Goal for 2022: 500 pounds of veggies from my little garden!
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Through October 31:
277.46 lbs. harvested, 222.54 lbs. to go!
Through September 30:
184.59 lbs. harvested, 315.41 lbs. to go!
Through August 31:
155.97 lbs. harvested, 344.03 lbs. to go!
Through July 31:
66.30 lbs. harvested, 433.70 lbs. to go!
Through June 30:
36.88 lbs. harvested, 463.12 to go!
Through May 31:
10.41 lbs. harvested, 489.59 lbs. to go!
Through April 30:
0.36 lbs. harvested, 499.64 lbs. to go!
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This is the plan, time and weather permitting. I probably should have invested in a computer-aided-garden-design program, but I can’t see spending the money. And, as a dedicated multitasker, it’s easier to just do it freehand while I’m sitting in my car on my lunch break at work.
The plan is to have something growing in every bed from spring through fall and to grow as wide a variety of vegetables as possible.
It weighed more than three pounds and took over two hours to cook. You don’t often see sweet potatoes like this in the store. With good reason. If “you eat with your eyes first” this one’s an appetite annihilator.
It was good though. Very sweet.
22o (Fahrenheit) Monday, the 28th. 23o Tuesday, the 29th. 25o Wednesday, the 30th. And the wind! Terrible! I thought I was going to lose everything.
If I’m going to grow 500 pounds of vegetables this year I have to start early. I had three and a half beds and five 25-gallon containers planted already and I could have cried when I saw the forecast.
The good news is that almost everything made it. The radishes, kale and chard survived under a thick layer of burlap. The broad beans pulled through under plastic sheeting. The kohlrabi, cabbage, broccoli, beets and sugar snap peas weathered the cold under a double layer of row cover and bed sheet. The carrot seedlings (in the same bed as the beets and snap peas) didn’t make it. The poor little things had really just sprouted when the cold spell hit. I’ll replant after a respectable period of mourning.
This Winter Density lettuce survived without any protection at all. Incredible.
I’ve never grown these before. Never seen them in the grocery store. Never (knowingly!) eaten them. But I was reading articles about crops that can be planted in late winter/early spring and these figured quite prominently. Apparently, in some parts of the world they’re a diet staple. And with good reason. A protein source that can be grown in the cooler months is rare. Most beans need the warmth of summer to grow and mature. A bean that thrives in cooler temps frees up garden space in the summer when everything else is growing.
One of the articles I read encouraged gardeners to plant these “extra early.” I planted them in containers in my zone 7A garden on February 17 (after soaking them the night before). The weather was still quite wintry so I threw some plastic sheeting over them for warmth. They didn’t sprout until March 10. I don’t know if this is because I planted them too early or if they always take that long to sprout. At any rate, they’re all up now.
Apparently they can be harvested at several different points in the growth cycle but I don’t know what those points are yet or which one I’ll choose. Or if I’ll be able to identify those growth cycle points when its time to choose. That won’t be an issue for at least 2 months. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.
Growing something new is fun!
This year’s goal is 500 pounds. It sounds like a big, scary, unattainable number, especially for a small garden, but I think it can be done. If I’m doing the math right, it’s really only 11% more than last year. So, if everything that did really well last year does really well this year, and the things that didn’t do so well do a little bit better, that number is possible.
I’ve added a few more containers to the planting area. Now I have six 4′ x 8′ beds, five 25-gallon containers, five 5-gallon containers, and 4 square feet of dirt that I plant along the fence. Which yields 192 + 13 + 4 + 4 = 213 square feet of growing area. I realize the actual enclosed area of the garden is bigger, but I don’t count walkways. Is that cheating? I don’t think so. The in-bed layout, timing and yield would be the same it it were all mashed into one long 4′ x 53.25′ plot. I wouldn’t be expected to count the perimeter walkways then. So I won’t now.
I wish I had room for a 4′ x 53.25′ row. More than one, actually. But that will never happen, for many reasons. Mainly because our quarter acre is completely crammed with shady maples and poorly placed structures. The backyard faces north-northeast. The front yard gets more sun, but it is the dog’s domain: plant life perishes in his presence. Lastly, any attempts to scratch out more garden space are met with stiff resistance, because some people in my house prefer grass to home-grown food.
I will do my best with what I have.
The dates listed below are not etched in stone. I think they will work for my garden in zone 7A (with a little help from some reliable season-extending equipment), but then again, maybe not. Work and weather tend to skew the schedule a bit. Planting crops even slightly out of season can be a real crapshoot, because the elements can get ugly in a hurry. I’ve learned the hard way that cloches and row covers are no match for an ice storm, and a heat wave in September can easily fry fall crops. To complicate things, my job gets crazy busy in the spring and summer. I’m gone most of the day, and I can’t plant if I’m not home. So, the dates listed below are ideal, calculated to get the highest yield from the greatest variety of vegetables possible. Weather and work will determine how close we get to them.
More importantly, the cultivars listed below aren’t there because I think they’re all fabulous. Some are: I’ve used them for years with great results. But not all. Some are there because a blurb in a seed catalog proclaimed them “high-yielding” or “extremely cold-tolerant”. Some are only there because I got the seeds for free with an early order. It’s important to try new things. We’ll find out how good they are when we total up the yield at harvest time.
January
22: Start indoors, under lights: 10 kohlrabi (Early White Vienna), 10 broccoli (Eastern Magic), 4 red cabbage (Ruby Perfection) and 6 green cabbage (Ferry’s Round Dutch).
February
1: Start indoors, under lights: flat of onions (200 seeds of Patterson), at least 15 leeks (American Flag), 2 chard (Bright Lights), 1 kale (Red Russian) and 9 lettuce (Winter Density).
9: Move three 25 gallon containers into sunny area in garden, add compost and cover with plastic.
15: Start indoors, under lights: 2 early tomatoes (1 Stupice, 1 Early Doll) and 8 lettuce (Winter Density). Soak broad bean seeds in water overnight.
16: Plant broad beans (Broad Windsor) in prepared containers, set up supports and cover with plastic.
March
1: Direct sow snap peas (Sugar Sprint), carrots (Nutri-Red) and beets (Detroit Dark Red) in garden. Cover with a row cover. Start potato seeds (whole packet of Clancy) indoors, under lights. Start 8 lettuce (Winter Density) indoors, under lights. Transplant lettuce from 2/1. Direct sow 2 square feet of radishes. Begin hardening off cabbage, kohlrabi, broccoli, kale and chard.
7: Start 3 bell (California Wonder 300 TMR) and 2 poblano (Baron F1) peppers indoors, under lights. **Note – I might not need all of these. I saved 3 pepper plants from last year (2 poblano and 1 bell). I dug them up last fall, stuffed them into 5 gallon containers and stuck them in the basement. They look dead, but if, perchance, they are still alive, I’ll move them outside around mid-April.**
15: Transplant cabbage, kohlrabi, broccoli, kale and chard. Start 8 lettuce (Winter Density) indoors, under lights. Transplant lettuce from 2/15.
20: Begin hardening off onions, leeks and early tomatoes. Direct sow 2 square feet of radishes (Easter Basket Mix).
April
1: Transplant onions and leeks into garden. Cover with a row cover. Transplant early tomatoes into 5 gallon containers. Start 3 eggplant (Black Beauty) and 8 lettuce (Winter Density) indoors, under lights. Transplant lettuce from 3/1. Start hardening off potatoes.
7: Start 4 main crop tomatoes (Cherokee Purple? Brandywine? Beefsteak? I haven’t decided which varieties yet!) indoors, under lights. Direct seed 2 square feet of radishes (Easter Basket Mix).
15: Transplant potatoes. Start 8 lettuce (Prizehead) indoors, under lights. Transplant lettuce from 3/15.
20: Start hardening off peppers.
May
1: Transplant peppers to containers. Start 8 lettuce (Prizehead) indoors, under lights. Transplant lettuce from 4/1.
7: Plant Block #1 of corn (Sweetness).
15: Direct sow zucchini (Zucchino Rampicante) and cucumbers (Homemade Pickles) along fence. Start 8 lettuce (Prizehead) indoors, under lights. Transplant lettuce from 4/15. Start hardening off sweet potatoes, main crop tomatoes and eggplant.
21: Plant Block #2 of corn (Sweetness).
June
1: Transplant sweet potatoes and main crop tomatoes. Start 2 more quick-growing tomatoes indoors, under lights. Transplant eggplants to 25 gallon containers after broad beans are harvested. Direct seed pole beans (Stringless Blue Lake S-7) and winter squash (Musquee de Maroc). Transplant lettuce from 5/1.
4: Plant Block #3 of corn (Sweetness).
15: Transplant lettuce from 5/15.
July
1: Start indoors, under lights: 3 red cabbage (Ruby Perfection) and 4 green cabbage (Ferry’s Round Dutch). Start hardening off last 2 tomato plants.
15: Transplant last 2 tomatoes to containers. Start indoors, under lights: 6 white cauliflower (Rober), 6 green cauliflower (Romanesco Italia) and 6 orange cauliflower (Cheddar).
August
1: Start 8 lettuce (Prizehead) indoors, under lights.
8: Start hardening off cabbage.
15: Direct sow 3 rows of carrots (Rainbow Mix) and 3 rows of beets (Detroit Dark Red). Start 8 lettuce (Prizehead) indoors, under lights.
21: Transplant cabbage. Start hardening off cauliflower.
September
1: Transplant cauliflower into garden, containers, and any other available space. Start lettuce (Winter Density) indoors, under lights. Transplant lettuce from 8/1.
7: Direct sow 3 more rows of carrots (Rainbow Mix) and 2 more rows of beets (Detroit Dark Red).
15: Start 8 lettuce (Winter Density) indoors, under lights. Transplant lettuce from 8/15. Direct sow 2 square feet of radishes (Easter Basket Mix).