My Edible Garden

I've been gardening for most of my life and have been a devoted fan of organic gardening the whole time. It just makes so much more sense to work in harmony with Mother Nature than to fight her. Besides which it is better for the planet and better for our bodies. Here you can see what I'm planting and harvesting, with gardening hints and resources thrown in for good measure.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Harvest Monday

Baby Lettuce, viola blossoms, mustard, kale, chickweed, yellow marble tomatoes
Happy New Year! Welcome to Harvest Monday, a blog hop hosted by Daphne at Daphne's Dandelions. Stop by her page and visit with gardeners around the world!

This is my wrap up for 2011. Still harvesting baby lettuces, with bits of kale, chickweed, red mustard, arugula and spinach. The violas and violets are still blooming and amazingly enough the yellow marble tomato plant is still ripening fruit.This was my last harvest of 2011. For 2012 I will be ramping up production in all areas. Next fall should see more greens and root crops as well as cauliflower and broccoli in the fall and early winter. As soon as the weather is warmer there will be beans, squash, tomatoes and corn. Considering that I didn't really plant much until September, I think the garden has done very well.

Total poundage harvest in 2011, 24 pounds, worth about $87 at the grocery store. This was harvested from just 86 square feet of garden space. The garden is of course bigger than  that and there is a lot more planted right now, broccoli, cauliflower and peas, especially, but they are not ready to pick yet. This year I will also be trying to keep track of expenses. At the moment I have plenty of seeds from past years and only really needed to order a few larger tomatoes for processing, some sweet corn and cucumbers. I have really restrained myself when it came to ordering seeds! About the only other thing I will be ordering will be seed potatoes as I intend to grow a large amount of potatoes this year.

13 comments:

  1. Tomatoes?! In January?! Oh my goodness! Congrats on your 2011 total! I just love adding it all up!

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  2. I've contemplated doing the weighing and expense tracking in the past but decided it would often be just "too much" for my to-do list. And, ultimately, we don't garden just to save money (which it may or may not do); we do it because it's good for the soul and very satisfying to grow your own food. You can't place a monetary value on that...

    Tomatoes at the end of December is just amazing!

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  3. I am in awe of your getting tomatoes at this time of year - well done! The greens look delicious too. I hope your 2012 garden produces beautifully for you. Happy New Year!

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  4. Love the look of those tomatoes. They make my mouth water looking at them. What is your average low temp where you are?

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  5. Your planting season is quite different from ours. What zone are you in?

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  6. Thanks everyone! I'm in about 8a. I'm at 3300 ft. but I'm down in the bottom of a canyon, so there is only direct sun from about 9-3 during the winter. There's more info about the site and climate on the tab Garden Location and Background, or go http://edible-garden.blogspot.com/p/garden-location-and-background.html

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  7. I hope you have a wonderful year this coming year!

    Lynn

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  8. That's a very pretty harvest - love the flowers, must have been a nice salad.

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  9. Wow, that's a great harvest for this time of the year!

    Here's to a Great and Bountiful Gardening Year for you!

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  10. Great harvest. The flowers are pretty. I hope you have tons of success with your potatoes this year!

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  11. Hi Mary I received the seeds yesterday and the lovely letter.
    Good luck with the potatoes.

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  12. I found that yellow cherry tomatoes very hot and cold hardy. They don't seems to require that much light to ripen compare with other tomatoes. Nice harvest!

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  13. Fantastic work! I look forward to reading more about your garden this year! I tracked expenses somewhat last year as well. In the spring I was discouraged by the upfront costs, but easily made the money back in harvests. This year I won't feel as bad about the out of pocket costs... watch out, wallet! Kidding.

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