Tuesday, November 15, 2011

2011 Final garden notes

We ripped out our vegetable garden the first week of November. As the weather cooled, production started to slow down. Most notably, our cucumber plant succumbed to powdery mildew and stopped producing. The zucchini also had it, but didn't stop producing.

Our tomatoes also got some kind of disease and before it froze, I think two of them were already mostly dead.

Our orange peppers barely had time to produce any orange peppers before it got cold, despite the face that they were smaller than normal bell peppers. As always, the banana peppers impressed us with their yield.

Despite the fact that we planted some carrots after the spinach was done and they pretty much grew in the shade of the zucchini and peppers, we still harvested two

The green beans produced much later this year than last year because we bought pole beans. Bush beans produce earlier for the most part, but they don't look as cool as tall pole beans. Next year I think I'l plant a different variety though because ours weren't very tender unless we picked them when they were tiny. Also, I may plant a variety that is purple or yellow because green beans are pretty hard to pick because they blend in with the plant.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

2011 Vegetable Garden notes

Our garden this year is much smaller than last year's and I have been forced to be creative with our planting. There are a few things I planned this year that worked really well and I think I will do again.

1. Plant the spinach around the beans and cucumbers. By the time these start getting big and shading the spinach, it is time for the spinach to bolt. This would also work for peppers and tomatoes. It makes for less weeding overall and you don't need as much planting space. It worked perfectly this year.

2. Plant "Space Hybrid" spinach. It has nice smooth leaves that are easy to wash and it is great for baby spinach.

3. "Little Gem" lettuce is awesome! It tastes really good and it is so pretty. It is a good alternate to regular romaine.

Things to do better in the future:

1. Plant the cool season crops early! Our lettuce isn't fully mature but it is going to bolt any day now. I want to grow a mature head of lettuce some day.