After a banner year in 2012, I have to admit that I have been quite disappointed with our harvest totals for 2013. Not that ~200 lbs of food is anything to sneeze at, but the comparison is a bit sad.
The truth is, there are factors that can be controlled (my attention to sprouts and plants alike, my complete inability to keep up with succession planting and my super busy work schedule during the warmest/growing months) and factors that cannot be controlled (the weather).
The Farmer’s Almanac called for a short summer here with a cool spring and fall and that is exactly what happened. Add to that the fact that we already have a fairly short growing season (~150 days if we’re lucky) and we wound up with a beast of a season!
Here are our totals for the year:
Basil – 1 lb 4 oz
Beans
- Bush – 2 lb 6 oz
- Pole – 3 lb
Beets – 4 oz
Broccoli – 1 oz
Carrots – 12 oz
Chard – 8 oz
Corn (Sweet) – 5 lbs 2 oz
Cucumbers
- Lemon – 3 oz
- White Wonder – 14 oz
Eggplant
- Fl. High Bush – 4 lb 10 oz
- Early Long Purp. – 1 lb 11 oz
Kale – 6 oz
Mint – 1 lb 5 oz
Mixed Greens – 15 oz
Onion (yellow) – 1 lb 2 oz
Peppers
- Bell – 6 oz
- Cayenne – 5 lb 4 oz
- Jalapenos – 1 lb 12 oz
- Shishitos – 4 lb 12 oz
Potatoes
- Sweet – 13oz
- Blue – 2 lb 14 oz
- German – 3 lb 1 oz
Radishes – 10 oz
Rhubarb – 4 lb 14 oz
Rosemary – 2 oz
Sage – 4 oz
Snap Peas – 1 oz
Squash
- Butternut – 2 lbs 4 oz
- Patty Pan – 8 lb 2 oz
- Summer – 1 lb
- Zucchini – 1 lb 9 oz
Strawberries – 1 lb 12 oz
Thyme – 6 oz
Tomatillos – 2 lbs 13 oz
Tomatoes
- Bi-Color Cherry – 1 lb 14 oz
- Black from Tula – 5 lb 7 oz
- Cherokee Purple – 5 lb 12 oz
- Indigo Rose – 15 lb 15 oz
- Misc Cherry – 11 oz
- Orange Flesh Purple Smudge – 3 lbs 4 oz
- Roma – 64 lb 9 oz
- Yellow Taxi- 21 lbs 6 oz
Fruits, Veggies and Herbs – TOTAL = 183 lbs 7 oz
Chicken – TOTAL = 13 lbs 2 oz
Honey – TOTAL = ~ 5 lbs
There will be some serious reflections happening over the next couple of weeks about what has worked over the past few years and what really hasn’t, whether the successes and challenges have been due to weather, pests/mother Nature or our own actions, and how we can best utilize the tiny space we’re in in 2014 and beyond.
xoxo,
M
P.S.
These totals have their very own page along with the totals from 2011, 2012 and egg collection stats where I intend to continue tracking our successes and failures into the future with a new page each year.
I find a lot of things change my harvest totals over the year. Weather is a huge indicator for me. Pests and diseases play a large role. But the biggest is probably me. What crops I choose to grow and whether I get them in on time for successions to be successful. This year was disappointing here but I knew it would be. I had a two week trip in the middle of the summer. I had to plan to get all the spring crops harvested before I left even if they weren’t ready. And when I got back to get the fall crops in even if it was a tad too late.
I think that’s a pretty impressive total. Don’t beat yourself up too much.
I’m sorry that you had such a disappointing year. Better luck in 2014!
183 pounds sounds really good to me! I know it’s less than last year, but I wonder if I ever even got to that amount. I might need to invest in a scale. Then I’d know how much I am harvesting.
It’s the time of reflection on last year’s successes and failures and forward thinking about what next year’s crops should be. I, too, have a tiny yard, and am currently working on the best use of my space. 🙂