Garden Wrap up

End of season and I need to make notes for next yr.

I was saving this cabbage for cabbage rolls....but squirrel? Mouse?...sigh it was a beauty too 🤔

Imagine my surprise to discover this cauliflower. I did not plant cauliflower!

Brussels sprouts

These cherry tomatoes were totally awesome will have to look back and see what variety these are

Plum tree did well - 7 lbs

Need to work on the pear tree - 10 lbs

Pumpkin - 2 lbs

Spaghetti Squash - 3 lbs and I have 5 more to pick

Cabbage - 9 lbs

Onions did not do well, however we will replant these with the garlic

Nice haul!

Picked tomatoes green as I was afraid of frost. Night temps down to 5°

Have been eating as fast as they ripen. Made lots of sauce and soup. 😍

Total for the year - 190 lbs!

Toms - 77 lbs

San Marzano - 43 lbs

Cherry - 71 lbs plus eaten plus more to come!

What have I learned? Well....

Collars made from sandpaper, toilet rolls, copper scrubbies did not make much of a difference.

When planting in strawbales, fertilizer is your best friend. Add fertilizer as you transplant.

Direct seeding into strawbales did not work well. Try some soil starter on top or even down in a hole next year.

Adding too much baking soda in the beginning, I think is neutralizing the ph level in the bales. Works great on keeping the ants away.

Sluggo, DE, Neem oil, helped keep things under control but not 100%

Need to harden off the plants for a longer period of time. Lost quite a few in the beginning ...thankful for extra tomato plants.

Pots vs bales vs soilbeds

Pots:

Tomatoes needed fertilizer more often but did quite well. Some grew upwards of 5 ft

Corn does not work

Peppers did not work
Dragon pots and metal ones have no drainage

Kale had too many insects needed to treat more often

Upside down hanging pots did well

Herb pot was awesome will treat with neem and cinnamon and bring it indoors

Planted an entire ripe tomato into a pot and it did well. Will bring it indoors too

Catnip didn't last very long

Bales:

Slow start. Did not really go until end of July and then bam! Need to try 10-10-10 more often. Also should consider conditioning earlier? Were the bales simply not ready? They did not heat up past 100° was this a problem?

I was really concerned about placing 4 bales in a square and planting in the center. Worked well for beans and toms but not for potatoes. Hard to dig out with the cabbages on the outside. Beans much easier to pick. 

Corn did not do well
My beans did well - 6 lbs

Cukes not so much - 5 lbs

Potatoes were a bust - planted in center of bales

Peppers were a bust

Leeks were small but really nice and clean

Sunflowers were very small

Using the metal fencing horizontally for staking worked amazingly well. Wooden stakes and twine worked too but not as well.

Eggplant ...verdict is still out...don't bother planting next yr

Bales in "beds" worked well until the deer ate tops off most plants. Need to think about what to plant here next yr. more squash, pumpkin?

Plant twice as many white marigolds in tub...will look so good. Should try from seed. But need to start in beginning of Feb! Planting in wheelbarrow would be good too.

Raised beds - dirt:

Garlic totally awesome - 15 lbs! Planted peas, cukes, swisschard in the soil as harvest was very early this yr...mid July. Harvested lots of baby swisschard and some peas, but no cukes yet. Lots of blossoms... then did another planting 10 days later and nothing yet.

Planted beets and cherry toms against back of garage. Really nice...

Radishes again bolt before we get much. Daikon radish was better. Carrots, very little. Cats loved this bed as their litter box....grrrr...and planting plastic forks did not matter!

Strawberries not so good as the deer got to them first and mowed them all down.

Orchard:

Rock stuff was good. Need to work on the ants. The sticky tape does not work. Need to go back to tanglefoot? Or use neem oil sooner.

All in all it was a great year for learning.