2007 Gardening How We Did

2008 Garden Series - Recap of 2007

Before we begin on the 2008 garden I would like to take the opportunity to recap how our garden went from the past year. Kat and I really concentrated on the perennials for the garden space. This entailed 12 dwarf fruit trees, 50 asparagus plants and the addition of a fall garlic crop. True the garlic in not truly a perennial but for us it will be a well-maintained revolving crop.

Our best producing seeds all came from one seed provider whom we are using this year. This being the Vermont Bean and Seed Company. Their sister companies of Jungs and Shumways also help to round out the garden. We had spent a total of $95.00 for all of the seed and asparagus plants. This being said our green bean harvest from three half-pound bags of seed was in excess of 150 pounds. Our tomato harvest came in at approximately 300 pounds plus with 35 plants. The eggplants also exceeded 50 pounds for 10 plants. The peppers, well they kept going till the first heavy frost.

This may not be much for some of our neighbors, but it far outweighed our expectations for a plot of no larger than 3000 square feet. Oh yeah I forgot the taters; approximately 250 pound yield from 15 pounds of seed taters.

We had mulched early in the season with hay gathered from a neighbors field left over from winter feeding. Our practice is to attempt to only grow for approximately four to five months or less depending on the crop. Once the vegetables are harvested I till under any remaining refuse that did not make it to the compost pile. The garden then lays fallow to rest with a cover of mulch that is tilled in at the last harvest.

We always get a final fall crop of taters just at frost, this year it was around 25 pounds. These came from the earlier summer harvest of the taters that were missed and tilled back in. Nothing like new potatoes when the weather is turning chilly for homemade veggie stew.