How did you make out this year?

Sunsanvil 9/2/2014, 10:09 am

We are in Atlantic Canada and have had a really disappointing year. At first we thought there was really something gone wrong with our soil or something but when we compared notes with friends in the area they reported pretty much the same things. Everything seemed to start slow and/or late.

Bush beans, peas, onions, lettuce....slow start but finished well.

Cucumbers, Tomatoes, swiss chard...total write off.

Even the carrots seem undersized this year.

Cherbear 10/9/2014, 1:07 pm

I had a similar experience with my garden. Beans, tomatoes, basil, did well. Onions, beets, greens were terrible. They didn't grow much at all. It was so cold and frosty very late this year.

**sanderson** 10/9/2014, 1:16 pm

Being in Canada, do either of you use a green house to extend the season? Can you post photos of your 'northern' gardens for everyone to see. Very Happy

audrey.jeanne.roberts 10/9/2014, 1:21 pm

Did you have lower than normal temps and more than normal rain this summer like a lot of our north seemed to have? If so, the sun energy required for your plants to grow is the likely culprit.

Sanderson and I had the opposite problem this year (we're close to each other). Hot, hot, HOT and very dry. It brought out a whole new set of bugs for me to deal with.

It seems gardening is NEVER going to be boring and routine, LOL!

brainchasm 10/9/2014, 5:32 pm

I had a pretty rough year. Carrots and radishes were smaller than last, and leafy greens didn't work out at all. Beans did slightly better, which is to say somewhat less pathetically than last season. I only got like a half dozen tomatoes from 12 plants before the heat kicked in, and now I have a tomato forest in one bed that is rife with flowers...but no fruit yet.

Turns out the big winners this year were the bell peppers and chili peppers! Enough to have a single harvest be enough food that I had to learn how to can and make pepper jam. Smile

I know why my yields were so poor - I forgot to amend the mix this winter when I cleared the beds, so everything was working in tired/used MM. This time, as soon as I clear, I'm going to plant cool weather veggies, so I'll remember to add compost!

boffer 10/9/2014, 5:56 pm

brainchasm wrote:...I forgot to amend the mix this winter when I cleared the beds...

Been there; done that enough times that I had to get pro-active! dangit

I took used plant markers and painted them green. Now, when I look at a bare square, a box with no grid, or even a pot, I can tell immediately what condition they are in.

1. No plant tag: needs amending
2. Green plant tag: amended and ready for planting
3. Regular plant tag: seeds are planted that haven't sprouted yet.

When I plant, whether seeds or transplant, I take the green tag out, stick it in the corner of the box, and then put in the appropriate plant tag.

**sanderson** 10/10/2014, 2:19 am

I can't help but laugh. First BC forgets to amend. Then Boffer describes his green stake, white stake, no stake method to remember to amend. I'm sure it works, Boffer, IF one remembers to put in the stakes! So far, knock, knock, I'm only guilty of forgetting to label seedlings/plants or mixing up the labels!

yolos 10/10/2014, 6:39 pm

I like your method boffer. I just can't seem to remember which beds I amended.

boffer 10/10/2014, 6:56 pm

Sig, I don't have a problem remembering to stick in plant tags. But at least once a year, I put in a correctly marked plant tag, but don't put the seeds in! How did you make out this year? 1280598131

How did you make out this year? 1280598131

yolos, I tried at first to put a blank tag in a square when I amended, and then fill it out and use it as the plant marker. But we get too much rain time during spring planting season, and the markers would be too wet to write on. You might be able to do it that way in your climate.

**walshevak** 10/11/2014, 11:45 am

This was not a good year, period. Sad

Kay

dk54321 10/11/2014, 8:16 pm

We had an unusually cool summer, not unusually dry or wet. Peas did well; I planted tomatoes, then got busy and didn't get anything else I'd planned planted. By the time I got back to my garden, it was too late to set up the vertical frames and train the tomatoes—they had already sprawled and tangled on the ground, and any attempt to move them only broke the vines. Yield was not too bad but, being on the ground, over half the fruit rotted, was eaten by animals, or diseased.

I planned to plant garlic in the fall for a crop next year; I've got about half of it in so far. We'll see if that's too late.

meatburner 10/11/2014, 8:22 pm

In the back seat of my 57 chevy. How did you make out this year? 3170584802

boffer 10/11/2014, 8:35 pm

Would that have been at the drive-in movies or in your garage in front of a big screen TV?!

meatburner 10/11/2014, 8:44 pm

boffer, unfortunately we no longer have the drive-in movies Sad

but I do have a garage and I do have a big screen TV. What's cool is, I can't get rained out.

boffer 10/11/2014, 8:49 pm

Do the windows still get steamed up? Wink

I bet you get better food from the concession stand, too!

Marc Iverson 10/11/2014, 10:23 pm

Suddenly I feel like quoting "Night Moves" ...

meatburner 10/11/2014, 10:53 pm

You all are so much fun! Friends laugh together and enjoy gardening friends. It's very cool!

**jimmy cee** 10/12/2014, 8:13 am

Last year (2013) was my first year in SFG, and was successful way beyond my greatest expectations.
This season (2014) was almost a complete bust, although some items did well.
I'll attribute it mostly to my desire to do things differently.
What I learned this season, hopefully will help me do better next season.

FamilyGardening 10/12/2014, 8:24 am

our summer crops did far better than we could imagine cheers

we got tired not me

of picking strawberries, raspberries, green beans, cucumbers, summer squash, herbs & dare I write it What a Face

tomatoes.......I know Im going to get scolded hiding

by my PNW neighbors.... How did you make out this year? 1280598131

happy gardening
crazy!

rose

**camprn** 10/12/2014, 8:50 am

I've taken in 250 pounds of food (that I remembered to weigh) and there are still vegetables in the garden.

boffer 10/12/2014, 10:55 am

FamilyGardening wrote:our summer crops did far better than we could imagine

we got tired of picking strawberries, raspberries, green beans, cucumbers, summer squash, herbs & dare I write it tomatoes.......I know Im going to get scolded by my PNW neighbors....

happy gardening
rose

Not this one! I did a pretty good job of planting for staggered harvests this year. But nobody told me that a staggered harvest really means eating the same thing day after day after day! This year, the challenge of gardening occurred in the kitchen!

Mikesgardn 10/12/2014, 5:03 pm

camprn wrote:I've taken in 250 pounds of food (that I remembered to weigh) and there are still vegetables in the garden.

Impressive. How many squares do you have?

**camprn** 10/12/2014, 5:13 pm

Mikesgardn wrote:
camprn wrote:I've taken in 250 pounds of food (that I remembered to weigh) and there are still vegetables in the garden.
Impressive. How many squares do you have?

Ugh, I've lost track. I'll count them up in a while.
How did you make out this year? 10603692_10203581433191264_757993371718016592_n

johnp 10/12/2014, 5:58 pm

Boffer is right. I did the same thing and had a great season but I am not creative enough to use all our harvest day after day differently. We tried many, many new and different ideas with most working, still it was a challenge. Next year will be a reduction in the amount of peppers, tomatoes and cuc's. and adding other items that I haven't thought about yet.
I would rate my toms an A, peppers and cuc's. a B. Lettuce, kale, chard an A, all the herbs an A, Squash a B, garlic an A, tomatillos and beets a C. Beets were my fault as I did not plant enough the first time and then waited to long to plant the second time.
Bugs and bindweed were the big challenge for me this year, I would call it a draw.

Mikesgardn 10/12/2014, 6:12 pm

I've harvested 90 pounds from 110 squares so far. I still have some carrots, chard, and a few peppers are hanging in there. So about 1 pound per square foot.

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