All in all, I'd have to give this year's garden a B+. We did a lot of experimenting this year--eggplant, strawberries, melons, potatoes and sweet potatoes--and had some very mixed results. The eggplants were amazing, and we have happily added them to our repertoire of cookable goodness (I am now a member in good standing in the Eggplant Parmigiana Club!); we'll have to wait until next year to see results from the strawberries, but the plants themselves grew like mad, so all is hopeful there. I'd always heard that the ground over here on the east side of town had far too much clay in it to allow melons to grow, but we had very good luck with them, and their sweet flavor was every bit as good as anything you'd buy at the grocery store. I want to find a better way to contain the vines--Ha! A research project for this winter! (As if I don't already have about a dozen of those......oh well.)
Our potatoes did terribly. I don't think we got them in the ground early enough, and I don't think we had the bed properly prepared for them. Who would have thought that a potato of all things would be the pickiest plant in the garden? Our sweet potatoes were in the same shape bed-wise, but for a first-time crop, I think they did amazing:
Even as I am typing this, they are currently wrapped up in newspaper and waiting patiently for Thanksgiving on a shelf in one of our cooler storage closets. I am so looking forward to cooking these puppies up!
Now, next year, I think we should separate a section of the garden off for potatoes; dig it out nice and deep, maybe add some more nitrogen to the soil (probably test the soil first, right?) and see if we can't do a little better.
And no one can complain about the performances of our Hall of Fame veggies: The tomatoes, green peppers and cucumbers. I got four batches of tomato sauce out of the garden this year, that's 24 qts. of sauce that we didn't need to buy at the store. And I would've gotten a batch of salsa and/or dices tomatoes if I hadn't spent the month of September in such a bad way. You would think that we'd be set for the Winter when it comes to tomato sauce, wouldn't you? Well, obviously you don't know the Wonder Hubby. Given half a chance, the man would slather chicken and dumplings with homemade tomato sauce. I am on constant vigilance to keep him out of the stuff! ("Lachlan, you don't need tomato sauce for that!" "But, Honey, it'll add a great flavor!" "Not to Fruity Pebbles, it won't!" "Ahhhh-hhh...."
So next year, I am pondering just how to make everything I want to try fit into the garden. And to think, when I started the garden last year, I was afraid I wouldn't have enough stuff to go in it! I want to try all these plants again, I want to plant the so-called "cool weather" plants in the early Spring again. We'll be getting the cold frames out again this year (hopefully this weekend!) and filling them with those wonderful lettuces and greens that graced our February suppers this year. There is something about growing your own greens in the Winter that just makes the season seem less bleak. Knowing that if you want, you can take your scissors and go cut fresh spinach to add to your meal makes the overall bleakness bearable!
Oh, and remember our feral cherry tomato plant, the one that just popped up in one of cold frames uninvited? It did so well--it literally bombarded us with cherry tomatoes!--that I've got this crazy idea about taking one of the frames and trying to grow my tomato and pepper plants for next year's garden from seeds. How off-the-hook is that? (Okay, I know that as far as wild, uncontrollable behavior goes, this idea rates about -14 on a scale of 1 to 10. Indulge me, will you? I don't get out much!)
So, while I'm cleaning out my kitchen shelves the rest of the day, I'm going to be dreaming of next year's garden. Tomorrow I'll tell you about how we put the garden to rest this year, changes we're planning on making, the many improvements on our "Wish List". You could either come back and read my musings, or you could get ambitious and clean out your own shelves......
I take it we have a date?
2 comments:
My sweet potatoes went in the ground too late (second batch, post-hail), but produced a fair number of crazy-curled-up potatoes all the same. Despite the raised bed, they insist on not forming potatoes until they get deep enough to hit bedrock, I think.
My regular potatoes did moderately well, but not the insane bumper crop I'd expected given the early digs. I tried the potato-tower thing, and not one potato grew above ground level. The in-ground part did fine, but all the extra work was kinda pointless (except to provide some nice compost for next year).
Not sure we're going to need cold frames this year. I just got all brave and dumped a bunch of radish seeds in one of my non-covered beds. I haven't measured the soil temps, but they've been growing with late-spring speed over in the bed-that-could-be-covered-but-isn't.
And I bought some 7"-mesh netting, which Mel Bartholomew says is what you should grow melons climbing. I didn't get around to making something to put the mesh *on*, but I plan to try that next spring.
7" mesh netting for melons - got it! Thanks for the tip!
I'm still planning on putting the cold frames out, just because I've given up trying to predict the weather around here! If they get too warm, I can always prop open the windows!
We're planning on raising our bed this coming Spring. I'll let you know how that works out....
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