Garden 2010

Well, it is November and the garden season is officially over. My garden is cleared out and ready for new plants in the spring. It was a different season this year as we had more rain and less hot and sunny days as usual. A dream summer to me but not the highest yield.

Lessons I learned along with my plans for next year:

Yams. Ha ha ha. Who knew they grow under the ground!? My sweet potato plant looked so sad all summer long and the darn thing did not produce a single fruit-- it didn't ever even flower. Well, by the end of August I was done with the sickly thing taking up room in the beds, only to behold that I had a ton of little yams growing in the soil! So, I dug them all up and one of them was actually quite large-- looked like what I might buy in the store! Will I grow those again? Absolutely. They were delish.

Tomatoes. My 10 plants were the perfect amount. Plenty for me and lots to share.

• We loved the little ones. 
• Next year I'll plant a couple of Roma. 
• As always, Early Girls rocked. 
• Avoid the tomato bush plants--accidentally planted that and it took up way too much room. 
• Need to buy the sturdy cages-- should've just bought those to begin with.
• Wall-of-waters were awesome and will do those 6 again. I want to try even earlier but with seeds. Removed them after Mother's Day but we still got a mild frost.
• 4 plants in each bed and two against the fence
• I love my salsas and homemade spaghetti sauce! Want to do cowboy caviar and canned salsa next year. Also, works well to blend tomatoes, skin but no core, and add to chili. Can also blanch and freeze. 

Other Plants:

• Jalepenos and Cilantro are both a waste of space and time. Way too cheap to buy in the store to make growing them worth it.
• Basil, Basil, Basil!!! Hallelujah! Planting 6 times the amount next year. I did not have enough of this and it could not keep up with everything I use it for. I want a ton so I can freeze pesto.
• Green bell peppers were a hit. Not going to try the other colors again. I had a good variety that produced well (King Arthur Sweet Peppers).
• Planting corn against the fence or in the chips next year. Yummy plus I want the stocks for decorations in the fall.
• LOVE the squash. Acorn did well. Spaghetti did amazing. Butternut didn't produce like I hoped plus the few I had didn't handle he freeze well. Will plant all three next year in same place.
• Want to plant pumpkins in the wood chips. 
• Sugar snap peas did well but I didn't plant them nearly as early as needed. More next year.
• Lettuce was a waste of my time. Takes too much babying and a huge pain to wash. Buy lettuce in the store.
• Planted other herbs but I don't use them. Just Basil.
• Want to try onions and potatoes next year. Maybe in the chips
• Want to plant canteloup again. I missed that this year.
• Crookneck and yellow squash are both yummy and I want to plant those next year. 
• I need a zucchini plant next year. I love my lemon zucchini muffins!
• Going to plant more from seeds.

Fertilizing:

• Added Miracle grow every 7-10 days for the first 6 weeks. Also used an IFA mix. Worked wonderfully and gave the garden the jump start it needed.

Bed 1:
4 Tomatoes
2 King Arthur peppers
2 Basils

Bed 2:
4 Tomatoes
1 yellow squash
1 zucchini
2 basils

Fence:
2 Tomatoes
2 sugar snap peas
4 corn

Base beds:
6 squash
2 canteloup

Wood Chips:
2 pumpkin
2 squash
2 crookneck squash

Salad Garden:
1 grape tomato