2026 Harvest

Easter egg radishes: 6

baby bok choi heads:

leaf lettuce: 

alpine strawberries:

lunchbox peppers (12 plants):

Ace peppers (3 plants):

banana peppers (3 plants, new-to-me variety):

Sungold tomatoes (12 plants):

basil:

sage:

dill:

chives:;'[

2026 spring activity

I refreshed the soil in the existing grow bag filled with strawberries and added two more grow bags (with a third on the to-do list). Instead only growing strawberries, half the cells (the bags are divided into quarters) are strawberries and the other half are cool-weather crops—radishes, lettuces, Little Shanghai bok choi. 

The raised beds are now mostly planted, except for the peppers being hardened off: 1) tomatoes and swiss chard; and 2) peppers and swiss chard and summer squash and herbs (in a separate pot). 

As of Memorial Day, I've harvested half a dozen radishes, and a few lettuce leaves. The bok choi, radishes, and lettuces were seeded every two weeks, and I think I'll do one more seeding of the bok choi now, and then another one in the fall. I've never grown bok choi before, regular or baby, so I had to look up the harvest instructions. Apparently it can be harvested by the leaf, start at the outside and working in, or as an entire head. I can do that!

2026 costs

 I could have sworn I'd started this post already, and it's too late to have truly accurate numbers. It's also an expensive year, because I invested in a second raised garden, and all the dirt and compost to fill it. And I topped off the original one, which had compacted as the cardboard and sticks on the bottom decomposed. So I'm just going to skip all of that, and you can assume it was in the $500 range. 

Other guesstimates:

Seeds: about $100

Seed-starting equipment (light/mat): $100

Additional grow bags: $20?

I didn't buy any plants (yet), since I invested in the seed-starting equipment. 

2025 harvest

So, the costs from the previous post were a little over $300, but I'm pretty sure I got a few other little things—little flags to point to ripe stuff, fish fertilizer, replacement basil plants. Let's say a total of $400. And I bought a second raised bed for next year (a little under $100). 

I ended up with a LOT more plants than planned. I already had grape tomatoes, Lady Bell peppers, swiss chard (from seed), zuke and yellow squash (from seed). A friend gave me a BUNCH of tomato plants (3 Sun Gold, 2 Sun Sugar, 1 Juliet, 1 Mountain Pride, 1 Black Cherry) and several peppers (2 Ace, some lunchbox peppers, and a mildly hot pepper, not sure of the variety). 

The tomatoes over-produced, in a summer that was hot and dry, just what they like. I lost track of how many cherry and grape tomatoes we picked. The San Marzanos were also prolific and early; the Mountain Pride were not actually Mountain Pride, but some variety of paste tomatoes, less prolific and late, but really beautiful fruits. The Juliets were also late, but that could be because they were shaded by the more prolific plants. Really good flavor. The Black Cherries took a long time to ripen, but are prolific and really pretty. Not sure they're worth the space though, because the flavor is mediocre compared to either the grape or the Sun Gold (or Sun Sugar). 

The peppers weren't prolific, and several died off (or, really, I gave up on them when the plants showed signs of severe malnutrition). The two ACE plants did okay, and I really liked the Lunchbox orange pepper, but only got one fruit. I don't blame the plants for their poor productivity—they were overshadowed by the tomatoes and the weather was too hot for them at key blossom-setting times.

For nightshades in 2026, I'm thinking 3 grapes, 3 San Marzanos, 1 Juliet, 2 or 3 Sun Gold; and then 4 Ace, and 3-4 Lunchbox. I'm hoping to overwinter the 2 Ace and 1 Lunchbox I already have. Plus I need to get some Northern Lights swiss chard—it's just so much more fun to have all the colors instead of the standard green variety. One bed will be all tomatoes, and the other bed will be everything else. 

Nasturtiums were disappointing, and I'm not sure why. They grew a bunch of leaves but no flowers, and they were right next to a chard plant that did fine. The bulk of the swiss chard is still waiting to shine; they were overshadowed by the tomatoes too. The zucchini was, as always, scary productive. I made three batches (two leaves each) of zucchini bread, and I have shreds for 3 or 4 more batches in the freezer. Yellow squash was reasonable, perhaps a little light because of the drought. There were three plants, I think, and that seems about right. Maybe I'll do some sugar snaps next year, hoping to harvest them before the peppers need more space. Perhaps a few early radishes and small carrots too.

I managed to kill off the new rhubarb plants. Sigh. Unexpectedly dry/hot summer. Might try them in a whiskey barrel next time.

Basil thrived in the extra-hot weather. Garlic was mediocre due to insufficient rain. 

Alpine strawberries thrived, somewhat surprisingly given the heat/drought. I'm planning to expand their bed next year, since they were popular and there were never enough. I'm planning to buy a set of heavy-duty shelving to essentially set up a long, low coffee-table-like support for the grow bags on the deck. I've found what I want, just not in a huge hurry to spend the money. It can wait until spring. 

2025 costs

 I've  been mostly container-gardening the last few years (greens and strawberries) plus garlic in the ground, but I'd like to expand a bit. Still a container garden of a sort -- a 4' x 8' x 2' raised metal bed in the side yard (more sun).

Definitely higher costs than returns this year, but I'm doing it mostly for entertainment and getting a wee bit of exercise and the quality of the harvest, rather than cost-saving. The plan is a few peppers, tomatoes (grape, maybe a couple of a sauce variety) a row of swiss chard, and maybe some onions (a friend offered a few plants). Oh, and a zuke and yellow squash. One each. That will more than fill the bed. Maybe a few basil plants? Oh, and thyme. Gotta get thyme plants. 

I'm curious about the costs, so I'll edit this as they accrue. 

• Metal 4x8x2 bed from Amazon: $100
• Sand & garden soil (Home Depot): $125
• Bottom layer of fill (decaying logs, sticks, cardboard, etc): free
• Top layer, composted manure (Ventura Grain): $64
• Mulch (cardboard & clippings): free
• Seeds & starting supplies (ocean state) $26
• Tomato & pepper plants (Garden Patch): $15

                                    TOTAL: $330

Seeds include: 2 lettuces, basil, thyme, catnip, swiss chard, 2 squashes, nasturtium, marigold

Separate from the raised garden, I'm planning to move the one surviving rhubarb plant (possibly divided into three or more) from a too-shady spot to a sunnier spot. Might get a couple more plants to fill in the sunny bed. (Done, from GrowJoy, 2 Crimson Red rhubarb plants, $29). I checked on the rhubarb plant today, and it's thriving. Maybe I'll throw some garlic volunteers in that bed too. I bought a spade to do the transplanting, which cost $32, but hardly seems fair to include in this year's costs, since it's something I've needed  for a while.

I also have garlic plants everywhere! A half-whiskey barrel planted with seed cloves I'd saved. Volunteers out in the old garden bed AND in the strawberry planter containers on the deck and in assorted spots near the deck and the old garden. There's a catnip plant growing in a container in the old garden (need to grow more catnip; adding to list of seeds). 

2022 costs

 Well, last year turned out to be a total bust. Turns out a heart attack doesn't mix well with gardening, even if it's a recovery garden. At least not until AFTER the bypass surgery (which wasn't until October). This year, I can garden. Carefully.

So I'm starting with just a few plants. A six-pack of grape tomatoes, a six-pack of banana peppers (what is it with fruity veg?), a basil plant (or three, can't tell if it's one with three stems or three with one stem each), plus radishes and greens and strawberries growing in planters on the deck. And a new rosemary plant to replace the one that I'd had for a decade or more but was crushed by a falling branch last fall. 

Spent about $50 on the plants plus compost. (Compost has gone up in price by 50%, probably due to transportation costs, so it was $30 for three bags instead  of $20). ETA: just ordered floating row cover to protect the strawberries from birds, so add $10 to the total.

Last year's alpine strawberry plants are doing well, although I'd better get some bird netting soon if I want to have a harvest. Rhubarb plants are bigger and more productive than ever before, although I couldn't find the third plant when I was out checking on the garden this evening. 

I never got around to planting garlic last fall (see above, heart attack and bypass surgery), but fortunately there are at least a dozen plants growing from bulbs that didn't get harvested during the summer. I did pull a few last summer (from planting in 2020), but with not feeling well, apparently I didn't get all of them, and they'll be this year's crop. They're even nicely spaced, since I must have harvested all around them.

The plan for this summer is to focus mainly on yard work, dealing with overgrown areas, more than the garden itself. Things have been let go for too long, and it's time to deal with them. Plus, I need the light exercise as part of my post-surgical rehab. I don't have high expectations for the harvest, just taking a no-stress approach, with gratitude for whatever the plants produce without worrying about maximizing productivity.

Weather has been insane -- colder than normal (but frost-free from an early date) and then suddenly in the 80s, so the tatsoi, that I planted nice and early, didn't grow much in the cold, and then pretty much gave up after a week of August-like weather, and sent up seed stalks. The lettuces and radishes seem less troubled by the crazy weather.

2021 costs

I'm investing a bit in container gardening this year, so the costs will be a little higher, but they won't need to be repeated for another few years. 

 $16.99 Grow bags (two, divided into 4 cells each) 

   22.35 Seeds (lettuce, basil, Alexandria strawberries, tatsoi) 

   20.72 composted manure 

   12.99 potting soil 

     6.50 onion & potato starts

     6.75 assorted seeds: lettuce, radishes, swiss chard

    20.72 composted manure (second set of 3 bags)

I overwintered two banana pepper plants, but expect to buy some bell pepper plants and tomato plants.

If I can find some seed potatoes locally, I have a large planter to put them in. Last year's experiment with left-over grocery store potatoes showed promise, but real seed potatoes and a larger pot would be better. 

I recently cooked some butternut squash and saved the seeds. I haven't had luck with squash lately (critters plus drought), so I'm just going to toss them into a corner of the garden and see what happens with survival of the fittest. 

I also got a flame thrower (okay, flame weeder), mostly for the saplings I'm trying to stop sprouting, but it's sort of for gardening too. 

I planted tatsoi seeds four days ago, because we're having insanely warm weather for March. I'm a little concerned they'll sprout and then regret it when we have some below-30 degree nights this coming week. They're in a planter, too heavy to bring indoors, but I should be able to cover them. I've really missed having tatsoi the last couple of years when I failed to save seed. It should be ready for harvest before regular lettuces. The lettuce did so well on the deck last year that I'm expanding the planting area this year.

Addendum 4/7/21: found cheap seed potatoes and red onion sets, along with  black-seeded simpson lettuce and some random radish and ruby swiss chard (not sure if I have any northern lights left). They may or may not be any good, but I figured it was worth the small cost/effort involved. Not included in the total above is a deck planter for the Greggs, which I plan to fill with lettuce and basil. Maybe an onion or two. I should probably put radishes in it too. But now I need more composted manure first.