It is time to update where the garden is at at to add some pictures. I am back to growing garlic, though still not as much as I would like to. I would like to grow about 150 heads of garlic, the stuff is so easy to grow though the financial return is not so good.This year also sees an increase in our herbs, we are good in most types now that we regularly use but could do more if we knew what else we could use. The highest use is chives and this mainly because Daniel loves using them in every sandwich and every omlette he makes.
I will be growing a lot more fruit and veg this year than last. I have already moved the tomatoes and peppers to elsewhere in the yard, they are all now on the Maddock street side of the house. I think they will get more heat and sun there.
Ultimately I would like to see a large percentage of the yard we have be out of lawn and into something we can eat. We really do not have a large enough yard for playing in - I miss that from the house in Lillooet and the house on Balfour street. Entertaining makes the most sense in our yard that is closest to the back deck and kitchen door, though this is the yard that needs the most work, it really needs a major overhaul.
I have planted six blueberry bushes, I expect to see a handful of fruit this year. I have also added the apricot and yesterday I bought an apple tree. I plan on buying at least one more, maybe two or three more.
The apricot tree is doing very well, I am impressed with the growth on the tree, I hold out hopes for a few handfuls of fruit next year.
As to berries, I planted 60 Strawberry plants, I do not expect to see a large crop this year. The thornless blackberry is bigger than last year but I will need to work with it a bit in the fall to get it growing how and where it want it.
I am going to grow all the big plants on the space between my fence on the sidewalk on Maddock. I planted the zucchini and some of the melons yesterday. I would like to get the pumpkins and cucumbers into that space this week. My goal is to get rid of the grass in the area and make a veggie garden bed.
I had more success with growing from seedlings this year, in the past I have either missed the watering schedule and had them die, or not had a bright enough location and they became all leggy. The only problem this year is that I used containers that were a bit too small. I also got had an issue with waterlogging with the peat pots.
We will be eating our first spinach today and had a bunch of radish greens last night for dinner. By moving the zucchini and cucumber from where it was last year, I have a much larger area for successive plantings of salad crops. If I keep on top of this, we should have salad greens from now until sometime in November, possibly longer if I use cloches. My one concern is running out of seed. I bought a bunch more today at Borden Merchantile.
The chickens continue to do their thing, they are averaging close to one egg each a day. We are also getting a lot of material for compost. The chickens eat almost all of our kitchen scraps. They really like all of the bread, consequently we are actually short of bread crumbs.
My hopes for the year:
- 150 lbs of tomatoes
- 20 good size pumpkins
- 200 lbs of scarlet runner beans
- 400 salad servings
- 60 lbs of strawberries
- 3 lbs of blackberries
- 150 lbs of cucumbers
- 150 dozen eggs
- 15 lbs of kohlrabi
- 150 lbs of zucchini
- 30 lbs of bell peppers
- 30 habanero peppers
- 90 jalapeno peppers
- 60 head of garlic
- 60 red onions
- All our herb needs
We will not be self sufficient, but we will produce a lot of our food needs from now till November.
3 comments:
Bernard, your garden sounds very much like mine! I find I can get 150 or so heads of garlic in one of my 3' x 12' beds, which gives us enough to last the year just about, holding aside enough to replant the same size bed.
We planted 2 cherry trees this year and an elderberry, and like you, six blueberry bushes. And again like you, are working on getting rid of all of the lawn. made four new 3' x 12' beds this year, plus a 2' wide one along 100' of fence on our south boundary. That's going to be LOTS of dried beans and winter squash!
Do you save seeds? I'm invlved in a local seed saving prject here - I do beans and peas, tomatoes, corn salad, oter odds and ends and this year spaghetti squash, so I have to be careful about what other kinds of squash I plant!
I have done some seed saving in the past, but typically am not nearly organized enough to do it consistently. I also like a variety of veggies and this means seed saving for squash and brassicas do not work well for me, not that I am growing a lot of brassicas this year.
Garlic I plant from my own stock.
My goal is that in a few years I will be producing enough food in the summer and fall that I will be able to freeze and preserve food.
I like to make my own tomato sauce and can it, but to do that I need to have about 150 lbs of roma tomatoes, maybe in 2010.
Looking at pictures like that, I so yearn for my own little plot of land. Nothing big, nothing major. A tiny slip of land is fine - or even, at minimum, a sunny balcony on which I might do some container gardening.
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