2010 Garden Wrap Up: Part 1

I intended to do a wrap up post for each crop family but doubt I'm going to get to that. So I'm just going to list some observations about what went well and what needs work next year so that I don't forget. It ended up a little long so I'll put the tomatoes & solanaceae family in another post.
Greens- I did better with succession plantings this spring and had the room to do it. We enjoyed lettuce early thanks to the cold frame. Swiss Chard produced and produced all summer long. Next year I'd like to do better with doing successions in the fall with hardy crops and more lettuce again. I may have to start the seedlings inside for the fall crops out of the hot and dry August heat. Many of the fall greens I seeded had trouble germinating. I hope the cold frame staying in place over the winter will mean early spring greens this year.
Root Crops- Carrots did better than in years past. I let them be for longer and so got a larger size from them. Beets were off to a slow start but the spring plantings were enjoyed this fall. We may let go of the red beets and just do the golden as we enjoy those more. Next year I need to start fall carrots earlier.
Onions- Onions were fair, though on the small side. Next year I need to mulch them when they are very small when it is easier. I also shouldn't plant them as close to the edge of the bed. I'm looking forward my first garlic crop from the garlic I seeded this fall and I ordered onion seeds to start my own plants rather than using sets.
Cucumbers & Zucchini- The cucumber trellis worked well, and I planted a good amount of plants (20 something). I'm going to move the trellis towards the back of the garden next year so it doesn't shade shorter plants. The zucchini were not quite as prolific as I thought. We liked the green and yellow but I want to try some new varieties like a patty pan. Next year I should plant them in the center of the bed, not toward the edges where they over ran the path. So much for trying to save space.
Winter Squash and Pumpkins- These did well, though each plant didn't produce as many fruit as I thought. The Buttercup squash did the best as well as the pie pumpkins. Delicata was a low producer and seemed to grow slower than the others. Butternuts did fine. I'm going to move it with the zucchini where it won't get overrun by faster winter squash. We loved the pie pumpkins and the Jarrahdale are beautiful and have great flesh. All the winter squash are keeping well. As we need one, I might find one that has a soft spot and use it up.

Sweet potatoes- These were a bust as they were shaded by cucumbers and tomatillos. Next year I need to start the slips earlier and find a sunnier spot.

Melons- Another bust. Seedlings waited too long to go in the ground, not enough water or heat. Try again next year.
Cole Crops- My seedlings of Brussels Sprouts and Broccoli died in the cold frame this spring so I went with nursery transplants. The brussels sprouts were great! We also enjoyed the broccoli and I wish I had started fall broccoli sooner. I have plants out in the garden, but it was too late. The cabbage bolted and we only got one head. The fall planting was too late. Kale did well and produced from the early spring right through summer and I'm sure we could pick more right now from under the snow too. Next year I'll start the winter hardy varieties later so that they aren't so tall when winter comes and can get better protection from the snow.
Beans- Romanos were good but I didn't plant enough of them. Purple Dragon Tongue looked neat but weren't that exciting taste wise. The black beans did well. I didn't have a plant for supporting the pole beans and they got out of control. I didn't pick them young enough so they were tough. I need a plan for support going into next year. We had fun with these pink shelling beans above. I'll plant more of them next year.
Peas- Peas seemed to take forever. We didn't get much from either the sugar snap variety or the shell pea. Next year I need to plant more of them, plant them earlier and do more succession plantings.

More later.

Harvest Monday 11/29/10

Last week I got the last pound of tomatoes that ripened from my green tomatoes. They were a little shriveled but worked fine in sauce.
This week I harvested 4 oz leeks, 13 oz of kale( not pictured), and 1 lb 2 oz of golden beets.
We got a bit of lettuce,
and 2 pound 13 oz of brussels sprouts for Thanksgiving dinner.
Our Thanksgiving dinner also included our own mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie from one of my pie pumpkins. Yum.

Total these past 2 week: 6.06 pounds
Total this year: 459.67 pounds
You can see what other gardeners harvested this week at Daphne's Dandelions.

Harvest Monday 11/15/10

This week I harvested some of the root vegetables that have been hanging out in the garden since spring. We didn't eat beets as much as I thought we would this spring, but now I'm harvesting them for beet gnocchi which we really enjoy. I picked 1 lb 13 oz of red beets this week.

I also harvested 12 oz of carrots for a baked chinese chicken dish. I also picked two nice heads of bok choy which weighed 5 oz. The leeks remaining are smaller, I picked 3 oz of them this week.
The other large harvest was 1 lb of kale.
Total this week: 4.06 pounds
Total this year: 452.64 pounds
You can see what other gardeners harvested this week at Daphne's Dandelions.

Harvest Monday 10/18/10

On Monday I harvested all the peppers. In all it was a disappointing year for peppers. The high heat in mid July caused all the blossoms to drop and then the next set didn't have enough time to fully develop. I picked 5.5 oz of hot peppers and over 1 pound of green peppers. I cut and froze the green peppers. There were a few tiny eggplants as well. I strung the hot peppers to dry.

Also picked one pound of golden beets on Monday. I roasted these to make beet gnocchi.
With the garden clean up on Wednesday I picked all the beans on my pole beans. I didn't do well picking these as green beans. We found the ones I did pick to be tough. So they went to seed. You can see the container full on the left. I picked kohlrabi. And one brussels sprout plant had been broken mid way up and wasn't doing well so I harvested the whole thing along with other sprouts that were beginning to open for a total of 8 oz.
I shelled the beans in front of a movie on Friday night. They weighed 1 pound 6 oz, though they will weigh less when they dry.
In the wet rain on Friday I picked 2 oz of carrots and 6 oz of bok choy and a 3 oz of a chinese green that looks similar to chicory. They all went in a stir fry. I'm happy to have the success with bok choy now because in the spring it bolted and was so eaten by the slugs that I didn't get to enjoy any.
Tomatoes continue to slowly ripen in doors. They are in a cool closet. I brought 5 pounds down that had turned color and we had a large pot of fresh sauce made with them on Saturday night.
Total this week: 9.15 pounds
Total this year: 436.62 pounds
You can see what other gardeners harvested this week at Daphne's Dandelions.

Harvest Monday 10/4/10

This week was a clean up week in the garden. Earlier in the week I cleared the squash vines and harvested the remaining butternut squash, another 5 pounds. I also picked the remaining pie pumpkins. I pulled down the tomatillos to make room for an experimental hoop house (more on that in another post). I picked my one and only red cabbage. All the others didn't form heads so I pulled them. They'd been in the ground since early May.
This weekend brought the threat of frost so the last of the pumpkins came in. With the pie pumpkins from earlier in the week they totaled 52 pounds. The largest of the Jarradale's was 15 pounds.
The heavy rain had taken a toll on the tomato supports and the tomatoes, and with the threat of frost, I picked the remaining viable fruit. The ones with any color went into my harvest total. (9 pounds) The green ones will get added as they ripen.
Other harvests this week include one eggplant, pepper, and bok choy for a stir-fry.
Also arugula, beets, and chard.
Total this week: 70.25 pounds
Total this year: 422.44 pounds
You can see what other gardeners harvested this week at Daphne's Dandelions.

Harvest Monday 9/6/10

This was the week of the tomatoes. Here's Tuesday's harvest. I've started picking some of the Amish Paste as soon as they get color because the slugs are getting to the low hanging fruit.
On Wednesday, I picked over 6 pounds of chard to blanch and freeze. It was a big pile but it cooked down to about 3 quarts once it was blanched. I also harvested over one pound of pineapple tomatillos because some of the plants fell over and rather than tie them up, I just cut off the plants. I didn't weigh the green ones because I'm not sure if they are going to ripen. I picked the ones that felt plump off the plants I cut down.
Thursday was even more tomatoes which allowed me to take my tomato photos. I harvested 32 pounds of tomatoes this week. This week I got enough tomatoes to make a double batch of Annie's Salsa. It made 11 jars. Mmmmm it is good. It looks like it will continue into next week at and I'll have enough to make some more salsa and even some sauce.

On Friday I picked some nice large beets, over 2 pounds. They'd been forgotten for a while and sure have grown in size. Not all the ones out there are this large though. I also picked some shelling beans, and of course, more tomatoes. I ended up with two photos because I didn't pick enough beets for the recipe the first time ;)
Saturday's harvest has some arugula hiding at the bottom, with a few cucumbers, and tomatoes.The hot peppers went into my salsa.
Sunday brought more tomatoes and some dried beans, both black and scarlet runner. The light brown are from the dragon tongue beans.
The weather has turned this weekend and it feels like Fall. I'm tempted to go out and pick some winter squash. However, the season in my garden is still summer for just a few more weeks. The peppers are finally setting more and more. The eggplants are blooming again and setting also. The tomatoes will bear heavily this next week too. We have just a few weeks until our first frost date. Winter squash will have to wait their turn.

Total this week: 47.08 pounds
Total this year: 203.12 pounds (Yay! I crossed the 200 lb mark!)

You can see what other gardeners harvested this week at Daphne's Dandelions.

Harvest Monday 8/16/10

This week I harvested my first and only eggplant. The plants are just starting to bloom again.
The zucchini and cucumbers slowed down as the dry weather has hit and they have some downy mildew as well. Only 2.6 pounds of zucchini this week and just over a pound of cucumbers.
I dug the rest of my All Blue potatoes ( 5lbs 4 oz) and some Yukon gold as well (2 lbs 5 oz). The rest of the Yukon gold will stay in the ground until we need them or later this fall.
The cherry tomatoes continue to increase in production with almost 3 pounds of them this week. I made fresh salsa with some of them and the tomatillos (3 oz). I also got my first red zebra tomato, which isn't any larger than the cherry tomatoes. It also had blossom end rot at the bottom. :(
We enjoyed some nice large carrots. They were short but thick,and very good.
Here is arugula, slicing cucumbers, carrots, basil, tomatillos and cherry tomatoes.
I picked over a pound of chard, some leeks, dragon tongue and romano beans, a green zebra tomato, zucchini, tomatillos, and cherry tomatoes.
Total this week: 19.36 pounds
Total this year: 116.75 pounds

You can see other gardeners' harvests at Daphne's Dandelions.

Harvest Monday 7/12/10

This week the summer garden arrived. The harvests have picked up and the variety has increased. I told my husband that I haven't felt the need to go to the farmers market because we have what we need in the garden. A friend who works on a farm came for lunch. She was telling me what was in their CSA distribution this week and mentioned new potatoes. It made me curious and so I dug up one bunch of my Irish Cobbler potatoes just to see. They were so good. This was 10.5 oz of potatoes with some squash blossoms.
Later we had friends over after church for lunch. I ran out to the garden and dug up some more potatoes to make hash browns to go with our pancakes. Both times I tried to re-plant the potatoes because there were small potatoes the size of peas, as well as the well sized new potatoes. Hopefully they'll re-root and grow some more :) This was 1.6 pound more of potatoes.

Also this week I harvested almost all my chard plants so that I could freeze some. Some went into a couple of quiches, but I was able to blanch and freeze some. It only filled one quart freezer bag after I was done. I'll continue to harvest more throughout the summer. All together this week I harvested almost 3 pounds of swiss chard.
The zucchini and first winter squash started blooming this week. We had squash blossoms in a salad and on top the quiche. We also got our first green zucchini, which makes it feel like summer is here. I'm sure we'll be sick of zucchini in a month, but right now it is a welcome novelty. It weighed 13 oz.
Other harvests this week include the first couple beets,
Side shoots of broccoli, sugar snap peas, radishes, and squash blossoms,
More swiss chard, lettuce, and green onions
More lettuce, in total over one pound of lettuce this week.
Finally, I picked spearmint and peppermint to dry in the attic, along with the beautiful blooming lavender. The mints weighed 6 oz. I didn't weigh the lavender since I don't plan on eating it, it will be made in to sachets.

Total this week: 9.8 pounds
Total this year: 22.5 pounds

You can see other gardeners' harvests at Daphne's Dandelions.