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Had a good summer garden, tons of fresh food, put up about 40 quarts of salsa and smaller number of quarts of tomato sauce. Will do more tomato sauce next year. It was hard to tell how it was going to turn out while we were processing it. But having used a couple jars of it now, I'm definitely going to do more next year.
Tomatoes are an excellent crop for augmenting food storage. One plant producing multiple times versus say a corn plant which has to grow 4-5 feet tall and uses a boatload of nutrients to produce (usually) just one fruit. We did Roma, Cherry and Big Boy tomatoes this year. The Big Boys were a waste and I wouldn't bother with them again- got too big, split before ripening and seemed to get 100% more bug attraction than the Romas and cherry tomato plants not far from them.
This year because we built the greenhouse last fall, we were able to start everything from seed. As buying starter plants in cups has gotten very expensive, this saved us a ton of money this year. We saved a ton of seed this year as well.
At peak of the season, early July'ish we were picking a five gallon bucket a couple times a week.
We did put up a big sunshade over a couple rows of tomatoes and that seemed to extend the harvest for a few weeks past when they normally all die out because of the 110+ heat. No matter how often you run irrigation, they seem to never make it much past August. There is currently a handful of stragglers, all Romas that are hanging on but the production is way down. I need to just pull them but haven't yet.
Peppers we have gotten well into the winter before, often till the first true freeze. What's interesting with this first year with the greenhouse is that I figured tomatoes would do well in the greenhouse this summer- nope. Grew and got leggy but only a handful of tomatoes in the greenhouse. Even with doors open, fans running it averages about 10 degrees higher than outside. Peppers are still doing well in the greenhouse and with any luck will greatly extend them in there. BIL that lives nearby kept some pepper plants going a few years in his greenhouse. I hope to do the same.
So besides a few eggplant, it's slim pickens out there now, but we do get a little something every day-
And every little bit counts. Here is some food and some medicine we are growing. Couple of lime trees in the greenhouse that are going gangbusters, some Elderberries from the bushes we planted, some Echinacea to also dry and tincture and then a few lunches of omelets courtesy of the gals paying their rent!!!
Most of the main garden area is now covered with old billboard vinyl ads- they make great heavy duty tarps. Kills weeds, bakes the soil a bit during this weather. When we are ready to plant again we just fold them up and move them and the ground is there ready to go. Normally we will till in a few wheelbarrows of chicken and rabbit manure as well, and we heavily use hay to mulch around plants and heavily on pathways, so that is always rotting and tilled back in also.
Keeping a written chart of where things were planted each season helps with rotation so you don't keep growing something in the same place.
For our area, winter gardens are always iffy, hence why I built the greenhouse which kicked butt last year keeping us in produce right up till April/early May. We are going to try more of a winter outside garden this year also. Already started some brocolli in cups but it's evidently still waaaay too hot for that- about 3 dozen cups all died in the last two weeks. Will wait a couple weeks and try some starts again in early October.
How did your garden do this year?
Tomatoes are an excellent crop for augmenting food storage. One plant producing multiple times versus say a corn plant which has to grow 4-5 feet tall and uses a boatload of nutrients to produce (usually) just one fruit. We did Roma, Cherry and Big Boy tomatoes this year. The Big Boys were a waste and I wouldn't bother with them again- got too big, split before ripening and seemed to get 100% more bug attraction than the Romas and cherry tomato plants not far from them.
This year because we built the greenhouse last fall, we were able to start everything from seed. As buying starter plants in cups has gotten very expensive, this saved us a ton of money this year. We saved a ton of seed this year as well.
At peak of the season, early July'ish we were picking a five gallon bucket a couple times a week.
We did put up a big sunshade over a couple rows of tomatoes and that seemed to extend the harvest for a few weeks past when they normally all die out because of the 110+ heat. No matter how often you run irrigation, they seem to never make it much past August. There is currently a handful of stragglers, all Romas that are hanging on but the production is way down. I need to just pull them but haven't yet.
Peppers we have gotten well into the winter before, often till the first true freeze. What's interesting with this first year with the greenhouse is that I figured tomatoes would do well in the greenhouse this summer- nope. Grew and got leggy but only a handful of tomatoes in the greenhouse. Even with doors open, fans running it averages about 10 degrees higher than outside. Peppers are still doing well in the greenhouse and with any luck will greatly extend them in there. BIL that lives nearby kept some pepper plants going a few years in his greenhouse. I hope to do the same.
So besides a few eggplant, it's slim pickens out there now, but we do get a little something every day-
And every little bit counts. Here is some food and some medicine we are growing. Couple of lime trees in the greenhouse that are going gangbusters, some Elderberries from the bushes we planted, some Echinacea to also dry and tincture and then a few lunches of omelets courtesy of the gals paying their rent!!!
Most of the main garden area is now covered with old billboard vinyl ads- they make great heavy duty tarps. Kills weeds, bakes the soil a bit during this weather. When we are ready to plant again we just fold them up and move them and the ground is there ready to go. Normally we will till in a few wheelbarrows of chicken and rabbit manure as well, and we heavily use hay to mulch around plants and heavily on pathways, so that is always rotting and tilled back in also.
Keeping a written chart of where things were planted each season helps with rotation so you don't keep growing something in the same place.
For our area, winter gardens are always iffy, hence why I built the greenhouse which kicked butt last year keeping us in produce right up till April/early May. We are going to try more of a winter outside garden this year also. Already started some brocolli in cups but it's evidently still waaaay too hot for that- about 3 dozen cups all died in the last two weeks. Will wait a couple weeks and try some starts again in early October.
How did your garden do this year?