(Catchy title, but I’m not talking about the Grateful Dead…RIP Jerry)
Here’s my end of the season haiku…
The season just bit
We started a ton of plants
Most of which have died
So, here I am, a garden blog writer, and I feel like our garden just sucked this year. Now, I understand, the title of our blog is, “Learning to fend for ourselves” and I don’t admit to knowing it all. As a matter of fact, many a gentle DaisyPatch reader has commented with excellent advice because, well, we needed it (and for that, we thank you). Here I am, looking back on our crops and thinking, “Damn, there isn’t much in the pantry and/or freezer.” Actually, let me tell you what’s in the pantry and/or freezer.
Potatoes (not very many)
Carrots
Strawberries
Tomato sauce (not much)
2 F***ing Pumpkins. TWO!
***
Here’s what’s happened to the rest of the crops:
Lettuce – That was a good crop
Beans: Dead
Peas: I enjoyed them for a while, but there weren’t very many
Shallots: Good, but only a few
Cilantro: Didn’t make it
Butternut squash: Dead
Acorn Squash: Dead
Edamame: Dead
Sugar Pumpkins: Dead
Weeds: Still our best crop
That’s it. There are some herbs I need to harvest and dry, but all in all, we didn’t have a successful season. We ate tomatoes as we harvested them, but a lot of them went to crap. So, what does this mean for our future gardening plans? I have to admit, I don’t know. Yes, we plan on planting things. The lettuce, arugula and spinach have been planted, as well as the spring carrots and I plan on planting more garlic and shallots in the next week or so. We will not be planting tomatoes next year. That is sort of a shame, but we don’t have much choice.
I am unsure about squash. I mean the 2 F***ing Pumpkins are cute and all, but they took up a lot of room. I want more variety next year. Just more things in general. We’re taking suggestions. If they could be mildew and fungus resistant, that would be helpful. No brussels sprouts please.
October 25, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Don’t despair – there’s a reason there’s a whole profession around growing food ;), some of it is easy, but some of it takes some serious knowledge. I pretty much do exactly that – plant what I like to grow, that makes sense for my little space, that I want to have on hand – herbs, a few cherry tomato plants, more herbs, something wacky I can’t get otherwise, and let the farmers’ market fill in the blanks. Summer squash are easy but winter squash are hard and take up lots of space, as does everything in the melon variety.