Starting to get a bit chilly. Hasn't been a frost yet, but soon I'm sure. Got me thinking about how things have gone over the past four years, and what I've learned in the process. And of course a bit of planning for next year.
2008
The first gardening season in our place. Didn't go too nuts, just built a couple raised beds out back and planted some tomatoes and zucchini.
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| Raised beds, 2008 |
What did well
- Rutgers tomatoes
- Zucchini
What I learned
- I needed more space
- Zucchini are awesome, and I don't tire of it easily
2009
It was as if the gardening gods decided to let me have a good year to get me hooked. I assumed things would only get better. Ha! I tilled up a bit more ground for planting and tried some new veggies.
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| New plot, 2009 |
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| Beans, 2009 |
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| Tomatoes, 2009 |
What did well
- Green beans, but I didn't plant many
What did poorly
- Tomatoes, deer ate most of them
- Zucchini, well, maybe not poorly, but squash borers did a number on them
- Eggplant, ended up with less than 1 per plant
What I learned
- I need to keep the deer out!
- I need to do something about squash borers
This year inspired me to try growing tomatoes in the basement (and start this blog). That wasn't very successful either. But it was fun.
2010
The year the fence went up. Definitely the biggest change to the backyard. And it did keep out the deer. But I was introduced to a new enemy - the squirrels.
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| The fence, 2010 |
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| Peppers, 2010 |
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| Different tomato varieties, 2010 |
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| Butternut Squash, 2010 |
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| Anti-squirrel cage, 2010 |
What did well
- Butternut Squash
- Peppers
- Cucumbers
- Garlic
What did poorly
- Tomatoes, due to the squirrel invasion
- Zucchini, due to the borers
- Corn, due to various wildlife
What I learned
- Squirrels eat tomatoes, the only reliable defense is a chicken wire cage
- Same for corn
- Barley is too much of a hassle
- Upside down tomatoes only did so-so
2011
Didn't really feel like a spectacular year, although we did ok.
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| Cherry tomatoes, 2011 |
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| Weird pepper crosses, 2011 |
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| Basil, 2011 |
What did well
- Basil
- Garlic, although the cloves were small
- Tomatoes did better than the last few years
- Few pumpkins out back, 10 small pumpkins from a random pumpkin plant that sprang up out front
- Ping Tung Long Eggplants, restoring my faith in eggplant!
What did poorly
- Zucchini, hardly got any
- Green beans, mostly due to my neglect
- Peppers were a big mess, most of the seeds I had didn't even sprout. Others were not what I expected
What I learned
- Buy pepper seeds from a catalog!
- Set up cage next year for tomatoes and corn
- Basil does great and doesn't need much space, plant in small pots next year
- Cherry tomatoes, particularly Sun Gold for the front porch next year
- I need to plant more dill for pickles
- Plant garlic a bit earlier
