Gardening 2012: Summer Wrapup

Today's Goodies: Peppers, Carrots, Swiss Chard

It's the first day of Autumn so I thought I'd look back over the produce page and add up what we got from our 80 square feet of garden space this year.

• 19.5 lb of Tomatoes
• 17 lb of Eggplant
• 15.5 lb Zucchini
• 4 lb Peppers (so far - there's a lot still on the plants that sontinues to ripen)
• All Thyme, Parsley, and Basil we need

We also harvested about 6 servings (maybe 3 lb. or so) of Cima di Rapa and have lots of Swiss Chard that will keep producing well into winter. There's even 2 eggplants still producing. We have about 60 carrots we'll be pulling as well as new plantings of beets, Cima di Rapa, spinach and radishes. And there are loads more peppers. We're going to pickle a couple pounds this weekend.

The big mistake this year was underestimating just how hot and dry summer was going to be. We could easily have had 100 lbs of San Marzano Tomatoes if I had put in the drip irrigation system last spring. By the time I finally installed it the tomato plants were already badly stressed and beginning to succumb to (I think) fusarium wilt. Next year we'll have the drip system in place and we'll plant more than one variety.

We like eggplant a lot but next year I think we'll go with maybe three plants. We'll also grow a mix of sweet and hot peppers and stick with no more that 2 or 3 zucchini.

I've learned you can start beets indoors so next year we'll give that a try. We'll also plant way more peas. They're easy to grow, delicious, and simple to freeze.

The Alley - Future Home of Spring Peas

I think we can take advantage of a narrow strip of ground on east side of the alley behind our house. It's about a foot wide and I can use the 40 feet of it that's "ours" as a long narrow row. The old chain link fence on top of the retaining wall will support the plants.