2021 Garden Yield – Grow All I Can

February 2, 2022

Annual totals 2021

Vegetable	Weight (pounds)	$ Price per pound (Conventional)	Total $ Value (Conventional)	Total $ Value (Organic-30% more)

Lettuce	6.52	2.49	16.23	21.11
Kohlrabi	11.99	0.99	11.87	15.43
Broccoli	10.98	2.49	27.34	35.54
Sugar Snap Peas	3.29	4.99	16.42	21.34
Cabbage	42.70	0.79	33.73	43.85
Radishes	0.23	1.49	0.34	0.45
Beets & Greens	15.38	2.49	38.30	49.79
Carrots	6.73	1.00	6.73	8.75
Onions	83.17	0.80	66.54	86.50
Green Beans	11.30	1.99	22.49	29.23
Bell Peppers (Red)	5.77	2.99	17.25	22.43
Poblano Peppers	12.05	3.99	48.08	62.50
Tomatoes	40.49	2.49	100.82	131.07
Zucchini	55.37	1.49	82.50	107.25
Cucumbers	39.99	1.30	51.99	67.58
Eggplant	10.38	1.99	20.66	26.85
Corn	10.03	1.50	15.05	19.56
Potatoes	9.47	0.80	7.58	9.85
Butternut Squash	15.39	1.49	22.93	29.81
Sweet Potatoes	57.75	0.99	57.17	74.32

Total	448.98		664.01	863.21

2021 Total Vegetable Yield

448.98 pounds of veggies from 200 square feet of growing area. Worth over $600 using conventional pricing, so I definitely made back what it cost me to grow it (around $200? I have to check.) Not too shabby. Last year’s yield was a paltry 250 pounds. My goal this year was 50% more, or 375 pounds, which I exceeded by almost 75 pounds.

Some things didn’t do as well as I would have liked. I let the lettuce fizzle out when summer rolled around and never got back to it. Ditto for the radishes. I never even picked the chard, which was decimated by sun and bugs. Less than 6 pounds of red bell peppers. Less than 10 pounds of potatoes. And the tomatoes, only 40 pounds? Yeesh.

I was happy with the yield of the cabbage, zucchini, sweet potatoes and cucumbers.

The onion yield was good, but it only lasted about 6 months. I could use twice that. And it wasn’t a good storage variety, so I had to chop them up and throw them in the freezer.

So I know what I need to work on for 2022. Basically, I want more of everything.

October 17, 2021

We Did It!

With the help of three little tomatoes and several not-so-little squash we surpassed our goal of harvesting 375 pounds of veggies from the garden this year! As of October 15 our total is 377.55 pounds – and there’s still more to pick, like sweet potatoes, broccoli, cabbage, chard, bell and poblano peppers, butternut squash, and even a few carrots.

We’ll wait till everything is harvested before we set next year’s goal.

October 15, 2021

Butternut Squash Harvest

butternut squash growing in garden — Harvest time!

I couldn’t wait any longer. I think they were ready, anyway. I picked seven. If you look closely there’s another one growing in the back of the bed in the center. He’s still green so I have to leave him there for a few weeks.

A week before I picked them I discovered a nest, in the ground, large enough to compromise the integrity of two of my four plants. I don’t know what kind of animal it was, but the nest was about eight inches deep, full of fur, and invisible until the plants started to die back in September. I hope the babies were ready to leave when their cover was blown.

Next year I’m going to grow my butternut squash on a fence or trellis to open up some garden space.

Variety: Waldo PMR F1 by Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Four plants, direct seeded in the garden, the first week of June. Harvested September 21. Yield to date: 14.13 pounds (there’s still one more out there)

October 3, 2021October 3, 2021

Zucchetta

This plant is amazing. As of September 30, I’ve harvested 48.36 pounds this year – from two plants that only take up two square feet of garden space.

As you can see from the photos below, there’s a lot more squash in my future.

It may not be suitable for all gardens, but if you have a fence for it to run on, it’s definitely worth the space. Last year I stopped picking them sometime in September so the fruits that were on the vine could ripen into winter squash. I didn’t think the winter version was as good as a butternut squash, so I’m not doing that this year. This year I’m going to keep picking as long as they’re producing.

I might, however, need more seeds. The ones I have are at least two years old. It might be prudent to let one fruit ripen enough to produce viable seeds so I know I’m set for next year.

September 30, 2021

Corn Harvest

I’m thrilled with my corn harvest. Now, they were on the small side (about 7 ounces each), but as you can see from the above picture, they were absolutely beautiful! And delicious! I picked 25 ears out of my little corn patch.

Since I planted them at the same time, I had to harvest them at the same time, so the two of us ate corn every night for two weeks. I didn’t want to leave the ripe ears on the plants, for fear that the bugs might get to them, so some of them spent some time in the refrigerator. They held up very well.

But a fortnight of mandatory corn consumption gives one a new appreciation for succession planting.

Actually, I’ve always appreciated and understood the value of succession planting, and I do it with lettuce and beets and carrots almost every year. But corn, I was always told, needs to be planted in a “good-sized block” to ensure good pollination. Since succession planting in a small garden means planting a little at a time, planting a “good-sized block” every two weeks is out of the question. Pollinating by hand is the solution. As soon as the silks started to show I broke off a tassel and dusted them with pollen. I did this for about a week or so, till all of the silks turned dark in color. I don’t think the ears would have been as full if I hadn’t helped them along.

Next year I’m going to start ten plants every two weeks, from the middle of May till the end of June. I think as long as I plan to help with pollination, the results will be fabulous!

Bonus! I have a head start on my Halloween decorations!

Variety: “On Deck” from Burpee, Harvested from August 16 through 29. Yield: 10.03 pounds

September 8, 2021

Enough Cucumbers, Eggplants and Beans for Now

I think 40 pounds of cucumbers is enough. I’ve marinated them, tossed them in salads, stuffed them with herbed goat cheese and pickled them, and I confess, I don’t know what else to do. I did see online that they’re good grilled, which I may try this weekend (with the ten that I still have in my crisper drawer). The plants are still loaded with flowers and baby cukes, but it’s time to be done. I said this last year, but this time I really mean it: Next year I’m only growing one cucumber plant. Even two is too much to keep up with.

Variety: Homemade Pickles. Two plants, direct seeded in the garden the first week of June, Final Yield: 39.99 lbs. (though it could have been much more)

These plants show no signs of slowing down!

baby cucumbers — These plants show no signs of slowing down!

I think I’ve had enough eggplant too. Ten pounds is more than we usually eat in a year, and I’ve harvested that in the last month. This year I planted three, next year I think one will suffice.

Variety: Black Beauty. Three plants, started indoors, under grow lights in mid-March, and transplanted into the garden the first week of June. Final Yield: 10.38 lbs. (though it could have been more).

While I’m not tired of the beans, the plants do seem to be slowing down. I don’t think I gave them enough room. They grew up the trellis, then down the trellis, then up the trellis again. They’re looking a little scraggly, so I’m going to take those out too, and give the sweet potatoes room to grow. Next year I’d like to plant twice as many beans, so I have plenty to freeze. This year I only had one 8 foot row, and a sparse one at that.

Variety: Seychelles. One 8′ row direct seeded in the garden the first week of June. Final Yield: 11.31 lbs. (though it could have been more).

August 15, 2021

More Than Last Year!

It’s August 15 and today I surpassed last year’s yield of 250 pounds. Picking these six eggplant helped.

I need to harvest another 125 pounds to meet my goal, but the garden’s still going strong, so it’s definitely doable.

The zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, corn, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, beans and cucumbers are still producing. Plus, I planted broccoli (under the row cover), cabbage, carrots, beets and radishes to harvest in the fall. I’m also going to start some lettuce.

August 2, 2021

2021: Spring Broccoli

I’ve had some issues with broccoli in the past.

I expected them to grow fast, produce a good size head and then hold in the garden till I had time to deal with them.

I was usually disappointed.

Until now. I think I’ve found the variety for me. Eastern Magic by Johnny’s Selected seeds is early enough, productive enough and sturdy enough to make it a spring staple in the garden.

I started 10 plants on February 15th, and fertilized them twice before transplanting them the first week of April. I covered them with a row cover, because (I think) everything grows better under a row cover. Also, we had a very cold spring and this way they were protected if things got frosty out there.

May 30th: So far I’ve harvested 5 broccoli crowns and a bunch of side shoots. Tomorrow I’ll pick the rest and pull the plants from the ground. Since broccoli are heavy feeders, I’ll work some fertilizer into the soil before the next planting.

I picked these guys on May 31:

So the grand total for the spring harvest was 8.15 pounds of broccoli. I only included the crowns and the side shoots in the weight, because those are the only parts we eat! The other parts of the plant went into the compost pile.

I have a few seeds left so I’m going to start a fall crop around mid-June.

July 31, 2021

2021: Onions, Part 3 : Harvesting

July 22, 2021: So I picked a few onions today…

I wish I could say that I just threw these in the ground and never gave them another thought-but that would be a lie. I weeded and fertilized religiously, covered them with a sheet of plywood when a hailstorm threatened, and checked them every morning for signs of bugs, disease or failure to thrive. For almost six months I babied them. I was onion-obsessed. Now it’s harvest time and they’re fabulous and I can’t believe how stupid I am.

For some reason I was under the impression that Ailsa Craig was a good storage onion. It is not! I repeat, it is not! The storage potential is less than three months. My dreams of a midwinter root cellar overflowing with onions are dashed.

I’m going to go through the curing process anyway. Three months is better than nothing. I guess I’ll be freezing the rest. Or drying. I’ve never done that but now would be a great time to try, I think.

Anyway, I’m going to let them cure in the sun for a few days and then I’ll cut away the leaves and the roots and weigh them. I’m hoping for about fifty pounds.

July 29, 2021: So I let them dry in the sun for a week, and this is what they look like now. I can’t leave them outside any longer because rain is in the forecast for the next week or so. I’ve got to clean them up and get them in the house.

And here they are! I removed the leaves and roots and weighed them and now I have a horrendous headache from onion fume inhalation. It was worth it, though. I was hoping for fifty pounds, but I got eighty! Woo Hoo!

The onions in the basket will be taken into the basement and spread out on a table to (hopefully!) dry out a little more. The ones sitting on the deck are a little soft in spots so I’m going to cook those right away.

While they’re cooking I’m going to start planning next year’s onion crop-this time I’ll make sure it’s one with good storage potential.

June 30, 2021

June 29, 2021: On Track To Meet My Goal?

THE TIME ASPECT:

So far we’re 99 days into a 245 day growing season. The unofficial start of my growing season was March 23 (The day I direct seeded the beets, carrots and sugar snap peas outside, in the garden) and will probably end around November 23 (The day I pull most of the carrots for Thanksgiving dinner). I did start a bunch of stuff inside, under the lights, in February, but that doesn’t really count. So lets see if I’m on track.

99 days/245 days * 100 = 40.41%

So 40.41% of the growing season is past, have I grown 40.41% of the vegetables I said I was going to grow? The yield through June 29 is 93.01 pounds.

93.01 lbs./375 lbs. *100 = 24.80%

No, I have not. Not even close.

I’m worried, but hopeful, for three reasons.

Onions: They occupied all of Bed #2 for the last three months, but contributed nothing to the above total. That will change in the next few weeks.
Summer stuff: I imagine once the summer stuff starts coming in (hello, zucchini!) the numbers should add up quickly.
Another round of cabbage: I harvested 40 pounds of it in the spring. I’m counting on a fall crop of another 40 to put me over the top.

THE SPACE ASPECT:

As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I’ve got about 208 square feet to work with. That means I have to produce 1.8 pounds of vegetables per square foot, or 57.6 pounds per 4′ x 8′ bed. How am I doing?

Bed #1: kohlrabi and cabbage, 11.99 + 42.70 = 54.69 pounds. Almost there! And now the cole crops have been replaced with tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.

Bed #2: onions, not harvested yet, 0 pounds.

Bed #3: sugar snap peas, carrots and beets, 3.3 + 4.74 + 15.38 = 23.42 pounds. Oh dear. Not even halfway there.

Bed #4: broccoli, 8.15 pounds. Long way (49.45 pounds) to go! Hopefully the corn and butternut squash that’s planted there now makes up for it.

Bed #5: no spring crop, 0 pounds.

Bed #6: lettuce and radishes, 6.52 + 0.23 = 6.75 pounds. Well, I suppose it’s better than nothing. The salad bed started out good in April but fell apart in June. It’s time to get serious about salad.

So, space wise, the yield looks like this:

93.01 lbs/ 208 square feet = 0.45 lbs/square foot, which is 25% of the 1.8 lbs/square foot goal.

CONCLUSION:

With 40% of the growing season gone, I’ve only produced 25% of my goal. I am officially behind schedule.