2011 Garden Report Card.

It's time to reflect on the garden and note what did well and what did not. Overall this was not the best garden I've grown. things that did well in previous years didn't do as well this year. Some experiments were pretty much total flops and others limited success.

Weather was probably the limiting factor. We had a lot of hot days compared to a typical summer. Early July in particular was hot and dry and then late July finished with a lot of rain. I don't think that uneven moisture conditions were good for a lot of plants.

I covered some plants for the first time last night to protect from possible frost. When I looked out this morning I think there was frost on the grass.

I'll start with the good:

• Tomatoes - These eventually started producing around mid-July. The two proprietary varieties I saved seed for were pretty much total flops. Either they were hybrids or just didn't like local conditions. And speaking of local conditions, it's not worth trying to grow tomatoes along the side of the house. They just don't do well there. I'm not sure I like the Mortgage Lifter variety. They're large and pink and seemed to have a pretty mild flavor. Texture tended to be mushy. Early Girl was a reliable producer and Sweet 100 provided a nice change up. I'll pick another heirloom variety to try next year. On the plus side, my concrete reinforcing wire tomato cages performed admirably. The plants are [pretty ragged looking but still producing.
• Zucchini and yellow squash - One plant of each reliably produced fruit through the end of summer once they got going. At this point they look a little ratty. I think that's a result of powdery mildew and perhaps insect depredation. I found and smashed a lot of eggs from those little squash bugs on the yellow squash. But the plants haven't given up and are setting fruit again. We have some highs in the 70s coming so perhaps they'll yet make size before the season is over. Things to do next year: consider giving patty pan a try as well. Maybe make a later planting to see if I that extends the season later into the fall.
• Butternut squash. These wandered about the garden and when they tried to escape, I gently directed them back. I think I've got 4 decent fruit but I'll know for sure when I pick them. I planted several in a 'hill' and I'll definitely do these again. Maybe I should give another fall squash variety a try in addition.
• Basil - Some self seeded in the side garden and I planted more in a half whiskey barrel. Both did reasonably well and we're getting some nice added flavor in our salads and other dishes. The only thing to do different is to find a large leaf variety to wrap around shrimp (ala Steve Raichlen's shrimp on the barby.)
• Lettuce - Another success. The first harvest was actually some oak leaf that had self seeded from the previous year. Of course I let it go to seed again. :) I should make successive plantings to stretch out the season.
• Spinach - We got plenty for some early season salads. This is another thing I should plant later for succession.
• Rhubarb - We get all we need form our little patch and since I lifted and replanted some this spring, we'll get even more in years to come.
• Various other herbs - I've got a little oregano and sage growing in a whiskey barrel planter. I should either transplant some or pot and bring inside to overwinter. Maybe putting them in the side garden would help them overwinter. My clump of chives did well on the side and I have more coming up in the back garden where I planted seed. (If I can find them!)

Mixed results

• Wax beans - These never really produced much. Many of the plants seemed to get off to a poor start and then a couple that were going like gang busters got stepped on by a neighbor's dog. :( We only ever got a couple hands full - not like the steady production the previous year. I'll try these again. Maybe I should look for a variety of bush bean that will be more reliable in hot dry weather.
• Various peppers - There was never much fruit set and when they did, the fruits were small. The yellow banana peppers seemed to do the best. Toward the end of the season, one Jalapeño plant in the back garden set a bunch of fruit. maybe I'll get one decent picking off that if we get a few more warm days. I'll give these peppers another shot next summer as I think funky weather put them off this summer.
• Sugar Snap Peas - Got a couple handsful and that was about it. I'll probably give them another shot and hope for better moisture conditions as they mature.
• Carrots - I picked some out of the whiskey barrel planter and a couple had decent size. I have yet to pick any from the main garden but it looks lke some are making some size.

And the ugly.

• Lutz Beets - Protected by onion and garlic they remained unmolested. In almost all other respects they were a bust. Didn't hit golf ball size by October. Again I think early season lack of moisture was the culprit. If I try them again, it will only be a couple plants.
• Cucumbers - Got off to a promising start but the fruit were ugly and deformed before the vines wilted and died. One (either the wrong seed or surreptitious volunteer) turned out to be a cantaloupe. I picked it and it was not a particularly good cantaloupe. Again, weather probably contributed but I might look for a different variety next year.
• Radishes - Supposedly among the easiest of garden plants to grow, they just don;t like the conditions I provide. I've had them in the side and whiskey barrel gardens and I'm lucky to get one or two half decent roots. Maybe I should try them in the back garden next year.

Other thoughts.

• I need to get rid of that Yucca in the back garden. It's just a waste of space. In general I need to do a better job keeping weeds at bay.
• I wonder if I can provide a better border around the back garden. perhaps some landscape timbers? Otherwise it just tries to merge into the lawn.
• I want to try some fabric mulch. My sister on New York uses it on her commercial size garden and it seems to work well for her. Weeds definitely got away from me this year. 
• Side Garden - I'm going to just stick with herbs there and maybe some early season stuff like lettuce or spinach. Yucca and Prickly Pear do better there than anything else I've planted.
• Maybe the back garden should be a little bit bigger next year. :D And perhaps I could make the ends rounded to facilitate mowing around it with a tractor.
• Zucchini and yellow squash are really good cut into wedges, sprinkled with a little EVOO, salt and fresh pepper and then grilled on the Weber. So is broccoli. Maybe I should pick a cole out and give it a try. Perhaps an eggplant.

I'll finish up with a picture of this striking girl who's had a spot in the garden next to the garage for a while now. She's got two egg cases about the size of a nickel in diameter and judging by the size of her abdomen, she plans to lay another before her season is over.

Early July update.

It's time for another update. Actually, it's way past time. The thing about a garden is that there are mostly small changes every day so there are not Big Changes (tm) to log. But there are a lot of small changes.

Our garden is overall doing pretty well. We've harvested a few things now including Lettuce, Spinach, Sugar Snap Peas and today, our first Zucchini. Parsley, self sown Basil and Cilantro are ready to pick. In a day or three the first yellow squash will be ready to pick. I spent some time training cucumbers on a trellis made of twine strung between two poles. There are a lot of small cukes on the vines. I should get some pix of those with the blossoms still attached. There are wax beans that will soon be ready to pick. Other than that, the beans don't really  look so good. Some of the plants are wilting and two big healthy ones got knocked down by something passing through the garden. Beets remain unscathed by critters, but some of those are wilting as well. It's been a while since we got much rain so I've been spot watering by placing a dribbling hose close to plants that look particularly stressed.

I've made a bunch of tomato cages out of concrete reinforcing wire. They look a lot sturdier than the ones I saw at the store. And they have ten spikes that stick into the ground instead of only three. Most of the tomatoes look good and a few of them are already setting fruit. None look anywhere close to ripening.