- asparagus (before drought): 40 stalks
- rhubarb (before drought): 1 pound
- German garlic: about 60 (smaller than expected)
- Russian garlic: about 30 from previously planted cloves, another 30 or more from rounds. Kinda' lost count. They were small enough that it was hard to tell which were Russian and which were German
- Snap peas: a dozen or two
- Green beans: 2 quarts (two separate plantings)
- summer squash: 5
- butternut squash (from volunteers; purchased plants died): 4
- Kabocha squash: 0
- banana peppers: half a dozen, puny
- Ace peppers: half a dozen, puny (and the nursery where I got the variety has closed, so I don't know what I'll do for plants next year)
- onions: 30 white (small to average), 20 red (small)
- shallots: 9, but only good for replanting
- Cherry tomatoes: best crop, but still far fewer than in a normal year
- swiss chard: 3 plants. Puny.
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Worst Garden Ever
This summer was absolutely, positively the worst gardening season I've ever experienced. Hot and dry. Everything withered. Truly pitiful harvest:
Friday, June 10, 2016
The promise of June
So, I'm at the spot when I think t he garden is going to be fabulous, because everything's planted and thriving, except for the weeds. And not just because I keep forgetting to swap my reading/computer glasses for my distance glasses, so I can't really see the smallest weeds.
Also, my arm seems to have finished healing in the last two or three weeks, so I'm able to use the hoe with abandon. Sort of.
Garlic has been forming scapes for the last week or so. I counted the Russian garlic today, and then went to see how many cloves I'd planted, and it's a perfect match: 33. Of course, it was an incredibly mild winter, but sometimes that can be harder on over-wintering crops. That number isn't including the rounds I transplanted last fall and this spring, which will be next year's crop. I also have maybe 4 to 6 Russian garlics that were somehow missed last year, so they're growing in the old spot for the second year and are looking fabulous, at least in terms of the stalk's size. I haven't counted the German variety, which looks puny compared to the Russian. I'll definitely be phasing out the German, or phasing down, because we do like the smaller size of the bulblets of that variety for eating raw, so we'll want at least some of that variety. The Russian bulblets are just a bit too much.
Had the first snap peas yesterday -- one for me and one for my co-gardener. Green beans are looking good. Tomatoes are starting to bulk up. Peppers are a bit puny, probably due to drought. Onions are a mixed bag -- some are bulking up, some are a bit small. Overall, though, the onions look better than any of the last few years' crops. Definitely fewer weeds. And I just got composted manure today to toss around everything, so that should perk up the runts.
The most recent rhubarb acquisition (Crimson Red) is doing great. I'm thinking of moving the others (Victoria and Chipman) and seeing if planting them in compost will give them enough of a boost to make it worth keeping them.
Also, my arm seems to have finished healing in the last two or three weeks, so I'm able to use the hoe with abandon. Sort of.
Garlic has been forming scapes for the last week or so. I counted the Russian garlic today, and then went to see how many cloves I'd planted, and it's a perfect match: 33. Of course, it was an incredibly mild winter, but sometimes that can be harder on over-wintering crops. That number isn't including the rounds I transplanted last fall and this spring, which will be next year's crop. I also have maybe 4 to 6 Russian garlics that were somehow missed last year, so they're growing in the old spot for the second year and are looking fabulous, at least in terms of the stalk's size. I haven't counted the German variety, which looks puny compared to the Russian. I'll definitely be phasing out the German, or phasing down, because we do like the smaller size of the bulblets of that variety for eating raw, so we'll want at least some of that variety. The Russian bulblets are just a bit too much.
Had the first snap peas yesterday -- one for me and one for my co-gardener. Green beans are looking good. Tomatoes are starting to bulk up. Peppers are a bit puny, probably due to drought. Onions are a mixed bag -- some are bulking up, some are a bit small. Overall, though, the onions look better than any of the last few years' crops. Definitely fewer weeds. And I just got composted manure today to toss around everything, so that should perk up the runts.
The most recent rhubarb acquisition (Crimson Red) is doing great. I'm thinking of moving the others (Victoria and Chipman) and seeing if planting them in compost will give them enough of a boost to make it worth keeping them.
Monday, April 18, 2016
Spring/summer planting 2016
April 18: Planted onions (80) in the main garden; lettuce plants and tatsoi in the annex.
Rhubarb looks better then ever before, and garlic is spectacular (and numerous). Need to plant sugarsnap peas tomorrow.
May 13: seeded yellow squash, swiss chard, green beans, dill, nasturtiums
May 14: planted 6 grape tomatoes, 6 banana peppers, 12 New Ace peppers
Waiting until Memorial Day weekend to plant winter squash so it doesn't explode before the garlic and onions are close to ready for harvest.
May 29: seeded Connecticut field pumpkin (the whole packet, since it's 12 years old; not sure any will germinate, and only growing them because I didn't realize I was out of butternut seeds), about 20 kabocha (Sunshine) squash (in case the pumpkins don't germinate), and additional green beans and swiss chard to compensate for the poor germination during the recent mini-drought. Hoping for rain tonight/tomorrow. Asparagus season is over. Also pulled about 6 Russian garlic rounds that got in the way of weeding, since last year's garlic harvest is completely consumed.
June 10: Not surprisingly, the pumpkins didn't germinate. Only 7 kabocha (not 12 years old, but probably 4 or more) sprouted. Swiss chard continues to germinate poorly, again because the seeds are older than I realized originally. I think I may have two chard plants, max, from the second seeding, so last night I started about 36 seeds indoors to see if consistent moisture helps the germination rate. Scored a six-pack (with about 10 seedlings) of butternut squash today. Woohoo! I'd given up on butternuts and was a little anxious about only having 7 kabocha, since they don't produce as well as butternut generally. Second sowing of green beans is doing nicely.
Rhubarb looks better then ever before, and garlic is spectacular (and numerous). Need to plant sugarsnap peas tomorrow.
May 13: seeded yellow squash, swiss chard, green beans, dill, nasturtiums
May 14: planted 6 grape tomatoes, 6 banana peppers, 12 New Ace peppers
Waiting until Memorial Day weekend to plant winter squash so it doesn't explode before the garlic and onions are close to ready for harvest.
May 29: seeded Connecticut field pumpkin (the whole packet, since it's 12 years old; not sure any will germinate, and only growing them because I didn't realize I was out of butternut seeds), about 20 kabocha (Sunshine) squash (in case the pumpkins don't germinate), and additional green beans and swiss chard to compensate for the poor germination during the recent mini-drought. Hoping for rain tonight/tomorrow. Asparagus season is over. Also pulled about 6 Russian garlic rounds that got in the way of weeding, since last year's garlic harvest is completely consumed.
June 10: Not surprisingly, the pumpkins didn't germinate. Only 7 kabocha (not 12 years old, but probably 4 or more) sprouted. Swiss chard continues to germinate poorly, again because the seeds are older than I realized originally. I think I may have two chard plants, max, from the second seeding, so last night I started about 36 seeds indoors to see if consistent moisture helps the germination rate. Scored a six-pack (with about 10 seedlings) of butternut squash today. Woohoo! I'd given up on butternuts and was a little anxious about only having 7 kabocha, since they don't produce as well as butternut generally. Second sowing of green beans is doing nicely.
Costs 2016
It's probably going to be a light gardening year, in both expenses and harvest.
Planted onions today (April 18), and an eight-pack of assorted lettuces (over in the annex). Used up the left-over manure from last year to line the onion planting trenches.
Planted onions today (April 18), and an eight-pack of assorted lettuces (over in the annex). Used up the left-over manure from last year to line the onion planting trenches.
- $6: 80 onions (half red, half "Candy" yellow)
- $3: 8 lettuce plants
- $13: Sage plant, 6 Sugary grape tomatoes, 6 banana peppers and 12 New Ace peppers
- $28: 10 butternut plants (yay! I'd almost given up on finding them) and 4 huge bags of composted manure
TOTAL: $50
ETA: It's fortunate I didn't spend much, because I doubt I got $50 worth of produce out of the garden, thanks to the drought. Might have broken even, but only if I assign some of the manure's cost to next year's garlic crop.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Prognosis 2016
The garden may be reduced this year. I broke my arm last fall when doing some yard work (non-displaced fracture), and it isn't fully healed, so it hurts when I use the hoe with any significant enthusiasm. Which makes sense, since I broke the arm by hitting a rock with the hoe. I'm struggling, though, to accept the latest limitation.
I've cleared the asparagus bed a bit, and transplanted a few of the Russian garlic plants (rounds that grew from seed planted in the fall of 2014), and some errant strawberry plants.
There are, if I remember correctly, about 72 German garlic heads growing, 32 Russian (after starting three falls ago with just one head!) and another 42 of the Russian rounds that were seeded two years ago, grew into rounds last year and then were transplanted in the fall.
I'm planning to do the usual green beans, butternut squash and yellow squash. And onions, except from the local nursery, and probably fewer than in previous years. I'll skip the zukes, because I have some shredded in the freezer, enough for two big batches of zuke bread, and that's pretty much all I ever do with zukes. And I'll cut back on the tomatoes and peppers. Maybe just do cherry tomatoes, which produce better for me anyway. I hate to cut back on peppers, though, so maybe I'll manage my usual 30 or so (24 Ace and 6 banana). But I'll have to find a source for Ace, because the kind I got last year from the local nursery were disappointing.
I've cleared the asparagus bed a bit, and transplanted a few of the Russian garlic plants (rounds that grew from seed planted in the fall of 2014), and some errant strawberry plants.
There are, if I remember correctly, about 72 German garlic heads growing, 32 Russian (after starting three falls ago with just one head!) and another 42 of the Russian rounds that were seeded two years ago, grew into rounds last year and then were transplanted in the fall.
I'm planning to do the usual green beans, butternut squash and yellow squash. And onions, except from the local nursery, and probably fewer than in previous years. I'll skip the zukes, because I have some shredded in the freezer, enough for two big batches of zuke bread, and that's pretty much all I ever do with zukes. And I'll cut back on the tomatoes and peppers. Maybe just do cherry tomatoes, which produce better for me anyway. I hate to cut back on peppers, though, so maybe I'll manage my usual 30 or so (24 Ace and 6 banana). But I'll have to find a source for Ace, because the kind I got last year from the local nursery were disappointing.
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Fall planting for 2016
Planted over 100 garlic cloves today: 33 Russian and 75 German. That's in addition to the 20 or 30 rounds (Russian) that were planted a week or so ago. And I missed some of the rounds when I dug them up for transplanting, so there's probably another dozen of them growing in the old bed. And then there's garlic that grows wild.
Yeah, that should just about suffice for our two households.
Yeah, that should just about suffice for our two households.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Harvest 2015
Shortly after the last post, we headed into a drought that continued, more or less, until the end of September. As a result, the harvest was severely reduced, especially the butternut squashes.
Still, I think we got our $100 worth out of it (with comparisons to last year):
Onions: they got hit the worst by the drought (and my lack of attention), only about a dozen small ones and another hundred or so tiny ones. Compared to last year: 300 or so small ones.
I didn't bother planting cucumbers, and last year we only got 4 or 5, so it wasn't a big loss. I did get a good number of zukes (12) compared to only 8 last year. I made several jars of Bread & Butter pickles with the zukes, one batch with hot pepper flakes and one batch without. Also made several batches of zucchini bread and froze the shreds for three more batches. The yellow crookneck squash produced more than we could eat, about 18 large fruits. I didn't bother to freeze the excess, because I really only like them fresh.
Green beans: about the same, freezing about two gallons and eating or giving away another gallon. Total, about 7 pounds, I think.
Tomatoes lasted later without the rain that spreads blight, but then the drought killed them, so the total harvest was about the same as before. About 65 Jetstars and more Sugary cherries than we could eat.
The kabocha only produced two tiny fruits, and there were only 11 small-to-medium butternuts. Last year, there were 7 kabocha and 38 large to HUGE butternuts. Part of the difference is that they were planted in the less sunny section of the garden this year.
Good crop of sugar snap peas, and last year's crop was pitiful.
The pepper crop wasn't great, and I blame it more on the variety (Ace wasn't available) than the drought, but I could be wrong. We did get about 65 bell peppers in the end, plus 2 tiny purple peppers and about 54 banana peppers. That's more than last year, but last year was a bad year for peppers (40 Ace and 42 bananas).
The swiss chard was planted too close together and also was affected by the drought. It's starting to come into its own now (mid-October), with brilliant colors. Last year wasn't much better.
The new rhubarb plant in the asparagus bed is doing GREAT. Hoping it will produce significantly next year. Strawberries are taking over the world with runners, but I'm not really wild about the flavor.
Garlic was good, as usual, and this year we had our first substantial crop of the Russian variety. Over a hundred German and 16 Russian (most of which were saved for seed stock). Also, more than 60 rounds from the Russian bulbils planted last fall, to plant again this year.
The shallots suffered from the drought, so I'm hoping I can plant the 18 little bulbs produced by the seeds next spring.
We also got about a pound (not including those eaten while picking) of black raspberries, far more than usual, thanks to some netting and perhaps the feral cats' protection.
Still, I think we got our $100 worth out of it (with comparisons to last year):
Onions: they got hit the worst by the drought (and my lack of attention), only about a dozen small ones and another hundred or so tiny ones. Compared to last year: 300 or so small ones.
I didn't bother planting cucumbers, and last year we only got 4 or 5, so it wasn't a big loss. I did get a good number of zukes (12) compared to only 8 last year. I made several jars of Bread & Butter pickles with the zukes, one batch with hot pepper flakes and one batch without. Also made several batches of zucchini bread and froze the shreds for three more batches. The yellow crookneck squash produced more than we could eat, about 18 large fruits. I didn't bother to freeze the excess, because I really only like them fresh.
Green beans: about the same, freezing about two gallons and eating or giving away another gallon. Total, about 7 pounds, I think.
Tomatoes lasted later without the rain that spreads blight, but then the drought killed them, so the total harvest was about the same as before. About 65 Jetstars and more Sugary cherries than we could eat.
The kabocha only produced two tiny fruits, and there were only 11 small-to-medium butternuts. Last year, there were 7 kabocha and 38 large to HUGE butternuts. Part of the difference is that they were planted in the less sunny section of the garden this year.
Good crop of sugar snap peas, and last year's crop was pitiful.
The pepper crop wasn't great, and I blame it more on the variety (Ace wasn't available) than the drought, but I could be wrong. We did get about 65 bell peppers in the end, plus 2 tiny purple peppers and about 54 banana peppers. That's more than last year, but last year was a bad year for peppers (40 Ace and 42 bananas).
The swiss chard was planted too close together and also was affected by the drought. It's starting to come into its own now (mid-October), with brilliant colors. Last year wasn't much better.
The new rhubarb plant in the asparagus bed is doing GREAT. Hoping it will produce significantly next year. Strawberries are taking over the world with runners, but I'm not really wild about the flavor.
Garlic was good, as usual, and this year we had our first substantial crop of the Russian variety. Over a hundred German and 16 Russian (most of which were saved for seed stock). Also, more than 60 rounds from the Russian bulbils planted last fall, to plant again this year.
The shallots suffered from the drought, so I'm hoping I can plant the 18 little bulbs produced by the seeds next spring.
We also got about a pound (not including those eaten while picking) of black raspberries, far more than usual, thanks to some netting and perhaps the feral cats' protection.
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