How to Grow Your Own Food – 6/26/2013 Garden Tally

This year I’m on a mission to grow 4,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables in my suburban backyard. In 2012 I was able to grow 2,028 pounds, and in 2013 I’m going double or nothing. I have absolutely no idea if I’ll be able to achieve my goal. But, as with any adventure, half the fun is getting there.   ~Mavis

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This past week we harvested over 34 pounds of goodness from our backyard garden bringing our total to just over 124 pounds so far for 2013. Will I make it to 2 tons? Who know, but I’m having fun and that’s what counts! 😉

Here is what I have harvested so far this year:

Basil – 7 ounces

Our second round of basil is poking through the soil in the greenhouse. I LOVE making fresh pesto.

Beets – 14 ounces

I planted yet another row of beets over the weekend. Looks like roasted beets will be on the menu this fall, that’s for sure.

Bok Choy – 4 oz

Check out this Asian Noodle Salad with Bok Choy I made. It’s pretty awesome.

Broccoli – 11 ounces

Our lone head of spring broccoli. Hopefully it will do better this fall.

Cabbage – 14 pounds 12 ounces

We harvested several heads of cabbage last week. I’ll be sharing my cabbage recipes soon. 🙂

Carrots – 3 ounces

I’m happy to announce our carrots are FINALLY popping through the soil. Hurry! This is the first time I can remember having to plant them so many times. Note to self: seriously amend the soil asap.

Chives – 14 ounces

We are picking about an ounce a week to use in recipes.

Egg Count – 1,514

We collected  64 eggs this past week. I’m not sure what’s going on with the hens, maybe they are on strike or just to bust taking dirt baths to lay eggs.

Kale – 3 pounds 4 ounces

Oh yum! 😉

Kohlrabi 9 ounces

It’s still sitting in the refrigerator! 😉

Lettuce – 28 pounds 2 ounces

We finally got around to harvesting most of the lettuce this past week from the pallet garden. Let’s just say we’ve had our fill of salad for a while.

Microgreens 5 ounces

I need to grow some more of these. My favorite way to eat microgreens is with egg salad sandwiches.

Mint 5 oz

I made some blueberry mint jam and also harvested some mint for tea.

Oregano – 5 ounce

Peas – 20 pounds 2 ounces

We can seem to stop eating sugar snap peas with garlic. Our snap peas are don for this season be we still have green arrow peas growing and I’ll probably plant some sugar snap peas again in the fall.

Potatoes – 3 pounds 6 ounces

While chasing after Lucy we stumpled up a compost heap with potato plants growing so we stopped and harvested a few new potatoes.

Radish – 22 pounds 2 ounces

I won’t plant radishes again until the fall, but they were sure nice when we had them. If you have some radishes and fresh peas on hand, you should try my sugar snap pea and radish salad.

Sage – 14 ounces

Stay tuned to see what I’m doing with this!

Spinach – 15 ounces

Sprouts –2 pounds 2 ounces

Here are instructions for growing your own sprouts.

Strawberries 8 pounds 2 ounce

The strawberries are still rolling in.Last week I made strawberry kiwi jam, strawberry freezer jam, strawberry pie, and another 2 batches of homemade strawberry shortcake. Plus we have had strawberry shortcake for dinner three times!

Swiss Chard 2 pounds 15 ounces

When my parents came for Father’s Day my mom went home with a sack full a Swiss chard and kale {thank goodness!}.

Wheatgrass – 7 ounces

Total Food Harvested in 2013: 124 pounds 6 ounces

Total Eggs Collected in 2013: 1,514

If you are new to gardening or just want to learn more on the topic of organic gardening, my #1 favorite book is The Gardener’s A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food By Tanya L.K. Denckla.