How Did Your Garden Grow? 2019 End Of Season

freeze bell peppers in ziploc bag

My garden season ended mid September due to a hard killing frost (mid 20’s for 6+ hours) in growing zone 4a. Although I dodged one earlier in September with lots of blankets and covers.

Wouldn’t you know it, ever since the frost, our weather has been really comparatively nice, and I could have stretched another month! Oh well…

There are a lot of you regulars on the site who also garden. Some with small gardens (that’s okay!) and others quite large.

Garden Success & Failure This Year

I’m sure it will be beneficial to learn from each other our success and failures this year. Even though a good extent has to do with weather conditions beyond our control, it should be interesting to discuss.

What’s more, some garden success and failure is not always identified (as to “how” it happened)! There’s always a bit of mystery…

My Peppers

Take for instance my peppers. I’ve often had some difficulty with them in general. But this year they produced like crazy! I probably ended up with something like 8+ big green peppers on each plant (which is not my ‘normal’ production). There were ‘tons’ more growing on the plants (really healthy looking) when the hard frost hit too.

This year we simply bought trays of starts (rather than seed). The variety wasn’t specifically noted (argh!). But they obviously liked my garden. In our excitement processing the harvest, I was dumb and didn’t think to save some of the seeds. Next year I’ll go back to the same nursery. Hopefully they’ll have the same (and I’ll save some of the seeds next time)!

We were so happy with the pepper harvest. Peppers aren’t cheap in our grocery store. But this winter we’ll have plenty! We froze them in strips. Lots of stir-fry in our future…

My Tomatoes

Tomatoes grow pretty easily. We did wind up with enough to do another big batch of sauce to add to our canning shelves.

The tomato plants started out great. But then by the end of the season they all had some sort of blight. Even the plants located in another area. Too bad because we would have harvested even more otherwise.

Last year we had tomato blight too (different variety too). I think I might be planting them too close together – not enough “breathing room”. Some also had developed blossom end rot. Next year I’ll change that and give them more space. And plant in a different location.

Besides the garden, I also grew a half dozen tomato plants in their own planters up on the deck. The problem I had was how quickly they would dry out in the summer. Had to water them a few times a day during the hottest part of the summer. Next year I’m going to try another planter method up on the deck which will self-water to an extent.

Your Garden Examples:

Okay those are two of my own examples. What about you? Any surprises with your gardening this year?

69 Comments

  1. – Between heat and my inattention this year, a very poor year at our house. On the bright side, my Meyer lemon trees are almost 6 times bigger than than when the started out as seedlings last year. They came UPS from US Citrus, down in the Rio Grande valley after I ordered them last year. I had very good service both before and after the order from them, if anyone is interested in any citrus trees. No financial relations, just a satisfied customer.
    – Papa S.

  2. Not a good year for me. Part due to a late winter and part due to my lack of effort. Just couldn’t get into it this year so I didn’t water weed and fertilize like I should have and it definitely showed

  3. I did really well with tomatoes this year, with the exception of one San Marzano plant I tried as an experiment. Although it had the same sun exposure, soil, watering schedule, etc… as all of my other plants about 80% of the fruit had blossom end rot. I am still getting production, although all plants seem to be winding down for the season.

    My lettuces did very well, particularly red and green romaine. But, after a longer-than usual hot streak they finally bolted. Great while they lasted, though!

    Outstanding production of Serrano peppers and strawberries as well. I am still getting a few berries here and there, I usually don’t get them this late.

    My leeks did fine, scallions and chives (mostly tomato companions) are still doing great.

    My zucchini started off like gang busters, but after a series of damp evenings my leaves went grayish-white and that was it for zucchini.

    I tried a cucumber plant from a nursery start for the first time, but the plant never seemed to thrive, and only got a few cucumbers before it fizzled out.

    Because I have such mild weather I’m thinking about what might do well this winter.

  4. This summer was rainy and cool when compared to the previous year. We tried growing Roma tomatoes this year in a wine barrel, we were disappointed by the lack of flavor though my dog really likes them. For tomatoes, we will stick with plum and cherry tomatoes next year.

    We grew lots of flowers for the pollinators and had a great show with the hummingbird seed mix.

    My electric mower is showing its age ( purchased over 7 years ago) so it is time to consider a replacement. The articles on the new, more powerful units made by Ryobi have my interest piqued. Many thanks to Dennis and Ken for talking about their experiences with those products. These items are getting better, more powerful and longer run-times than items available even 5 years ago.

    This year we grew a pot of catnip and it was funny to see 2 big cats frolic and play like kittens. ( 1 cat is 17 lbs, another is 22 lbs).

    When the cats get that big, we no longer play the joke of tucking catnip leaves in the back pocket of each others jeans anymore. ( picture a 22 lb cats clawing at your backside- it can be kind of scary.)

    If you don’t talk to your cats about catnip, who will?

    1. We had an excellent year in the Garden and put up quite a bit of vittles. Right now I’m trying to decide what to plant for a nutritious cover crop for the winter. Clover is my choice at this point.

      A also am looking at an electric battery powered mower for around the house. My old Craftsmen gas mower crapped out and since I only have about 1000 ft2 of grass around the house the electric mowers are an excellent option. Looking for an American Made product.

  5. Bad year. Not one summer squash grew. Bad cucumbers. One pepper. No tomatoes. The one thing that grew great was my potatoes. Had quite an abundance of them. I attribute the bad season to a late winter, wet beginning of the growing season with little sunshine, and a diseased batch of squash from the nursery.

    Next year.

    1. Planted 25# of Yukon Gold and 25# of Kennebec. I weeded them a couple times during the growing season and watered them well during the bloom. No fertilizer added. Dug 220
      #s total by August. Zucchini did really well. Tomatoes, Onions and Garlic did well. Peppers, so-so. Apple trees produced great again this year. The Lodi has had a bumper crop of apples 4 years in a row now. My main garden plot I did not plant this year. Roto-tilled it every couple weeks this summer to rid it of weed seed. Very loamy by October, just planted my Fall garlic.

  6. Had a not so good year, it stayed cold longer than usual, corn ended up stunted, still tasted good but plants didnt reach normal size, also had extremely heavy earworms and way more aphid pressure. Tomatos got obliterated in one day by a heavy rain and wind, same rain destroyed anything else soft, so that was that for the garden,
    That was early on in the season and i sorta lost my mojo on the garden after that, i did start a bunch of stuff but it just never made it out of the greenhouse.
    My medicinals all fid well though, got tons if chrysanthemum blossoms i need to pick, the mamaki is growing nicely, turmeric is spreading and needs to go into the ground and my lemon grass is 8’+ tall and lush, a handfull of other stuff is also thriving but overall, vegetable production was dismal at best

  7. Pretty much, blahh.
    Potatoes did well.
    Corn didn’t produce well and what did, the corn borers beat me to it.
    Cherry tomatoes did great. All others were sporadic in ripening. We still have quite a few green. They all must be the 240 day variety. (Just kidding)
    No blight tho.
    Peppers did well.
    A few random sorghum plants appeared….weird.
    Woodchuck had fun with the cantaloupe. Which were slow to ripen.
    Ole Chuck had some projectiles sent his way.
    Celery and pole beans faired well.
    Not a big variety this year.

  8. Corn has been a failure for me year after year. It was planted regularly (and did well) for many years, but about five years ago (the same time I took over the garden) it started having problems. I’m not sure if its seed failure or something else, I’m doing it exactly as it has always been done. But whatever. Still working on it, as Dad likes corn.

    My main goal with the sweet bell peppers this year was to get seeds. Maybe a mass planting next year will provide some that ripen earlier.

    Tomatoes did OK but not fantastic. Nothing really did great this year, not even the zucchini, but my attention was so scattered that I’m not sure I gave the garden the attention it needed.

    1. Lauren
      Same with us the last couple years on the corn. We’ve had healthy stalks but no ears or poorly developed.
      Good livestock fodder was what I grew.
      This year was heirloom I saved from last year. Stalks but little to no produce…..and I’m assuming a help yourself coon.

    2. Lauren,

      Don’t know if you use 33-0-0 or not on your corn but if you do be sure to heavily lime the area you plant corn in. The new formula works much different from the old 34-0-0 nitrogen and requires the lime to “sort of” work.

      1. Our soil is massively alkaline to begin with. Dad always just put the corn over last year’s compost pit and layered the nitrogen fertilizer as he filled in the pit. Then another application in the spring and it was happy happy happy.

        Doesn’t seem to be working for me. I think he has the magic touch on a lot of things.

      2. I remember from school the Native Americans would plant a dead fish in with the corn seeds.

        1. Mrs. U,

          When I was a child, every Spring, my Granddad would take me with him to help seine sloughs and borrow ditches for small minnows and perch. He also kept a bucket filled with salvaged rusty nails/screws. When we planted his garden, he would place 3 seeds, a rusty nail, and a minnow or cut piece of fish together in every mound. He always had the best, most productive garden around.

        2. Had a snarky comment about not being able to plant a live fish with the corn seeds as he would just keep flopping out of the trench, but I thought that it would be just too scarcastic. Just couldn’t resist. LOL. Semper Fi

        3. Mrs. U
          Thank YOU.
          That was dad’s secret, fish left overs.
          He saved everything we did not eat an tossed it into the compost pile. He never had a failure crop when he used fish guts/heads & tails, he wasted nothing!

  9. Back in the house for a break from the garden. In our berry/permanent garden area we had a mixed review. One of my arctic kiwis finally took off with excellent growth but no fruit. The other plant was taken out by a mole. Just put in the replacement plant today. The strawberries I put in this year put on lots of growth and gave is good berries. The two grapes I put in appear to be doing well…I just need to learn to trim and tie better.
    The red and gold raspberries did not do well this year but the black raspberries were awesome. And so were the gooseberries and currants.

    Our American chestnut tree starts I started from seed last year continue to do well in this protected area. I brought the persimmon and paw paw to this enclosure also because everything was trying to eat the tiny things. And our honeyberries gave us fruit this year for the first time! The asparagus was a bumper crop again 5his year too, along with 5he heirloom red rhubarb.

    In the regular garden, we were not going to plant much so we could work on the planter boxes but ended up being gifted many tomato and pepper plants, so they were planted. The early girls did well u til they had some kind of aphid on them. I was not happy with San Marzanno growth and they had end rot. I did put epsom salt and egg shells in my soil. My Amish Roma’s did fine also until the bugs took over. I think part of the problem was too many plants so some were not staked which made 5hem easily accessible to insects. However, my grape tomatoes did exceedingly well.

    The green peppers were amazing this year like never before and I do have some seeds. The jalapeños and banana peppers were also great. Pumpkins grew like crazy and so did our acorn squash. I have never seen them so big. Our potatoes did poorly though. We were told there was a blight in our area for potatoes. The plants died back really early and harvest rate was poor.

    Our fruit trees are very young, but we got some pears and apples this year. We ordered apples and pears from the Amish to cover our needs so I have 5 bushels right now. We lost our plum tree but not unexpected as my spouse accidentally mowed it last year- it was too weak. He was going to replace it this fall but we couldn’t locate one locally.

    Sometimes I think regular gardening is taking a lot of my time, especially with all the food animals we have. But then I think about the learning curve and plant again the next year.

    So much to learn and so many plants!

  10. well, I’m guilty of being lazy this year. I let my whole garden rest. I keep the weeds tilled and incorporated literally tons of compost.

    I run a commercial farm, with equipment to do things , others can’t. My compost pile is about 1000 tons, in an old silage pit. Locals bring me everything you can think of that’s organic and compostable.

    So, I made them all a deal, all the compost you want in trade for the veggies I want. Worked out a LOT better than I thought, I got some great neighbors.

    So, no work on my part for raising, only processing. I canned almost 1000 qts and pints. ( I had LOTS of help) Lot of work, but our pantry is overflowing,

    Thank My Heavenly Father for this blessing.

  11. We did a test year of sorts. We tested a lot of varieties from Baker seed co in Missouri. Thanks to the folks here for mentioning it. We tried 14 varieties of tomatoes and 4 varieties of lettuce and cabbage and a new pumpkin. Which we started from seed in the house. Something we have not done before in this large of a scale. In all it was very good year. We found some new things we like and some that we wont be trying again. All the varieties were heirloom types not found in out local garden centers. Some that produced heavily and not so much. I also tried items in different locations in the yard to see what the sun exposure and drainage did to them, mostly tomatoes. Now we have seeds from out favorites and we are planning the layout for next year. I have lots of notes to go over before next year and changes to make as to where and what we plant in the yard.

  12. Our garden did well in most areas. Our sweet meat squash did poorly, only 1. Our peach trees did not do well at all and our plums only did 15 #. Our zucchinis did poorly as well.
    On the plus side our spuds,candy onions, peppers,sweet corn, green beans , beets,cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes strawberries and apple trees did good.
    We had a cooler spring , other than that our weather seemed to be close to normal temperatures. We try and use heirloom seeds when we can.
    I have been reading different articles about a Grand solar minimum that the earth is supposed to be entering. Supposedly cooler temps and cloudy periods for up to 30 years .This will probably shorten our growing days each year.
    We have been looking at some veggie seeds that have shorter grow times and will start using some next season.
    At the end of the season we have a pretty full pantry, God is good.

  13. Not a good year. I had several medical problems and got started a week late. I didn’t weed as much as I should have. Then we had an unusual cold spell right after things came up. Then winter came early.

    Early Girl tomatoes didn’t get ripe until almost September. Had lots for a few weeks.

    Jalapeno peppers didn’t produce any peppers; only had a few bell peppers.

    No blueberries this year. Don’t know what happened.

    Squash were just starting to bloom when winter came. So none to eat.

    Hardly any cukes or shell beans. Potatoes were small.

    Got lots of carrots, rhubarb, and raspberries. Cabbage (started from plants this year) did well.

    Quite a few Nanking cherries on trees I planted in 2017. They started as twigs. Now some are waist high or higher. They grew quite a bit this summer.

    Early in the year I got lots of lettuce, peas, radishes, and spinach, but then it got hot early. Such a short spring. Winter, then a few days of spring, then summer. Then early winter.

    1. DaisyK, sure wish we could grow rhubarb here in Florida. My Grandmother up in Yankeeland used to make the best pies.

  14. How did my garden grow this year? Despite several setbacks and having to re plant several times, it was pretty much great. The only thing that was so-so was my water melons. And I grow them more for fun. I had less peppers per plant, but they were bigger, so that made up for it. I’ve taken a hundred or two pounds of vegetables and grapes to the food bank, and have to make one more trip. I dug carrots yesterday, and have way more than what I need, so I’ll take them tomorrow. The cabbage did so good that I made a batch of sauerkraut, and had plenty left over to eat. Still have some out there. Corn was shakey at first, but then just took off and did fairly good. Lots of broccoli too. Broccoli seems to grow really good up north here. Blueberries were spotty, but that’s o.k., because we went huckleberry picking and got about 4 gallons. That will last. Onions were only average. Had good potatoes, but I should have planted a few more. I love eating potatoes. Had just about the best spinach,lettuce, and romain I’ve had in many years, and I gave beans away to the neighbors on both sides and still had so many, I gave up picking them. They were blue lake pole beans, and are delicious. All in all, a very good year. Planted a lot of heirloom seeds this year, and it seem to work out well.

  15. Here in North/Central Florida we have two garden seasons. April -early June and late August to November. First garden did well with Tomatoes but horrible with peppers and cucumbers. Our second garden has Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, and beets. We had fresh beets for supper Sunday. Picked a bunch of Blueberries this Spring. Planted 4 Elderberry bushes in April which are over a foot high now. Two Figs, two Plum, and a Peach tree all growing well too.

    Very happy to hear that God has blessed so many gardens!

  16. Not a good year here. Started off promisingly with a pleasant spring — plenty of rain and not too hot, but then turned hot and dry, then hotter and drier, which lasted for months. The worst of the heat hit in September, making any attempts at fall plantings fail immediately. Yields of most everything this year were very low except for a good handful of butternut squash and seminole pumpkins. Not even okra and the tiny tomatoes, which usually do very well, seemed to do much this year. I’ve started digging the sweet potatoes, but they are extremely small..finger-sized, and many are partially rotted. The only thing that produced consistently, in abundance, and of excellent quality was Tabasco peppers.

    1. Update: dug sweet potatoes in a different section of garden–different microclimate, different variety..got a small bucket’s worth of nicely sized ones, including two that weighed in at about a pound each.

      1. The folks around here grow Seminole Pumpkins too, if you don’t mind, how do you cook/prepare them?

        1. I haven’t cooked one yet! This was my first year to grow them. Thought I’d give them a try since they are resistant to squash borers, which I have an awful time with destroying my squash vines. They’ve been curing on the porch for a couple weeks now. I think I will try chopping one up tonight and roasting it.

  17. Due to back surgery this spring, my garden was waaaaaaaaay smaller than normal. Everything planted before the surg was very vertical due to the fact that bending and repetitive motions, such as weeding, was out.

    The okra & staked tomatoes did very well. Blackeyed peas were easy to pick as they rise above their plant. My raised bed potatoes, green peppers, sweet potatoes, greens did very well. Multitudes of green peppers off of three plants.
    Summer squash in raised beds did well. Strawberries in raised bed did well also.

    No corn or green beans this year. Too much weeding and bending. So went to Amish land in Ethridge, TN and loaded up. Yummy stuff :)

    Next summer will be the true test of the results of this surgery, whether I will be able to continue gardening. Sigh. I will truly miss it. It’s my therapy.

    1. Raised beds. Design them so you can do your work standing, or sit on the edge and turn if your back is up to it. Beds 4 feet across allow you to reach in from both sides, but 3 feet is generally considered better. Even corn can be grown in a raised bed, although often a shorter bed so it’s easier to pick.

      Leave one bed fallow each year and all debris (leaves, winter cleanup, food garbage) goes in that bed. Then the next bed is emptied on top during the fall and it’s planted the following spring. The empty or partially empty bed is now your compost pile for the next year. If necessary hire a neighborhood child to do the digging.

      Arrange things for your convenience and ability. You CAN still garden, unless you’re in a wheelchair and even that is possible. With a wheelchair flat paths are necessary but the beds can be lower. I have a friend who gardens with a walker–he just put down black plastic so he doesn’t need to weed and his “beds” are about two feet wide.

      Don’t give up on something you love.

      1. Thanks for the encouragement, Lauren !! My bro-in-law has cerebral palsy and uses the raised beds. He calls it “handicap gardening”.

        I have a garden tool called a “claw”. About the height of a cane with a four-pronged claw on the end for working up the dirt during weeding. I used it as a cane and for weeding a little around the okra this summer. Worked great, tho my back muscles did get tired–mostly cause I haven’t been using them much.

  18. Had good garden this year. Froze corn canned 100 or so quarts tomato products Kentucky wonder pole beans etc.let dry on poles and shelled for seed 3 lbs of dry bean seed. Haven’t had blossom end rot for 20 years because I always put tablespoon Epsom salt and 1 frozen banana peel in each tomato hole, it works.as for late bligh t pull off dying tomato leaves from bottom up this helps a lot.have gardened 43 years still love it.

    1. Just wanted to say I throw 2 or 3 plain Tums in with each tomato when I plant them. Seems to work for me. Yes, I heard Epsom salt works good too.

      1. BigBadCat:
        I hear both good and bad about Epsom Salts.
        I personally opt out. Ues a good fish emulsion instead and banana peel.

        1. NRP
          What happened with your left over fish parts you & Blue do not eat for dinner? Those parts are better for the upgrading of your soils nutrients.

          The banana peel & aspirin are for your tomatoes.

        2. Antique Collector;
          Had to chuckle a little, only left-over parts from the fish I have eaten lately is the plastic wrap it comes in, I’m not eating anything coming from the Orange River for another 1000 years. I don’t mind the third eye, but the second tailfin is a little much. Thanks EPA.

        3. NRP,
          What??? no fish from the orange river???? But, but… The EPA said it was fine!!! what’s a little heavy metal among friends???

      2. Its just calcium, a more readily available to the plant calcium would be oyster shell, or bone meal, personally i would do soil test to see what it says

  19. Tomatoes- normally have a sea of red in mid-August. This year the sea of red didn’t happen until the end of September. Romas did very well, Better Boys did ok, but smaller than usual.
    Cucumbers – extremely abundant. Too many! And we’re still getting more.
    Peppers- not so good. Got very few jalapenos, nothing of other varieties.
    Corn-best stalks we’ve ever had, but ears were underdeveloped. Did manage to can about three dozen pints.
    Beets- not so good.
    Green beans – started out great, got 48 pints, but then they fizzled out, but we were able to get enough for fresh beans for dinner throughout the rest of the season.
    Carrots- very well.
    Potatoes – very small and very few
    Strawberries – very well.
    Raspberries – only got seven berries, but they were very nice quality berries.
    Zucchini – did ok, but not as well as usual.
    Summer squash- nothing
    Butternut squash – only got eight
    Pumpkins/gourds- too many!I
    Garlic- did very well.
    Onions- nothing

  20. Worst garden of my life:
    potato- maybe 30% of normal
    tomato- many died early due to torrential rains/flooding. Got some very late.
    bell pepper- average to good
    jalapeno- excellent
    corn- two separate plantings, both died, flooding
    zuchinni- average
    cuccumber- average
    peas- died
    cauliflour- died
    carrots- I found one lonely carrot, gave it to the chickens.

    Just wait “til” next year!

    1. When I had a normal size garden I used to furrow up the rows to offset floodings.. It worked great.. I’m talking about 6+”

      1. Jabba,
        Ya, I do that too. The rains and flooding were epic. My little furrows were washed away. Oh well.

  21. I am sure that most of us know to take your Autumn leaves and work them into the garden soil for the winter, should breakdown and fertilize your soil for the Spring .

  22. Old age and medical issues caught up with us this year,however we had a good harvest at the case lot sales.
    Of course home grown is best but no matter what the source any food will make a turd.

  23. Not let us forget the sun cycle at this time. It is not projecting as usual.

  24. I have used raised beds for probably over 20 years and won’t go back to the old methods. That said, I tried growing potatoes under hay. Last fall I spread a bale and a half of hay in a row at least 25 feet long by 2 feet wide, and let it sit over the winter. This spring placed seed potatoes right on the ground under the hay, then spread another fresh bale of hay over the top. Results were fantastic. I gathered a bushel of beautiful Red potatoes by just raking away the hay. Easy peasy! I already spread hay for next springs planting. Use the old hay as mulch for the other gardens.
    Great crops of tomatoes, green beans and zucchini. But deer took a liking to my bell pepper plants and continued to nibble of the tops and buds.

  25. Just now finishing out the tomatoes. Rutgers did well, cherry tomatoes did well, Russian Black tomatoes were a dismal failure- all just rotted on the vine.
    Poblano peppers are still going strong, as are the bannana peppers and the “warmer” Hungarian peppers. Have some long 6-8″ green peppers that were supposed to be mildly hotter that the Poblanos that have produced well but have absolutely NO spice to them at all-waste of time. I wanted them for a spicier salsa.
    Red Chieftain (I think) potatoes did well, as did the Yukon Golds, with a lesser production of Russet potatoes. All-in-all I guess a couple of hundred Lbs of taters in the basement from 10 Lbs each of the Red/Yukon/Russet seed potatoes. I cant complain.
    Lettuce bolted early,
    Broccoli bolted immediatly, as did the cauliflower.
    Had cucumbers all summer til the beginning of Sept. Lots of jars of refrigerator pickles.
    Been eating lots of zucchini with new “zoodle” spiralizer.
    Also still getting the end of the eggplant production. DW trying new recipe for us for freezing to preserve.
    Beets were so-so, but we didn’t actually plant very many, so I guess they did well for the amount we planted.
    Beans, meh, want impressed.
    Sweet Corn was pathetic. 1st year was great and the coons had a feast after I got the initial picking. Last 2 years I shouldn’t have wasted my time, but it is still a learning experience as we still learn from failures, Right?
    Brussel sprouts are not looking too bad but not ready for prime time yet.
    Leeks are doing well, also not ready for prime time. They make a GREAT start to winter time soups!
    Lost 16 of 20 fruit trees of various types. I think they all drowned even tho they were all on raised rows. Not a good showing at all. The only thing that survived the year was 2 Haven peaches and 2 Gala apples. We will see if they make it thru the winter.

    Thinking about a small&old grain/corn harvester that is available here locally and what kind of damage I can do to the poultry feed bill for next years.

  26. My daughter (9yrs.) an I did a cradle to grave experiment this year. We planted tomato, eggplant and corn from seed. We grew them up to yielding plants. It was hot and dry so we watered them regularly. We would have had a great year except for those damn tree rats. They ate the corn and the green tomatoes.

    1. We have 4 persimmon trees, all mature, nd them dang “tree rats” ate every one as well. I am going to try dried red pepper flakes around them next year as I hear that don’t like “hot stuff”.

  27. Oh I forgot we did green beans from seed too and they did great… no tree rats…

  28. The tomatoes squash and cucumbers didn’t do.hardly anything. The potatoes did ok. I did not keep up the garden as I should have and the weeds took over. The onions corn and raspberries did very well. I planted the corn in hills this time and it seemed to produce more in a small space.

  29. I should not comment on my peas, radishes, carrots, cabbage, raspberries, cucs, tomatoes, …
    If I do, I know the TP guy that tells me he’s coming to my place when the SHTF, will come here early. Before that, I need to double my garden size to accommodate his needs. And I have to clear more land for his container farm. And I need to build him one of those tiny homes – Blue can live with me. But he will pay his share in labor and tissue. :)

      1. NRP,
        Naw you can’t move up to the Redoubt with HU. Your New Mexico license for that TP hoard does not have reciprocity in Idaho. Also, if you move every magnetometer in the western US would have to be recalibrate to account for it. Besides, I have gotten used to the infrared/neutron/xray sky-glow you’ve set up at night as I look south over the San Juans. You’ll never make it farther north than DRO. LOL.

        1. Minerjim:
          Dag gum it Jim, you always have to and use logic on me don’t you????
          BTW that glow is the Animas trying to recover from the EPA intervention.
          Have ya been to DRO lately??? We’re calling it California East… ALMOST as bad as DEN.

  30. Ken J
    On the blight save your fresh banana peels(frozen peels). Using one peel(a single strip) along with a plain aspirin under the roots of each tomato should 1) clear up the blight 2) end the blossom rot.

  31. No garden this year as we spent it in rehab from acdh breaking his leg. I did read all the comments which took me back to the days of gardening which I learned from my dad and working in a garden shop.

    If you are not a fisherman, and do not eat fish. At one time they sold a product called ‘Fish Emulsion’. You can use it in place of the fish scraps it is not as good as the actual fish left overs, but a close second.

    Do you know someone who catches fish ask them if you can the left overs,, chop them up and put into your compost pile or garden soils. Even trash fish chopped up and put into the garden or compost pile.
    Next spring till them into your soil along with any composting materials you will be using.

    Believe those who had failures on production will find a better garden next year. Hope this information helps all you next year or this fall.

    Oh, an do not spill that fish emulsion on your clothing…it STINKS!!

  32. Tried tomatoes in fabric buckets, did not do well. Only tomato that did well was a heirloom I threw into the raised bed. had good strawberries and raspberries. elderberry bushes really put out this year, harvested 20 gallons of berries (Nod to Bill Posters- put up 15 gallons of elderberry wine this year! great for flu and colds, and just darn good). Apricots all put on fruit this year. peaches were good, plums are still on but don’t have much flavor. No apples. Hardy Almonds are loaded. Hay fields produced well. Did not have much of a grape crop this year, as we had -14F last January that took out most of the buds. Local farmers did well, although sweet corn ran about 2-3 weeks late. pintos are harvested, and field corn is drying nicely in the fields. Vineyard depredation hunt is on right now until the end of October. Deer have been scarce the last two months, but expect them to start moving in as they harvest field corn around me. Hoping to drop several does and help out some of my older neighbors with winter meat. All in all, not the most productive year we have had, but I still count myself as blessed for the harvest we have had, for our farm, and for this great county. God truly loves us.

    1. MinerJim
      That elderberry wine, a glass a day and you will live forever!
      Good stuff, i dont drink, but am looking forward to my bushes getting big and starting to produce

      1. Kulafarmer,
        That’s why the plant gained its name “elder-berry” in the old country. blossoms and berries are full of antioxidants. BTW, while I made wine for the DW and myself, I put up 4-1/2 gallons of juice with sugar in jars for our kids and grandkids, as well as some to give out to non-drinking friends. We went through last year without flu or colds to speak of, and that by having a shot a night of elderberry wine.

  33. No apples, tomatoes this year but the Gypsy Bells are still producing. Although with the frost predicted tonight they may not make it even covered. On the other hand DH’s flowers and hostas were great. We’ll have to try something different with the maters, this is 3rd year we haven’t been able to get any to grow.We’re getting frustrated. We used to grow green beans, peppers and tomatoes no problems. Last 3 years, nothing. We’re going to try container growing next year and see how it goes. thanks to all who had advice and encouragement for us.

  34. Response to Normal Chuck:

    The cats are fed combination of canned food 2x per day ( I small can split b/t 4 cats. The big boys are first-at-food-bowl.). and a dry kibble is always available. For a good nights sleep, the food bowls are topped off before bed time.

    We have a dog-gate that keeps the cat area separate from the dog area in the house.

    The last couple of big cats that we brought home were shelter drop-offs brought in by friends or family after the previous owner passed away. In this area of the country, most people go to the shelter to adopt a kitten or a puppy.

  35. I had a good cabbage harvest this year. I’m running an experiment this year, and seeing how long the fermented products keep in the cellar. I’ve got sauerkraut in a traditional crock and kimchee in a Crazy Korean.

    The potato barrels did well enough that I will do it again next year with a few modifications. The gold potatoes and the red fingerlings did way better than the russets. I also got a much better yield from the wood barrel than the plastic – although I only had one old wine barrel so I could only do the comparison with one variety – the golds.

    Tomatoes that weren’t eaten fresh were dehydrated, powdered, and vacuum sealed.

    Beets were pickled and WB canned. Turnips, parsnips, and rutabagas were pressure canned. Good harvests from all the root veggies.

    Instead of one large garden this year, I did several smaller plots. I tested the soil and amended according to what I planted. This was the first time I took this approach, and will keep doing it. The harvest was well worth the extra work on the front end.

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