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 7/19/10

This week's harvests brought some firsts.The first cherry tomatoes (3 oz),
The first pickling cucumbers (15 oz) with a few radishes, red and golden beets, cherry tomatoes, green onion and cilantro.
The first carrots (3oz) with some lettuce

The zucchini plants are in full swing and I've already given some away. I'm checking daily to try to keep on top of it. So far we've eaten it grilled, and raw in salads. We'll be sauteing it soon and I may be trying zucchini pickles too. So far we've harvested over 2 pounds of golden and green zucchini. One of the plants of golden zucchini seems to be more in the yellow squash vein. You can see the one on the far right here is lighter in color and has a different shape.
We used the ladder to get the rest of the sour cherries off our tree. This is the total harvest, only 4.5 oz. I picked some rhubarb and used some wild blackberries and picked raspberries to make a sauce to go on yogurt or ice cream. At the beginning of the week I picked the last of the broccoli side shoots (4 oz), sugar snap peas (4 oz) ,and 18 oz of lettuce that was bolting.
Also harvested this week but not shown include enough basil to make pesto, and over a pound of swiss chard.

Total this week: 8.6 pounds
Total this year: 31.1 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.

Harvest Monday 7/5/10

I returned from a few days away at the end of June to find four remaining heads of broccoli ready to pick. They weighed 1 lb. 12 oz. We made beef with broccoli stir fry for dinner with 2 of the heads.
I also picked the last of my shelling peas (6.5 oz) and the beginning of my snap peas (2.25 oz) for the stir fry. There is a little bit of thai basil in the bowl too.
We harvested garlic scapes (2 oz ) lemon balm (1 oz) and cilantro (1.25 oz) for a pesto to go on top of fish.
I harvested 3.5 oz of onions and 2.5 oz of green onions.
I also picked 5.25 oz of chard.
The chard leaves were blanched and the chard stems and onions were grilled and then put on a pizza that we grilled.
I seem to have forgotten to harvest any lettuce this week. We'll remedy that today.

Total this week: 3.25 pounds
Total this year: 12.67 pounds

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

June Update: Fabaceae

I have one bed for peas and beans, bed 11.
First I have one winterbor kale going to seed. Behind that are Romano Bush beans. In front of the Romanos are Dragon Tongue Bush beans
Then I planted almost a whole packet of dried black beans.
Along the back of the bed I planted Kentucky Wonder Pole Green beans. I have chicken wire and sticks but I need to figure out a better way to help them grow up.
At the far end of the bed are my peas. We had our first harvest of the coral shell peas this week.
My sugar snap peas are just blooming and setting pods. They are about 4 feet tall and beyond the supports I made. We should get to enjoy some of these soon.

Mid-May Garden Update

It has been a while since I wrote a whole garden update. My garden is laid out with 11 beds 3' wide and about 25' long. I have one 6 food bed (Bed 12) at the northern end which is for perennial vegetables (and unplanned surprises). So far I've dug 6 and 1/2 of those 11 beds so I'm more than half way done!

For convenience I'm number the beds, Bed 1 is the southern most, bed 12 the northernmost because that's the way they appear from the house.

Bed 1 is for lettuce, carrots & beets. I have the cold frame which has been giving us plenty of lettuce, arugula, and tatsoi.

My kale is temporarily in Bed 1 until it's final spot is dug. I have some Red Russian Kale that over wintered from the previous owners and is currently going to seed. I'm expanding my seed collection.
Baby lettuce is just too cute.I've recently seeded red leaf lettuce, carrots, red and yellow beets, bright lights chard, and cilantro and sesame seeds in this bed as well. It's getting close to full.

Bed 2 is my onion bed. 2/3 is planted with my 300 or so onions. 80 are white, the rest are yellow. The last 1/3 has a row of All Blue potatoes which just sprouted. There is room for something else once the potatoes are hilled up.

Bed 3 is only half dug. It will be for summer and winter squash which are not yet in the garden.

Beds 4-6 are yet to be touched. They are for fall brasscias, peppers, sweet potatoes, tomatillos and other warm weather crops, and more squash. They are all the green weeds in the middle of the picture that I still have to conquer.

Bed 7 is dug and planted with 10 pounds of yukon gold potatoes. They are just beginning to sprout.

Bed 8 is my other brassica bed. It has the two row covers. I had to buy brussels sprout (12) and broccoli seedlings (6) because I left mine in the closed cold frame last week and they dried out and fried. This week, I also planted bok choy and chinese mustard greens my sister sent, along with dill and broccoli rabe. I also transplanted volunteer chamomile between the Brussels Sprouts.
Bed 10 is my tomato bed. It is dug and has 4 red walls of water with two early Chelsea Cherry and two Green Zebra tomatoes. They have buds developing. We are approaching our last frost date and I'm hoping to have my husband help me build a frame this weekend for training the tomatoes and we'll get the rest of my 50 some tomatoes in the ground next week. Here are some of the tomatoes taking in some sun this week to prepare for the move out.
Bed 11 is my beans and pea bed. You can see the posts along the whole bed and the chicken wire strung between them. At the far right side, I have Sugar Snap peas and Coral shell peas, along with some radishes. They are beginning to grab on to the chicken wire to climb.
Bed 12 has an assortment. I have 5 Heritage Raspberry plants, 2 small rhubarb, 1 sorrel, 14 volunteer garlic which I transplanted, and 7 Irish cobbler potatoes which were a gift along with the All Blues. I also have some volunteer strawberry plants which I transplanted there. There is a 6' by 8' section which I am reserving for a future asparagus patch.

So that's the garden currently. I have squash, cucumbers, eggplant, tomatillos, peppers, tomatoes, melons and flowers under the lamps waiting to get transplanted out once it is safe. And I have 4 and a half more beds to dig to be able to plant them out. I think I'll have to follow other bloggers leads and update in sections from now on.