own and trust me, I’ve learned a lot this year!
Tomatoes – Success! Pound after pound has come in for about a month now (Yellow Taxis and a variety of cherries) and we’re still waiting on our Brandywines and Italian Heirlooms to ripen up. The Romas were kind of a bust.
Peppers – They are just starting to produce, but at this point I think we’ll be lucky to get 3 or 4 before the first frost.
Jalapenos – So far, so good. Though the yield is fairly low, the taste is fantastic and they don’t take up much space.
*Basil – I thought I was being smart by putting the basil in with the tomatoes, but since the tomatoes took over, the basil didn’t get much sun. We’ve harvested a bit, but not nearly as much as I’d hoped.
Carrots – These guys do well when interplanted with tomatoes, beans, peas, peppers and chives. They like some space, but don’t take up much space if interplanted. Score! They also didn’t mind being shaded by the crazy, over-crowded tomatoes.
Lettuce – Our mixed lettuce did great this spring, however, it is too hot here to plant lettuce any time after May. Period. It bolts within days, almost as soon as it germinates.
*Arugula – Ditto to lettuce
Spinach – This guy did fantastic this year! We overwintered it and it gave and gave and gave until mid-June.
*Kale – Our first year of growing kale has me hooked! Fast producers and resilient as all heck…except when attacked by a ba-zillion aphids!
Snap Peas – I love snap peas, but they take up a lot of space for very low yield. I’m still on the fence about this one.
*Garlic – Stick it in the ground, forget about it for almost a year, harvest. Repeat. This will be a staple in my garden forever, now.
*Onions – Our onion harvest was fairly low, but we didn’t really plant much, so I guess I shouldn’t complain. I think I’ll try this crop one more time, but am not sure that it is worth the space it requires.
*Beets – One planting of beets is not enough. I will do succession planting from here on out and will always have beets in the garden.
Bush Beans – These guys have produced more beans for us in a short period of time than our pole beans ever have. Definite keeper.
*Blue Corn – So far, so good. We’ll wait a bit longer to harvest it all, so it will actually be blue, then we’ll grind it into meal. We’ll see how we feel about it, officially, once the process has been completed.
Sweet Corn – Complete fail. Not sure if it was the drought, the saved seed, or just bad luck. It takes up a lot of space, but I love it. It will definitely be in the garden again next year.
*Tomatillos – I planted about a million, and only one came up. It’s flowering now, so we’ll see if it does anything real before the first frost.
Summer Squash – Amazingly enough, the summer squash is slow and low this year. We’ve only harvested 3 squash so far. Drought? Who knows!
Zucchini – Complete fail. Not a single zucchini this year. Weird.
Winter Squash (*Acorn, *Honey Boat, Butternut) – All three are coming along great! It looks like it’ll be a good haul!
Strawberries – These were transplanted this year and didn’t provide any fruit. I’m hoping that with their roots under them, next year will provide some yumminess.
Rhubarb – This is still a baby and will be transplanted into the ground this fall. We’ll see…
Watermelon – Fail. I’ve got nothing else.
Mint – Is mint capable of failing? Ours is in a big “pot” by the front door and is doing fantastic. I’m only glad it’s contained.
*Cucumbers (Lemon & Straight Eight) – The SE are a complete fail, while the Lemons are doing wonderfully. While I have fantasies of beautiful green pickles, I might have to stick with little yellow ones instead 🙂
Pumpkins (Pie and Jack-o-Lanterns) – Waste of space with little yield, two years in a row. Boo!
*Ground Cherries – Fail. Not a single one germinated. I think it was drought related and might give ’em one more try next year.
*Dill – Fail. Again, not a single germination. I will try again.
*Sage – Fail and success. The first planting did nothing, but the second planting in mid-June is doing well. I love sage, so I will keep trying.
*Swiss Chard – Fail. Drought sucks and I decided it was too hot to try a second planting. I am going to try again with a fall planting though. Wish me luck!
*Peanuts – Complete fail. Drought. I still have fantasies about growing our own peanuts, but with the Bush Beans success I wonder if it’s worth it?
*Radishes – Mild success in a small container, shaded by beans. I will keep trying.
Pole Beans – Fail. Waste of time and space for yield. I’m sticking with their shorter cousins from now on.
Potatoes (German Butterball and Red) – Success so far! We haven’t pulled any yet, but their foliage sure looks good! Fingers crossed!!!
Echinacae & Chamomile – Both were complete failures. Drought? Not sure, but I am determined to have these in my garden, so I will try again
Fruit Trees – The pear, cherry and apricot trees gave nothing this year. Maybe it’s because they’re young? We have one branch on each of our apple trees that are holding ripening fruit, but it’s not much. I can’t wait for the day when I have a variety of fruits to harvest!!!
Potatoes (German Butterball and Red) – Success so far! We haven’t pulled any yet, but their foliage sure looks good! Fingers crossed!!!
Echinacae & Chamomile – Both were complete failures. Drought? Not sure, but I am determined to have these in my garden, so I will try again
Fruit Trees – The pear, cherry and apricot trees gave nothing this year. Maybe it’s because they’re young? We have one branch on each of our apple trees that are holding ripening fruit, but it’s not much. I can’t wait for the day when I have a variety of fruits to harvest!!!
Lessons learned:
- Do not plant 12 tomato plants in a single 4 foot by 6 foot bed. That’s too much tomato for too little of a space! PLus, wire cages suck at support. We will have to plan better for next year.
- Yellow Taxi Tomatoes are the savior of the tomato season so far. These are keepers.
- Basil needs lots of light, so don’t plant it with 12 tomatoes in a small space.
- Lettuce and arugula are strictly spring and fall crops here.
- Devote less space to squashes and absolutely do not plant them in raised beds ever again. Too much space taken up for too little yield. Choose your squashes wisely for maximum yield!
- Don’t doubt the wrath of mother nature. If something doesn’t germinate in it’s alloted time, re-sow. Don’t wait around hoping it will happen and lose your chance.
- Label, label, label. I forgot to do this with a few things and was left wondering. It’s not fun.
Whew! No wonder I’m tired! It really adds up when you write it all down in one space!!!
What have you learned from your
garden so far this year?
(I’d LOVE to hear your stories!)
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