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 8/23/10

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.

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 8/9/10

This week I weighed my onions after I strung them. Here are my four strings of yellow onions. I have one string of white onions too. All together my storage onions weigh 25 pounds and 4 oz. I've hung the strings in a cooler storage room in the back of the house.
Following the onions in weight this week were cucumbers with over 6 pounds. They just keep on coming. I need to make another batch of pickles.
The zucchini keep coming too with over five pounds of them this week. I had to spray some milk/water solution on the leaves to counteract some powdery mildew but they continue to produce.
The cherry tomato production has picked up with over 1 pound 6 oz of them this week. It has been a daily routine to pick cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and zucchini.
There were two 'firsts' this week. The first non-cherry tomato, was a green zebra at 2.5 oz. This was one of my early started tomatoes. Next year I'll start a red tomato early because while the green zebra is good, I still want a large red tomato.
The other 'first' was the first pepper. It is a Hungarian Wax with a medium level of heat. There are a few more of these on the plants. These seemed to be the only peppers that flowered and set fruit during the high heat last month. Now the other peppers are recovering and flowering again so we should have more variety in a month or so.
Other things harvested this week include kale (3 oz),
carrots(3 oz), basil, and pineapple tomatillos (1 oz).
Total this week: 32.9 pounds
Total this year: 97.4 pounds

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

Harvest Monday 8/2/10

This week cucumbers took the prize for the most weight in the harvest totals. I picked over seven pounds of cucumbers. I made one batch of bread and butter pickles, and started a crock of cured dill pickles. This is my first time crock-curing pickles so I'm excited to see how it goes. The recipe called for grape leaves to help aid in crisping and I was thankful for my grapevine on the front fence. I harvested about 3 oz of grape leaves.
Also in the photo above you can see my first raspberry. It made it in the photo but didn't last long enough to get weighed. This is the first year for my ever-bearing raspberries and I don't expect much but I was pleased by the large size and flavor of the berry.

The cucumbers took the prize in weight this week, but can't sit securely on that pedestal because I did not weigh my harvest of onions. I picked all my yellow and white onions and they are in the process of drying. I'll weigh them in the coming weeks and add them to my totals then. Behind the cucumbers in terms of weight were potatoes, with 5 1/2 pounds. I harvested all my Irish Cobblers that were left and sampled some Yukon Gold and All Blues as I cut back their foliage this week.
Other harvests this week include zucchini, but I have stopped photographing all the zucchini I pick. They only make it into group shots like below. It was just over one and half pounds this week as I'm trying to stay on top of them and pick them when they are small.

Other harvests this week include chard, cilantro, basil, arugula, romano beans and cherry tomatoes. I'm still waiting for my green zebra to fully ripen, and then I'll still be waiting for the first large red tomato. I probably have another 2 weeks to go.
Total this week: 15.7 pounds
Total this year: 58.1pounds

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

Garden Dinners

Lately our dinners have been relying heavily on the garden. Last night we had Swiss-Chard Zucchini Soup which used onions, chard, zucchini, potatoes, and cilantro from the garden. We base it on this recipe, but use the chard in place of spinach, add lemon thyme from the herb garden, add crushed red pepper and serve it with cheddar cheese. Above is the harvest that went into the soup, with some of the potatoes you'll see below. The tomatoes made it into another meal.
Tonight we enjoyed Oven Potatoes on the Grill. We love potatoes with our burgers, but I didn't want to heat up the kitchen with a hot oven. So instead, I used up the small potatoes, or cut others into chunks.I used our first All-Blue potatoes, with the last of our Irish Cobblers. I tossed them in a bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme before skewering them. It made skewering a little slippery but it made the coverage of the oil more even. Here they are going on the grill.
We cooked them on the grill over medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally. They were nice and brown on the outside and tender all the way through when finished. They were delicious. Looking back to find the link for the recipe I make in the oven I realized we could have put beet sections on here too and those would have been good also. Next time!


We also had Romano beans stewed with cherry tomatoes, onions and basil. I sauteed the onion and a bit of garlic in a pan, added quartered tomatoes, and the beans, half the basil and just a bit of water. Covered, they simmered for 5 to 10 minutes until they were tender. I added a half teaspoon of sugar to cut the acidity and topped with more fresh basil.
We're looking forward to even more garden dinners.

Harvest Monday 7/26/10

The harvests continue to grow. This week I picked over 2 pounds of zucchini, yellow and green. There were also over 2 and half pounds of cucumbers, which were made into the first pickles of the year. This cucumber was missed the day before and was as large as a small zucchini.

My romano green beans started to produce this week, and my sugar snap peas continue to give a few as well.
I picked 1.7 pounds of potatoes and some onions as well.
I picked 10 oz of kale for a soup along with 2 small zucchini that I wanted to prevent from becoming monsters while we went away for the weekend.
I harvested over 2 pounds of chard with which I made Spanakopita Pie and some was frozen. Also in the basket is basil, more beans, peas, lettuce, and the first slicing cucumbers. The lettuce is rather bitter, but it still works on sandwiches. We got another couple cherry tomatoes also.
The garlic which was spring planted only amounted to 3 oz. and went into a Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic recipe from Joy of Cooking. I've already ordered my garlic for the fall to be certain of a better harvest next year.
I also picked 2 oz of mint to make this Mint Chocolate Chip Ice cream. It was very good.
Total this week: 11.4 pounds
Total this year: 42.6 pounds

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