Wednesday, December 24, 2014

This Year's Garden Report Card

2014 Garden Report Card

Crop

Grade

Remarks

Apples

D-

2 trees. Only a handful of fruit this year.

Artichoke

Hon. Mention

3rd year trying. Problems from voles. But got 2 'chokes!

Asparagus

D-

12 row feet. Problems with voles. Had to replant. Now we wait again for the plants to mature.

Beans, Green

A

Got all we needed for the year on 16 squares, four plants per square.

Beans, Dry

B

Approx. 80 row feet yielded 4.5 lbs.

Beets

B

Planted 24 squares, 9 plants per square. Not all grew large.

Broccoli

A+

Grew in spring only this year. Got many large heads, not many side shoots.

Brussels Sprouts

C

Tried new method of late planting. Did not size up like last year not surprisingly. Got some.

Carrots

A

Reduced planting from last year, still got all we needed. Fall crop mostly destroyed by voles.

Chard

B

Spring planting, better than last year. Plants taken down in fall by voles.

Cherries

F

2 trees. No fruit set this year.

Chinese Cabbage

A

Grew in summer only, only had enough seed for 3 plants, but what we got was wonderful.

Corn, Sweet

B

Improvement over last year, still not enough for us. Grown in row garden only.

Corn, Flint

A

Approx.150 row feet. Yield 25 pounds shelled kernels. Makes excellent bread etc.

Cucumbers

D-

Did not grow in raised beds this year, only got a few cukes.

Eggplant

B

9 plants, 2 varieties. "Amadeo" produced very early. "Rosita" late and fewer. Both had transplant issues.

Grapes

B

Had to spray with non-organic fungicide. Got about 1 bushel, made about 2 gals. wine

Hops

A

Much greater production than last year.

Kale

B

Grew in summer only, four plants yielded a nice amount. Expect to plant more next year.

Lettuce

A+

Grew mostly in spring, got far more than we need. Summer planting in semi-shady spots did all right too.

Muskmelons

C

Again got tiny but tasty fruit. Powdery mildew was bad.

Onions

A+

Put out about 200 sets; yielded enough for our yearly consumption.

Pears

D

Low fruit set, only got 9.

Peas

B

Second year of lesser production; probably weather-related.

Peppers

C

Transplant issues. Yield not good.

Potatoes

A+

42 lbs. from 2.5 lbs seed. Excellent quality and taste. Variety "Kennebec."

Pumpkins

A+

Got 22 total, largest over 25 lbs.

Radishes, spring

A-

Typical problems with root maggots.

Radishes, summer

A+

"Watermelon" variety, summer planting. Got excellent yield.

Raspberries

A

Enough for jam, libations.

Rice, Duborskian

F

Did not take to transplanting; got a few grains of rice.

Spinach

D-

Poor germination in spring, bolted when planted late summer.

Squash, winter

C+

Planted only in row garden where soil poor. Got about 10.

Sunflowers

A

Grew grey-striped from seeds of last year's volunteer plants. Made great snacks.

Tomatoes

A+

Grew only 6 determinate, 4 indeterminate, but got excellent yield and quality.

Watermelon

D

Again got tiny fruit. Not sure what the problem is.

Zucchini

A

Grew only 2 plants this year. Sufficient for all our needs. Problems with SVB and mildew.

 

2 comments:

  1. The voles look like they really did a number on quite a few of your crops - how sad.

    Your yield on the potatoes is amazing! Lettuce is so deceiving - my initial goal was to have an entire bed of lettuce, but based on our harvest from this past year, looks like even half a bed will be too much for our needs. It's always nice when you can reduce the amount of space allocated to a crop & still get more of a harvest than you need - space (and time!) is the one thing that always seems to be in short supply.

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  2. Voles are tough to control. I think they (or a rabbit) got most of my beets this year, eaten from the top down into the soil. I plant my bush beans 9 per square and get good results, 6 per square for pole beans. I was envious of your watermelon radishes. Three years of trying and I haven't gotten a good one.

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