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Here is part 2 of my summary of this year's garden. Click here to read part 1 from yesterday.
Potatoes- We enjoyed a good crop of potatoes, even though I cut down the foliage early to prevent disease spread. Next year I need to be better about picking of the beetles and water only in the morning. We enjoyed the All Blue potatoes for their color, liked the creamy texture of the Irish Cobbler, and our Yukon Gold taste good though they lack the gold color. We still have some in the basement in a old lobster box.
Peppers - I planted a fair amount of both hot and sweet peppers, but our yield were poor. High heat in July seemed to make them all drop their blossoms. Next year I need to start the seedlings earlier to get them to a fair size before the are planted out.
Eggplants- Eggplants had the same problem as peppers, not much production. I also need to start them a lot earlier next year. They were significantly smaller than the ones nurseries were selling for seedlings when it was time to plant them out.
Tomatillos- The pineapple tomatillos were wild and out of control. We enjoyed their flavor but next year they need to be restrained. I also want to try traditional green tomatillos.
Tomatoes- The support system we designed just barely survived the year. Next year we need stronger posts, cross braces and I need to plant the tomatoes singly along the center of the row rather than in two lines. This means that I need to plant half as many plants. However I hope that with more room they will do just as well.
I started two cherry tomatoes and two green zebra early and put them in the ground with walls of water in early May. This meant that I had early cherry tomatoes but the green zebras didn't produce as fast. Next year I hope to start a wider variety of tomatoes early. I think I have enough to do 8 plants.
As far as varieties go, the Amish Paste was great, with large paste tomatoes and a prolific producer. The Chelsea Cherry tomatoes were good and early, but large for cherry tomatoes. I'm hoping to plant another couple varieties instead next year. The green zebras were prolific as well and we enjoyed the flavor of green pasta sauce. Red zebras weren't that exciting and are off the list for next year. Market Miracles were ok, I will do fewer of them next year. My heirloom mix produced some stars and some duds. I did a little detective work to try to find the names of the ones I was saving. I'll plant a few of them next year.
The winner of the tomatoes this year was the Purple Calabash. They were the first tomato besides the cherries to ripen, and though small, they pack a lot of flavor. They were just the right size for a tomato sandwich for breakfast, which I enjoyed daily for almost a month. I has about 6 plants of them this year and I'll do just as many next year. They'll be one of the varieties I start early.
So that's the wrap up for the year. I've already ordered seeds from Fedco for next year, through my local coop which does a bulk order and therefore gets 20% off. And I'm thinking of working on a preliminary plant for where things will go in the New Year. My husband and I recently discussed where the light table might fit in our new house. Before I know it will be time to start seeds!
This week was the first week of large tomatoes. Just a few ripened but more are on their way. I enjoyed my first BLT sandwich for a late breakfast on Saturday morning with a large pink heirloom tomato. It was delicious. We also enjoyed the purple calabash tomatoes that ripened. All together we picked 1.8 pounds of large tomatoes. The cherry tomatoes continue to be prolific, even after they took a beating when the support fell. I harvested over four pounds of them this week. They were used in salads, as the basis for a sauce and any way I could find. The tomatillos are ripening faster. I have a bowlful filling up on the counter that I should make some fresh salsa with. The fruit themselves are tiny so there is not enough to can. This week I harvested 6.5 oz of them.
This week the harvest is less, mostly because we didn't pick as much. There are beets and beans out there, but we didn't need them for any recipes, so I didn't pick them. We picked just 2.5 oz for carrots for a soup one night. I picked zucchini, cucumbers, tomatillos, and tomatoes as they ripened, but other things stayed where they were unless they were needed. There also weren't any big harvests like potatoes or onions.
In this harvest photo from Thursday you can see a pound of Swiss chard, golden zucchini, cucumbers, tomatillos, purple calabash tomatoes, green zebra tomato, and cherry tomatoes.
Total this week: 10.38 pounds
Total this year: 127.5 pounds
You can see other gardeners' harvests at Daphne's Dandelions.
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.
My Solanaceae crops begin in Bed 2 with All Blue potatoes on the far left. Then I have a whole row of Yukon Gold Potatoes in Bed 7. At the far back of the garden with the raspberries & rhubarb, I have another small section of Irish Cobbler potatoes. All the potatoes are starting to bloom, and have been hilled twice. I've never grown potatoes before and am surprised how tall they are. Here is the row of Yukon Gold. 
IN bed 4, I have a variety of hot and sweet peppers. I planted from a hot pepper mix, as well a some Habeneros. I bought some sweet bell peppers and started some Chocolate peppers. 
A few of the peppers are showing signs of buds. 
Also in the bed are eggplants which look a little worse for the wear from the slugs. 
Finally I have a lot of pineapple tomatillos from Daphne. I heard that tomatillos need support so I have stakes and cages by the ready. However, I noticed today the first bloom on a few plants, so maybe these are more of a short variety. Time will tell. 
I also have three small sweet potato vines that I started myself. However they don't seem to be doing much. Finally in bed 10 are my Tomatoes, about 50 of them. 
I've let the ones at the end get out of control because these are my early tomatoes. I want more early tomatoes. There are two Sweet Cheslea Cherry Tomatoes and two Green zebra tomatoes in that jungle. 
So far there is one green zebra growing and a handful of green cherry tomatoes.
The rest of the tomatoes are getting more strict treatment. I'm pinching out all the suckers and training them around the twine that goes from a stake to the frame.
So far they are doing quite well. I'm sure the warm weather has helped. My other varieties include Amish Paste, Market Miracle, Heirloom mix, Red Zebra, Purple Calabash, and Purple Cherry from China. The Amish Paste and Market Miracle are setting buds that are close to blooming.
Potatoes- We enjoyed a good crop of potatoes, even though I cut down the foliage early to prevent disease spread. Next year I need to be better about picking of the beetles and water only in the morning. We enjoyed the All Blue potatoes for their color, liked the creamy texture of the Irish Cobbler, and our Yukon Gold taste good though they lack the gold color. We still have some in the basement in a old lobster box.
Peppers - I planted a fair amount of both hot and sweet peppers, but our yield were poor. High heat in July seemed to make them all drop their blossoms. Next year I need to start the seedlings earlier to get them to a fair size before the are planted out.
Eggplants- Eggplants had the same problem as peppers, not much production. I also need to start them a lot earlier next year. They were significantly smaller than the ones nurseries were selling for seedlings when it was time to plant them out.
Tomatillos- The pineapple tomatillos were wild and out of control. We enjoyed their flavor but next year they need to be restrained. I also want to try traditional green tomatillos.
Tomatoes- The support system we designed just barely survived the year. Next year we need stronger posts, cross braces and I need to plant the tomatoes singly along the center of the row rather than in two lines. This means that I need to plant half as many plants. However I hope that with more room they will do just as well.
I started two cherry tomatoes and two green zebra early and put them in the ground with walls of water in early May. This meant that I had early cherry tomatoes but the green zebras didn't produce as fast. Next year I hope to start a wider variety of tomatoes early. I think I have enough to do 8 plants.
As far as varieties go, the Amish Paste was great, with large paste tomatoes and a prolific producer. The Chelsea Cherry tomatoes were good and early, but large for cherry tomatoes. I'm hoping to plant another couple varieties instead next year. The green zebras were prolific as well and we enjoyed the flavor of green pasta sauce. Red zebras weren't that exciting and are off the list for next year. Market Miracles were ok, I will do fewer of them next year. My heirloom mix produced some stars and some duds. I did a little detective work to try to find the names of the ones I was saving. I'll plant a few of them next year.
The winner of the tomatoes this year was the Purple Calabash. They were the first tomato besides the cherries to ripen, and though small, they pack a lot of flavor. They were just the right size for a tomato sandwich for breakfast, which I enjoyed daily for almost a month. I has about 6 plants of them this year and I'll do just as many next year. They'll be one of the varieties I start early.
