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| Main veg garden (Brussels and daffodils and mulch!) |
I did it: I tallied up my garden totals for 2015 and the grand total is 66 pounds* of garden fruit and vegetables. This includes kale, chard, cabbage, potatoes, zuccini, pumpkin, runner beans, climbing beans, salad greens, tomatoes, Brussels sprouts, and cherries. It does not include peas, herbs, almonds, strawberries, blueberries, blackcurrants, or apples--or truthfully most of the tomatoes too. I estimate there would be about 8-10 more pounds with the above included (mainly due to the apples and tomatoes).
*Note: this is prepared weight; I weighed everything after trimming/peeling/chopping/etc.
The most prolific producer was by far the runner beans, producing just under 16 pounds! The second best producers only came up to about 8 pounds: kale and zuccini. I actually couldn't believe I got that much kale, but according to my records, just before the caterpillar blitz, I was picking up to 13 oz a day. We didn't manage to eat a full 13 oz a day: some got frozen. Surplus runner beans were both frozen and salted.
So far this year I have harvested one leek and some (forced) rhubarb, both weighing in at 5 oz. I never tried forcing rhubarb before--I put a big upturned black bucket on top of the plant in January and weighed it with a couple bricks so it wouldn't blow away. I left it for about six weeks and then picked the biggest stems--about a third of them. I wasn't sure if I should keep forcing it, so I left off the bucket after that harvest. We had the stems in a stir fry and they were beautifully tender and not too sour.
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| Hot bed on my patio |
I've started sowing seeds in earnest now, both vegetables and flowers, and some are popping up. I have a new raised bed/giant planter made of wood next to my house. It used to be our sofa! Then it became Franklin's bed frame; now it's loaded with chicken manure and compost and has seedlings emerging rapidly. The idea is the chicken manure heats it up from underneath, and the glass shower door (remember it? it's still here) holds the heat in, encouraging early growth. I put lots of seeds in it, but typically did not label the rows... No matter; I'm pretty good at recognizing seedlings, and I'll transplant to the main garden when large enough, and hopefully grow pumpkins and/or cucumbers in the bed later in the year.
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| Ninja kick! I made this costume out of bits and pieces, including the applique dragon badge |
Will this be the year I finally achieve my goal of producing all our vegetable needs for the whole year? Watch this space!
(When I took my camera out to the garden I couldn't find much of interest. But in the interests of Not Pretty I figured some realistic photos would do.)
