Last year's garden was good; not phenomenal, but plenty good enough! The weather was a little strange, with the leafing out of the trees delayed by 2 weeks because it was so cold and dreary and then it turned hot and pretty dry. A lot of folks up here don't have air conditioning because you really only NEED it for a few days of the summer, so it must have been hard on them.
There were a few new things in the garden last year. One of the best was a complete accident. Mixed in with the Opalka tomato seeds, which was a new tomato for me and a good one, was what turned out to be a Cherokee Purple tomato. The tomatoes are described as rivaling Brandywine and my husband thought they were one of the best he has had! The plant is really tall - about 5' to 6' - and needs support especially since the fruit is big and plentiful. They are indeed purple-y, a little gnarly in appearance and should be harvested before you think they look ripe, but are truly wonderful tomatoes. Needless to say, I saved seeds and have started more for this year.
Other new things were included in the 2011 garden:
- Opalka paste tomatoes, which were huge (both the tomatoes and the plant - again 5' to 6') and have an even bigger place in this year's garden plans.
- Garlic. A little experiment that turned out to be very cool. They looked just like (small) garlic bulbs when I harvested them!!! Really! They have a place in the 2012 garden also and are, in fact, already up!
- 'Speedy' bush green beans, which looked a little peaked when they first started growing, but were very serious when it came to producing beans. And tasty! They definitely earned a long-term place in the garden.
- Rapini, which I planted too late, or it got hot too early. We will try again.
- Pie pumpkins. They are big-time space hogs but really nifty to grow and make great pies. Better than the canned stuff, even if less convenient. We tried 'Snack Face' and 'Winter Luxury' and will grow them again this year, with heavy=duty trellising.
- 'Mucho Nacho' jalapenos turned out to be too hot for even the hardiest fire-eaters in my family. They requested I not grow them again, but maybe the 2011 crop was just trying too hard; we'll cut back to one plant in 2012.
- 'Aruba' peppers were not an oohh! ahhh! addition to the garden but produced lots of peppers good for everyday use. They'll be back this year.
- The Serrano peppers were not particularly spicy, but had a different flavor than a jalapeno that was good in salsa. The plants were lovely: a nice grayish leaf with loads of shiny green, then red, peppers.
- German Butterball potatoes were a hit! They are, indeed, buttery potatoes, straight from the ground. They were also prolific, which I appreciate. Again, a repeat for 2012.
- Leeks. Pretty easy to grow and were space efficient. We'll grow a few this year.
- Saving tomato seeds! Next year I will see about saving other kinds of seeds as well!
- Raspberry harvest was tremendous!
- The summer squash plant died right off.
- Sweet potatoes grown in large plastic storage bins did a lot better than those grown in the ground the previous year. Sweet potatoes require more "heat days" than we really have and I think the bins allowed the roots to get warm enough to grow (somewhat) bigger. To further the experiment, we will try again.
- Lots more potato beetles than usual.
- Peppers make great landscape plants!
- A woodchuck dug a nice entrance to the garden for himself. It started under a raspberry bush and extended 8' or 10' into the middle of the potato patch, going under a block wall. He also apparently ate all the Brussels sprouts plants, although some may have succumbed to cabbage moth caterpillars. We will be vigilant for both predators this year.
- Dan designed and built a great tomato support system!
- At the very end of the season, I made a greenhouse over half the garden. It protected the peppers and tomatoes for a couple of weeks and allowed a lot of fruit to mature enough to harvest. It was especially helpful with the peppers.
- The hardest thing that happened this last gardening season is that my Golden Retriever gardening buddy died. Zoe is sorely missed, not only in the garden, but in every aspect of our lives. She was good for us, as we were good for her. A RAGOM volunteer has this quote on her emails, which I hope she doesn't mind if I quote here:
It came to me that every time I lose a dog they take a piece of my heart with them. And every new dog who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough, all the components of my heart will be dog, and I will become as generous and loving as they are. - Unknown
Green dreams to all!
Cindi
