Once more, I am late getting our garden post up. It has been a busy month, yet again. This definitely has been a season full of learning. Well I guess with everything there is always room to continue to learn, but this was our first serious attempt at gardening. Everything up to this point was just playing around. I love how almost immediately Dave and I started discussing how to do things better next year.
I know that for years to come we will continue to adjust our garden plans but it is exciting to see some of our successes and also to realise where we can improve. 
I didn’t label the above garden because there is still so much going on in it. The cauliflower is done. The blueberry bushes are still looking very small to me, they just don’t seem to want to grow. We did manage to get a few peppers but the zucchini plant has grown right into our pepper plant, and while it does still have peppers, they aren’t turning red.
This is our attempt at getting a second crop from the same broccoli plant.
The carrots are doing well we have started eating them. We are just pulling out what we need. The first carrot I pulled out was a huge beautiful big carrot. Joel asked if he could carry it in. I said sure and told him he could break off the top and feed it to the rabbit. When I came in the house I asked him where the carrot was? He had given the whole thing to the rabbit. Poor guy my disappointment crushed him. He had misunderstood and thought he had been a big help to me. Thankfully there were more carrots where that one came from.
Apparently some of our strawberry plants are ever bearing.
These are the tallest sunflowers we have ever grown Dave is 6 feet tall and they make him look small. The tomatoes are producing lots, and our zucchini plant is a monster.
If we miss a day or two of picking we have lots waiting for us.
The last of the cauliflower.
A pile of zucchini I can’t keep up with it. I have been chopping up some and freezing it to throw in sauce. Of course, you can grate it too, but we have so much. Nobody seems interested in taking home a zucchini though. Taliah thinks I should fill my diaper bag with it and when no one is looking dump them on the produce display at the grocery store.
Some zucchini ready to freeze.
Grapes are done. We did not get a very big harvest, but Dave really pruned it back hard this past year. I don’t think he is going to take as much off it next time.
Our bigger garden, the cucumbers have finished, and there are a few lame onions in there. Our onions really bombed this year.
Potatoes did really well for our first go at it. Dave did two methods he planted some in the ground and hilled them the others he planted under the wood-chips. Both did well the yield in the hilled potatoes was slightly higher but much more labour intensive. Next year Dave wants to put them in the wood-chips but make the wood-chips deeper. I think Dave said we got a yield of 6 pounds of potatoes to 1 pound of seed potatoes.
The corn was good but we would need to plant a lot more if we wanted to have any for the freezer. We ended up with about 40 good cobs. We also planted late so I am not sure if that had anything to do with our yield.
You’ve heard of baby corn, well we grow toddler corn. We had a couple of these tiny cobs that were perfectly formed just small. They were the perfect size for Samuel, (our toddler).
Our yields to date look like this;
- Tomatoes 166.75 pounds (Still more to harvest)
- potatoes 212.9 pounds
- cucumbers 22.68 pounds
- zucchini 75 pounds and it is still producing!
- carrots 4 pounds and more to harvest
- garlic 100 bulbs
- grapes 7.44 pounds (last year we had 21 pounds)
- corn 40 cobs (we didn’t think to weigh it)
- celery (yet to come)
- peppers 1.57 pounds
- broccoli (we didn’t weigh)
- cauliflower (we didn’t weigh)
- strawberries, blackberries, raspberry & blueberries not enough to bother recording.
- our fruit trees did not produce enough and some at all to bother recording
I am already planning next years garden, for weeks after planting this garden I found myself saying, oh no I forgot to plant… So now I have a detailed list going. Are you already thinking about next years garden or have you moved on to other projects?
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We experimented with straw bale gardening this year. We only did one bale because we don't have a ton of room and not sure is we would even enjoy it. Well, I can say that because we started late we didn't get much. It certainly didn't help when I pulled the green beans straight out of the silly bale! But our tomato plant did awesome and next year we are thinking about doing four or five bales and planting different plants in each one. From there, we'll see if we expand or give up!
What a wonderful variety! I think it sounds like your garden has served you very well this year- praise the Lord for his abundant provision!
I'm excited to see your grapes again, even though it isn't as much as you had hoped… We had 2-3 clusters this year on one vine and I faithfully protected it with tulle and something still ended up getting them. I really hope it wasn't a child.. I have no witnesses or confessions so I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt for now
I envy your zucchini! I brought it 30 pounds of tomatoes & 4 pounds of beans last night, but what really excited me was with one beautiful and one mammoth sized zucchini I found hidden away
I felt much the way you do a couple years ago when we brought in 135 pounds of zucchini. I posted a couple recipe compilation posts a few years ago. There are even some desserts like brownies, cake, and a chocolate quick bread your kids will probably love. http://onjustacoupleacres.blogspot.com/search/lab… I took the Quinoa side dish to church fellowship a few weeks ago and it was a real big hit with the grown ups 
Also, simplyrecipes has an amazing zucchini muffin recipe that even my zucchini hater loves when I make it.
Hoping you get another month or two of good productivity in your gardens!
Quinn thanks for the recipe ideas, they all sound really tasty. I think our garden will be finishing soon we have some cabbage I forgot to mention, someone mentioned leaving it in the garden until just after the first frost??? Yet they look ready now I am not sure if they will make it to the first frost. We feel very blessed, I think it was just what we needed to jump in and add more next year. Zucchini amazes me it is still blooming so we will see how much more will come, and tonight I was finally able to send off some zucchini to another home. It feels great to share some.
I officially declare your garden a 100% success. You've grown cabbage!
I haven't done that in 3, 4 years or something crazy. I'm going to take a stab at fall planting & see how that goes before I throw in the towel and quit wasting the garden space. With the take home point being- don't ask me for cabbage tips
I suppose though it would depend on the variety. I think some are early & some are late season. Maybe late would do good with the freezing.
I hope those you're sharing the zukes with really appreciate your generosity!!
We can never get enough zucchini at our house. Two good ways to use it up: zucchini pancakes – grated zucchini mixed with beaten egg (about 1/2 cup zucchini to two eggs), fried in a pan and topped with salsa; zucchini parmesana – slice large zucchini in 1/2 inch rings, cook in oven in glass pan for about 30 minutes (single layer), drain off liquid, cover with meaty spaghetti sauce and top with cheese, bake around 40 minutes or until zucchini is tender and cheese melted. Enjoy!
Margaret those recipes sound great I am going to have to try them out. Thank you!
That's awesome your garden did so well! Do you have any tips on keeping animals (squirrels especially) out of a garden? Squirrels ate almost everything in my garden this year.
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DelSheree, I am not sure we have some barn-cats that are outside and I think they keep squirrels and chipmunks away. I know some people put netting down.
omg. wow! I have major garden envy right now. Plus your garden is beautiful. You have truly inspired me!
Lisa, I am glad we have inspired you because I kind of feel like wow if we can do this anyone can.
I am always so amazed by people like you! We tried to grow vegetables in our backyard last year and all we got were a few zucchinis. These veggies are gorgeous!! Well done! Congrats!
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Thanks, I think zucchinis must be very hardy because from just 4 little plants we now have one huge monster plant.
wow you guys did great!! I love your carrots and potatoes, how cool!!! Actually everything looks wonderful. As for your sunflowers, a double wow! They really grow tall don't they. One year I'm going to do a whole sunflower garden and take advantage of all the different varieties. Thanks for sharing your garden with us!!
Kathy I think that would make an amazing looking garden they are so beautiful.
this is your first serious attempt at gardening?! wow! i am beyond impressed. magnificent!!
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I LOVE the picture with the sunflowers! So fun. Considering that much of North America suffered serious drought this year, your results are INCREDIBLE! Enjoy your bounty, and the extra money in your wallet. Have fun planning for next year…. it's the farmer's market for me
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I think the wood-chip method we used really helped retain the moisture, thanks.