Thursday, November 19, 2015

2015 Garden Report Card

Every year I like to assess how the garden grew. It pleases me that I grow 40 different vegetables and fruits. As always, some are successful, others not. So here's 2015's report card:

 

 

 

Crop

Grade

Remarks

Apples

A+

2 trees. Over 10 bushels, still left some unpicked.

Artichokes

A

Started with 6 plants, voles killed 2. Harvested 11 'chokes.

Asparagus

C

12 row feet. Decent production from young plants. Planted a 2nd 12 foot row this year.

Beans, Green

A

24 square feet, great initial harvests, dwindled rapidly. Still got plenty.

Beans, Dry

B

Approx 80 row feet yielded 4.5 lbs. Still think we could do better than that.

Beans, Runner

B

Sowed 50 seeds, yielded 1-2 meals of dry beans plus next year's seed.

Beets

C-

Planted 16 squares, 9 plants per square. Not a good year for beets.

Broccoli

B+

12 plants. Heads not as large as last year.

Brussels Sprouts

A+

12 plants. Excellent production.

Carrots

B

32 square feet. Decent production, but not as great as prior years.

Chard

B

8 square feet. Got a slow start and had vole problems.

Cherries

A

2 trees. Incredible fruit set--birds got most.

Chinese Cabbage

A+

Grew in summer only, 6 plants. Outstanding production.

Corn, Sweet

A

Early corn not productive, mid-season very productive and tasty.

Corn, Flint

A

Approx 50 row feet. Yield 8 pounds shelled kernels.

Cucumbers

B+

First planting did not get off to a good start, second planting did well.

Eggplant

D

Slow start, production low.

Grapes

A+

2 bushels, made 5 gallons of blush wine, aging now.

Hops

A

This just keeps getting better and better

Kale

A+

6 plants. Large yield.

Leeks

A

First time growing. Quite a nice haul of fairly slender leeks. Took a long time.

Lettuce

A+

More than we knew what to do with.

Muskmelons

C+

Finally got some large fruit, but still not enough.

Onions

A+

Better production than last year on fewer sets.

Pears

B

2 small trees. 25 small pears.

Peas, snow/snap

A

Big improvement over last year.

Peas, soup

A

First time growing. Got about a quart of dried peas.

Peppers

C

Got off to a bad start. Low production.

Potatoes

B+

29 lbs. from 2.5 lbs seed. Plants not as large as last year. Variety "Kennebec."

Pumpkins

D

Terrible year compared to last.

Radishes, spring

A+

Row cover greatly helped root maggot problem.

Radishes, summer

A+

"Watermelon" variety, summer planting. Got even better yield than last year.

Raspberries

A

Picked several gallons over the weeks.

Spinach

D-

I still cannot grow spinach! Grew slowly, then bolted.

Squash, winter

C-

Got off to a bad start. Low production.

Sunflowers

A+

Grew "Mongolian Giant," which lived up to the name.

Tobacco

A

Grew 4 plants of the "Orinoco" variety. A very pretty plant with a "benefit."

Tomatoes

B+

8 determinate, 4 indeterminate. Initial yields good, but plants taken down by blight quickly.

Watermelons

C

Finally got larger fruit, but still undersized.

Zucchini

A

4 plants this year. Production good.

 

6 comments:

  1. Overall it looks like you had a good year, lots of A's and B's. Now you get to enjoy a break from the hard physical work and get to start planning next year's garden. Weed season is just getting started here, the work never ends in a mild climate.

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  2. The price you pay for living in paradise!

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  3. I would say that was a pretty great report card - congrats on having such a productive year! With the distraction of doing the hilltop & finishing up the fencing etc., the day to day garden tasks were either delayed or simply put off so my garden this year would be mainly C's with only a couple of exceptions. Next year will be better, right?

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    Replies
    1. You are much harder on yourself than I would be. I think your garden was spectacular this year.

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  4. Looks like you did pretty well, considering the challenges of the weather this summer. Funny how crops do well one year and not the next and who knows why. Oh well, the seed catalogs are arriving, so time to start planning for next year.

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  5. Right, here the catalogs come. I'm already thinking about next year's configuration.

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