The garden is done for the year, and I am seriously bummed.
Before you ask: No, I didn't plant any cool weather crops. I started a new job in August, and thought I would be totally overwhelmed and planting a 'new' set of crops would be a waste of money.
I was partially right. At first I was totally overwhelmed with my new job, and I could barely remember to feed the chickens, let alone spend an hour tending the garden. Now that I have my feet under me again, I think I could have planted a few things.
Regardless, I was soooooo impressed with my garden this year. Hell yes, I'm going to brag - it was off the hook! What makes this season even better is that the ladies just started laying 2 weeks ago. Two of the girls are laying (not sure which two…), and between them we are getting an egg a day, sometimes two a day.
Anyway, back to the garden.
I had beans, tomatoes, herbs, onions, peppers, leaf lettuce and other greens to share all summer long. John and I ate as much as we could, and we passed on the surplus to family and friends. Random neighbors got bags of goodies that could rival a small CSA membership. Every potluck I attended featured a recipe that would use up all those stinkin' green beans. We even put a table out on the front sidewalk with a few bowls of produce (and our blog business cards, of course!).
One of our goals this year was to build a sense of community and raise interest in urban farming. I would say sharing the fruit of our labors helped accomplish that goal.
Another goal was to eat as much fresh produce as possible while in peak-season, but we did manage to preserve a bit of our garden goodness. We put up (or froze):
Before you ask: No, I didn't plant any cool weather crops. I started a new job in August, and thought I would be totally overwhelmed and planting a 'new' set of crops would be a waste of money.
I was partially right. At first I was totally overwhelmed with my new job, and I could barely remember to feed the chickens, let alone spend an hour tending the garden. Now that I have my feet under me again, I think I could have planted a few things.
Regardless, I was soooooo impressed with my garden this year. Hell yes, I'm going to brag - it was off the hook! What makes this season even better is that the ladies just started laying 2 weeks ago. Two of the girls are laying (not sure which two…), and between them we are getting an egg a day, sometimes two a day.
Anyway, back to the garden.
I had beans, tomatoes, herbs, onions, peppers, leaf lettuce and other greens to share all summer long. John and I ate as much as we could, and we passed on the surplus to family and friends. Random neighbors got bags of goodies that could rival a small CSA membership. Every potluck I attended featured a recipe that would use up all those stinkin' green beans. We even put a table out on the front sidewalk with a few bowls of produce (and our blog business cards, of course!).
One of our goals this year was to build a sense of community and raise interest in urban farming. I would say sharing the fruit of our labors helped accomplish that goal.
Another goal was to eat as much fresh produce as possible while in peak-season, but we did manage to preserve a bit of our garden goodness. We put up (or froze):
- 5 quart baggies of green pepper strips
- 5 quart baggies of sliced/diced banana peppers
- 2 quart baggies of diced jalapeño peppers
- 5 gallon baggies of cored, whole tomatoes (to be processed into sauce this winter)
- 12 quart baggies of shredded/sliced carrots
- 2 quart baggies of shredded/sliced zucchini
- 6 half-pints of jalapeño jelly
In our pantry, we still have a small variety of home-canned items from last year, like:
How did your garden do this year? What did you preserve?
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- Whole crushed tomatoes
- Mexican-seasoned tomatoes
- Salsa
- Strawberry jelly
- Grape jelly
- Peach jelly
- and frozen sweet corn in the deep freeze
How did your garden do this year? What did you preserve?
The garden was bountiful here in MN- many tomatoes, squash, radishes, and zucchini. The peppers took a lot of time to mature, but I did end up getting a handful of jalepenos and other peppers. This was my first year canning, so I canned some tomatoes and apples. Our apple trees gave us 25 gallons of apples! I plan on planting some more fruit trees next year, and we also are hoping to get some blueberries from some newly-planted bushes. I just hope I can keep the soil acidic enough for them!
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