Garden: Season in Review

We had quite a bit of success in our gardening adventure this year...certainly more than we did last year.


Some reflections:

• Our lettuce, zucchini, sugar snap peas, Swiss chard, kale, green beans, garlic, cucumbers, herbs, berries, and potatoes were fantastic! They will all be repeats next year.


• Square foot gardening is the way to go...so manageable, maximizes our space and yields, and provides some practical guidance for managing a home garden.


• We won't plant potatoes in our raised beds again - they end up taking over! I found some of our red potatoes underneath my tomato plants. Instead, we're planning to plant them in a garbage can so they're contained. More to come on that...


• Our carrots were awesome! We will definitely be planting more of them next spring.


• Our onions weren't wildly successful...we probably won't use the garden space on them again next year.


• Our tomatoes did poorly. The cool summer and huge amount of rain we got this spring and summer did not lead to a booming crop of tomatoes. This was also the case for our poor peppers...we didn't harvest any, which was disappointing considering we had red peppers coming out of our ears last year. We will definitely be trying again next year!

Overall, this year was a success. I've tried my best to "put up" many of our crops either through canning or freezing. I have enough zucchini to make zucchini bread from now until next year's crop comes through.

I look forward to continuing to learn and improve our garden. Lots to think about and plan for next year. Even though we still have a few things out in the garden, our growing season is definitely coming to a close. Certainly because of our mild climate, we could grow through the winter, but I think a break will do us all good.