It's time for a look back at what the garden produced in 2017. I've assembled a collage for each month showing the different vegetables and varieties that came out of the garden. The collages don't show all the harvests, just a sampling to give an idea of what the garden was producing. I tried to include one photo of each type of veggie that came from the garden each month, whether it was one harvest or many and where there were different varieties of a kind of veggie I tried to show each variety. So the collages show the variety but not the overall quantity that I grew.
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| January |
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| February |
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| March |
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| April |
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| May |
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| June |
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| July |
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| August |
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| September |
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| October |
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| November |
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| December |
So that was the big pictorial overview and now for some highlights.
Total harvests for the year were 1004.6 pounds which exceeded 2016 harvests by 36.4 pounds.
There were some notable differences between 2016 and 2017.
- Things that didn't show up in the harvest basket in 2017 that I had grown in 2016:
- Beets - I think I just didn't get around to sowing any.
- Romanesco broccoli - Romanesco is a space hog so I'm buying it at the farmer's market
- Spigariello broccoli - I don't grow Spigariello every year but it'll be back someday
- Capers - I have pounds of them in the fridge so I let them bloom for the bees.
- Celeriac - I didn't get around to planting out my seedlings
- Eggplant - I decided to buy what I need because I don't get around to using the excess
- Frisee - I just didn't grow any.
- Garlic (sob) - I only got green garlic in 2016 and I finally gave up trying to battle rust so I won't be growing garlic for at least a few years.
- Melons - damn rodents ate all the female blossoms
- Pac Choi - didn't get around to growing it.
- Shelling, Snap, and Snow peas (!) - yikes!
- Plantain - grew it but didn't harvest it.
- Tomatillos - had enough stashed in the freezer.
- Things that I harvested in 2017 but not in 2016:
- Caper berries - that's what you get when you don't harvest the caper buds.
- Potatoes - found starts for a hard to find old favorite variety so I indulged.
- Radish Greens - I either didn't record any harvests in 2016 or didn't keep any.
- Squash Vine Shoots - a new discovery!
- Big differences in quantities grown from year to year:
- 2017 under achievers
- 2 pounds of snap beans vs. 23 pounds in 2016 - caged bush beans didn't do well and I didn't grow any pole snap beans
- 11 pounds of celery vs. 32 in 2016 - I didn't transplant the celery at the right time and the plants turned out to be runts.
- 19 pounds of lettuce vs. 41 in 2016 - just didn't get around to sowing successions often enough.
- 38 pounds of bulbing onions vs. 80 in 2016 - downy mildew stunted the plants, there's no effective organic treatment so I won't be growing onions unless I can find a suitable resistant variety.
- 8 pounds of radishes vs. 19 in 2016 - 8 pounds sounds about right...
- 10 pounds of shallots vs. 26 in 2016 - downy mildew...
- 5 pounds of spinach vs. 16 in 2016 - no fall planting.
- 171 pounds of tomatoes vs. 194 in 2016 - more cherries and fewer large fruited varieties. That's actually ok, plenty of cherries for Dave's lunches and not too much to have to process and store.
- 2017 over achievers:
- 29 pounds of Brussels sprouts vs. 18 pounds in 2016 - bigger, happier, and healthier plants for the 2016/17 season. That's all winter harvests, there's no fall harvests this year because the 2017/18 plants are runts.
- 29 pounds of cabbage vs. 17 pounds in 2016 - not sure why.
- 26 pounds of cucumbers vs. 14 pounds in 2016 - the 2016 plants had to compete with invading oak tree roots and lost the battle.
- 112 pounds of fava beans vs 90 pounds in 2016 - simple, more plants so more beans. I didn't plant as many this year.
- 11 pounds of fennel vs. 1 pound in 2016 - I'm still learning how and when to grow this stuff. Some years I get it right and other years I don't.
- 16 pounds of mustard greens vs. 4 pounds in 2016 - I've finally found some mild varieties that I like.
- 13 pounds of spring onions vs. 7 pounds in 2016 - I started pulling onions early because of the downy mildew problem.
- Drumroll.... here's the big one! 125 pounds of peppers vs. 50 pounds in 2016 - whew! - It's not so much about what I did right in 2017 as what went wrong in 2016. Between critters and a killer attack of powdery mildew my 2016 harvest was slashed by more than 50 percent over the previous 4 years. I harvested over 100 pounds of peppers in each of the previous 4 years and hit an all time record in 2015 of 171 pounds.
- 66 pounds of winter squash vs. 39 in 2016 - I devoted more space to squash in 2017 and also grew a larger fruited variety.
- 150 pounds of zucchini and Tromboncino squash vs. 76 pounds in 2016 - I ususally plant the Tromboncino squash in summer for fall production but in 2017 I planted it at the same time as the zucchini so it produced over a longer period of time and the dry mild weather in November and December allowed harvests later than usual as well.
I'm surprised at how well the garden did in 2017. I had a feeling through the year that I wasn't on top of things as much. My frustrations with dealing with critters certainly had a negative effect, there were days when I just wanted to give up and rip everything out just so the rodents couldn't eat it. But that obviously didn't happen, I'm far too addicted to fresh garden veggies to give up. My solution was and still is to use more and more hardware cloth. The extra wet winter that we enjoyed also kept me out of the garden at times. But for the most part it was just a sort of malaise that I struggled with, there were times when I just didn't feel like dealing with the garden. I suppose I could have had a really stellar year if I had kept up with things, but no matter, we still enjoyed a lot of good fresh produce and my pantry and freezer are very well stocked. We won't be going hungry!
Now that 2017 is in the past it's time to plan the 2018 garden. A lot of what I grew last year will be back this year. I'm always trying new things but when I find something that is good eating and really grows well I tend to stay with it. But I do have my eye on a few new things for 2018 so I'll be posting about those in the near future.
In the meantime I've got to get out to the garden to sow some spring veggies and set up more hardware cloth barriers.
I've posted a couple of spreadsheets that show a 2016 to 2017 comparison (Click
HERE) and a year to year chart from 2010 through 2017 (Click
HERE). The second sheet has two sections, one in pounds and the other in kilos, scroll down to see the metric section.
This is great!
ReplyDeleteUsually I don't like collages or mosaics because the pictures are too small, but yours are large enough for me to see what's in them. Thanks for that.
It's very interesting to see how the overall color changes throughout the year beginning with green, purple and orange and peaking in brilliant reds from tomatoes and peppers in October.
I like the names of the sections like "Overachievers". I very much like the comments and the emotions expressed.
Beautifully done, Michelle.
One year I assembled collages that included every harvest that I photographed for the month and it was interesting in it's own way, but you are right, you couldn't seethe details. But that method emphasized the color changes through the year which was what I most liked about it.
DeleteThank you so much Jane, I'm so glad you enjoyed it.
What a great year. I love the collages. They are a really nice way to reflect on the year. I am also in awe of your record keeping. So that is two new year's resolutions now - keep better harvesting records and better harvesting photo records.
ReplyDeleteThank you Joy. I do enjoy putting the collages together, as you say it's a great way to reflect on the year. I'll admit, I never kept good garden records until I started blogging. Between the blog and the ease of creating digital spreadsheets and notes it has never been easier to both record information and search through past records.
DeleteMichelle, I found your site a year ago when researching Couve Tronchuda and discovered Harvest Mondays. Now I check in most weeks and never fail to be inspired. I live on a suburban block in a city in subtropical Australia so our climate and the seasons are quite different. I dream of producing food in the quantities you do - perhaps one day. I love this synopsis with pictures and analysis of what worked and what didn't and I think I'll actually try to weigh and measure this year. It's easy to lose track of just how much you get out of the garden when there are no records. Cathie
ReplyDeleteThank you Cathie, it's always a treat to hear that my garden is an inspiration. One significant benefit that I've discovered from tracking my harvests is that it helps to know when I've harvested things, it helps with planning. I also keep track of when I sow seeds and plant things in the garden although I just keep that in monthly notes and not on a spreadsheet. I know for sure that better record keeping has made me a better gardener and that keeps me motivated to keep up with the sometimes tedious work of keeping track. Good luck!
DeleteYou do much better for harvests in May than we do. I hope that the little lizard in September’s collage didn’t end up on a plate. I did a similar blog post earlier and it was the changing colour palette that caught my eye too.
ReplyDeleteYou noticed the lizard! No we don't eat lizards around here but I had a gaping hole in that collage that needed filling and it fit the spot. It seemed appropriate since they are a constant presence in the garden.
DeleteYour harvests are always amazing, but the pepper yields are off the chart! And the collages are such a good way to show the harvests, along with the detailed analysis. I am curious about which of the mild mustard greens you liked best. I am just starting to experiment with them myself, and I'm always looking for more greens! I also need to remember to try squash vine shoots this year.
ReplyDeleteTwo of the mustards are from Wild Garden Seed whom I know you are familiar with. They are Pink Lettucy and Dragon Tongue/Ho-Mi Z. They have Dragon Tongue listed under the pungent mustards but I've found it to be pretty mild. And one other is Mizunarubasoi, a cross between mizuna, maruba, and tatsoi. And the Ethiopian Highland Mustard (formerly called kale) from Artisan Seeds is also mild.
DeleteYour collages are amazing - they not only highlight your wonderful harvests but your skill in photographing them! And I love, love, love your synopsis. I, for one, tend to forget the "why" of why things did well/not so well in short order so this would be a great, to-the-point reference.
ReplyDeleteThank you Margaret!
DeleteThis is a sexy spread. October and November, even more than the rest, look like something you'd see on the cover of a seed catalogue. Freakin gorgeous. The repeating circles with the bowls, shapes of squash, tomatoes, pepper stems curling... A+, 5 gold stars.
ReplyDeleteSad to hear about your garlic woes. I've read two articles now with different opinions, but this one (https://escholarship.org/uc/item/26p8x7cq) suggests that elephant garlic (which is actually a leek) may have greater resistance, or even be immune, to rust. Or at least some strains of it. I'm growing elephant garlic for the first time this year, from grocery store cloves of all things. Not the same as regular garlic, true, but might prove a fair substitute until your can plant proper garlic again. Excerpt:
"In 1998, following the very wet EI Niño weather event, a devastating outbreak of rust disease severely damaged the garlic crop in California. The disease also occurred in 1999 and 2000, indicating that rust may have developed into an annual problem. We identified the pathogen as Puccinia allii. In our study, it infected allium crops such as garlic, onion and chives, but not leek, elephant garlic or shallot. "
For my garden, Powdery Mildew is the biggest enemy -- I grow so many curcurbits it's just a matter of time. Diluted milk spray is the best I've found so far, though it's far from super effective. If you've got any hits, tips, or tricks, I'll gladly take them.
Looking forward to checking out your garden plan for 2018!
Wow, I don't know that I've ever had such a rave review! Thank you!
DeleteI wonder if the elephant garlic would be resistant since leeks are also off my grow list because of rust. For now I'm just going to rely on local garlic and onions from the farmers market.
Powdery mildew is a scourge in my garden also. One effective treatment that I've found is a 70% extract of Neem. You have to be careful with neem because it is oil based and can burn some foliage in hot weather and can leave a yucky tasting film on things like snap and snow peas (learned the hard way). The best thing about neem is that it's not very expensive. I've also used the brand named fungicides Actinovate and Serenade, both approved for organic growers, but they are expensive. Whatever you use it is most effective to treat your susceptible plants prophylactically, just don't let the grunge get started. You know the PM is going to show up so treat your plants before there are any signs of infection. I also rely more on varieties that are resistant.