OK, it has been a bad year for my garden, the start was late and the growth has been weak for everything but the scarlet runner beans, those I have more than enough of.
So why the bad year?
I got a late start - I planted some stuff early but it suffered, then it took my a long time to get the bulk in.
The soil needs more fertilizer - I know I was low in what I added this year and I can see the results. I need to add more manure and compost. My plan is to plant a bunch of fall rye as a green manure crop.
I also seemed to be short of time to get outside to get into the garden this year - I know this had to do with the scope and scale of renovations I took on in the spring and summer.
I have a whole bunch of strawberry plants to plant, I just need a location, I think will simply dig a whole and plant them all there to keep till the spring.
The chickens are slowing down and one has died. I am getting only about 2 eggs a day at the moment, sometimes less. I wonder about how well they will do this winter and if they are coming to the natural ends of their lives. I actually have had to buy eggs for the first time in several years.
Total value of my crops this year? Maybe $1000 this year and most of that is from the eggs.
We planted fall rye in our allotment garden one year. We did not know that it attracts wireworm, which subsequently destroyed our potato crop. So just be forewarned - do not plant root veg there for a while after. Apparently buckwheat deters wireworm - not sure how easy it is to grow...
ReplyDeleteThank you, that is good to know. I am not planning on root crops anytime soon, I find that in my limited space I prefer to stay with plants that I can stake to maximize space use
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