Week 23

 Although the leeks and garlic are still in the garden I am going to say that this is the official last weekly update for the 2011 garden. I figured I would do a recap of everything that was planted what worked what didn’t and maybe even some thoughts on next year. Warning this is one heck of a long post

Row 1 wild flowers, bachelor buttons and sunflowers

This row did quite well. The sunflowers reached the 12ft mark and all the other flowers blossomed. I didn’t care for the wild flower mix so I may do something different next year

Row 2 Strawberries and Raspberries

This row was a dud this year. The strawberries were transplanted at the end of May for my Aunts garden. They were blooming when I planted them, but no fruit ever formed. I planted the raspberry bushes one red and one yellow in the beginning of June. The both grew but produced only a few berries.

Row 3/4National pickling Cucumbers and Zucchini

It was another bumper year for the cucumbers. I did 2 rows this year which was a downgrade form the 6 I planted last year. At 2 rows we had 143lbs of cucumbers! I was able to can 45 jars of pickles or relish. I think next year there will be only 1 row.

The Zucchini did well too, However, not as well as in previous years. I think they were too much in the shade and they will have to be moved for next year. I was able to harvest 43.4 lbs of zucchini from 2 plants.

Row 5 Peaches and Cream Corn

The corn was a total disappointment this year. When it came to harvest the corn was bitter and mushy. We harvested 6lbs and the rest went to waste. I will not be planted corn next year.

Row 6/7 Little Marvel Peas

As always the peas had a great year. I harvested 13.8lbs and ate them all fresh. Last year I did 4 rows and I felt a lot went to waste this year I could have done with a bit more.

Row 8 Bush stingless green beans

I don’t know why I grow beans since they never get eaten. This year the beans matured faster then in previous years so by the time I brought them in they were at the point where most were rotten. I was still able to harvest 17lbs and froze everything

Row 9 Bush Beans-Royal Burgundy

Again not sure why I planted 2 rows of beans. The lovely purple colour of these beans gets me every year. However, once blanched they are simply green beans. I harvested 26lbs they were all frozen

Row 10 Radish- Easter egg Blend

Although the radishes were bountiful they were attacked by radish maggots. They were still eatable, but you had to cut off the worm eaten paths.  Harvested 3.5lbs

Row 11 carrots-tender long

The carrots grew to China this year! We always have a great carrot harvest and this year was no exception. The rainy months followed by a bit of a drought made for some monster size carrots. I harvested 55 lbs. The will be frozen and canned

Row 12 Tomato Roma window box hybrid

This was my first year growing this hybrid of roma’s. My mother had picked them up for me and I wasn’t quite sure how they were going to produce. The first few months I was sure they had some kind of disease and wouldn’t produce a thing, however, I got quite a haul this year! 109.6lbs were harvested. I was able to can salsa, whole tomatoes, sauce and freeze a few pounds too

Row 13 Carrots- Purple Haze and Bon Vivant Lettuce mix

The purple carrots were a success this year as last year not one came up! I harvested 16.3 lbs. I am not sure if I will grow them again next year, since once blanched they are just orange carrots.

This was my first year growing lettuce and it did better than I could have hoped for. I only planted 2 half rows, but it was way more than we could keep up with. Next year I want to try a little more succession planting.  12lbs was harvested

Row 14 Roma tomato/ Hot 100 cherry tomato/ watermelon radishes

For romas look at row 12.

Cherry tomatoes took off like wild fire this year. However, since they took so long to ripen most of them were lost in the frost in September. I would grow this variety again, but they would need to be further apart and supported better

The watermelon radishes were a failure. Although they all came up they never produced and radishes

Row 15 Detroit red beets/ Tyee Hybrid Spinach

The beets were a success. 38lbs were harvested.

This was my first year growing spinach and it was amazing. I should have started to pick it much sooner than I did, but lesson learned. I harvested 9lbs and froze most of it. The rest was eaten fresh. Next year I would like to plant more and to do succession planting so we have spinach for more than just 1 month.

Row 16 Snow Crow Hybrid Cauliflower/ Goliath Hybrid Broccoli

This was my first year for growing both of these veggies. They were planted from seed directly into the garden in May and I didn’t think they had any chance of growing. I was pleasantly surprised to harvest 36lbs of cauliflower and 11lbs of broccoli. We ate fresh what we could and froze the rest.

Row 17 Cabbage/ Early White Vienna Kohlrabi

These were both garden firsts for me as well. My mother had picked up the 4 cabbage plants and although I knew it would produce I couldn’t have predicted how well or how big they got.31.3lbs was harvested. The Kohlrabi was amazing too, however way to many for us to handle. Next year I will do more succession planting with these as well. 45.7lbs were harvested

Row 18 Large Mussleburg Leeks/ White Garlic

These were both garden firsts and were both failures. I think the leeks needed to be started indoors before I planted outside and the garlic was just bad I guess. They are both up in the garden right now. The leeks are about the diameter of your thumb and the garlic is sprouting, but there is nothing there when you pull them up. I am going to keep the garlic in over winter and see what happens.

Row 19 Spanish Onions

As always the onions were a success. I harvested 30lbs which were cured

Row 20/21 Red Potatoes

Another good year for potatoes. Even though what I am guessing are voles got to some of them we were still able to harvest 142lbs....WOW

Row 22 Yukon Gold Potatoes

It wasn’t the best year for the Yukon gold’s. I think I left them in too long since a lot were deformed. We were still able to harvest 52lbs

Row 23 Lettuce/spinach

This row did just as well as the other rows planted above

Row 24 Marigolds

These were beautiful, but took until mid august to bloom

Row 25 Zinnias/Dahlia

The Zinnia’s were amazing and the Dahlia never grew

Row 26 Wild flowers

These are the same as planted in row 1. Although pretty I wouldn’t plant them again