As the 2013 growing season comes to an end, it’s obvious that I didn’t quite reach my goal of growing 2 tons of food in my little ol’ backyard garden. And many people would be totally bummed about that. Not this girl. I’m freakin stoked! I grew 1,500+ pounds of food! And not to toot my own horn, but in my book that makes me a gardening rock star.
It took a lot of work, but I’d much rather roll up my sleeves and dig in the dirt to feed my family healthy, organic produce than overpay for it at the grocery store. Knowing exactly where my food came from makes me happy. It’s not feasible in our family to always eat local or organic, so growing my garden makes me feel like I’m doing my part.
Now does it take 1,500 pounds of food to do your part? Nah. If you’ve grown a garden that produced only a carrot or two, my hats off to you. You’re growing something, and that is awesome!
Now check out what my garden looked like over the past 12 months. It’s so cool to see a garden in its various stages of producing almost a ton of food!
January 2013:
February 2013:
March 2013:
April 2013:
May 2013:
June 2013:
July 2013:
August 2013:
September 2013:
October 2013:
November 2013:
December 2013:
And there you have it folks. One awesome garden over the course of 12 months. Now to start planning for next year…
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Amy S says
Did you like the pallet beds? Were they worth the space they took up? Happy gardening!
Mavis Butterfield says
I do. They work better for some vegetables than others. Strawberries and lettuce seem to do really well.
Tammy says
You are so awesome! I gained so much gardening information by following your blog this last growing season.
Diana says
Nice work! I love seeing the January and February photos. It is a reminder that I can be working on my (tiny) garden right now.
Mavis Butterfield says
You can!
Monica Brown says
This is awesome! You have been inspiring me for the past few years….now I need to get out there and actually do it! (On my own, I help with my parents garden every year BUT it’s not the same!
Gail says
amazing!
Kathryn says
Beautiful work, Mavis. You keep inspiring us all.
BTW, at my website, I have Themes on Gardening for little people. There is always a chant, a fingerplay and a song. I try to put something new up every week. In addition to the World of Gardening Themes, there are also Themes for World of Nature, Family and Community, Seasons and Celebrations, and Spiritual Treasure ( like caring, sharing, doing your chores, living in harmony – nothing religious, more along the lines of the Virtues).
Anyway, thanks for what you are doing.
It makes it seem more and more possible, although I am just growing a few green onions, sage, rosemary and have second year grapevines and fruit trees.
Take care.
Melissa says
Just curious–if you only had two raised garden beds at your disposal, what would you grow? That’s what we have for the upcoming season, and I want to grow as much as possible in that limited space.
sarah says
1. think about what your family really likes to eat.
2. think about what is expensive or hard to find organically grown in your local markets
3. think about what is best when picked just before it is consumed (baby greens!)
4. look for varieties that give high yields (quick crops that can be planted again and again, or long producers, or plant that have multiple edible parts).
5. look for dwarf or bush varieties, or ones that can be trained to grow up.
Make a plan for succession planting and crop rotation ahead of time, planning will allow you to grow a lot more!
Here is my list of favorites for a small garden:
Lacinato Kale-it grows year round and is very productive.
Sprouting broccoli-it sits in the garden over winter and really grows in the spring, it doesn’t produce big heads of broccoli, but produces for a very long time, and the whole plant tastes great, you can eat the leaves like kale, and when we harvest the last of it, we peel the main stalks and use them for soup.
Tomatoes- be sure to stake them to a sturdy pole so the don’t topple over on their neighbors
Eggplant- the variety ‘Millionaire’ has been very productive and is now the only eggplant I grow.
Bush delicata squash: productive, disease resistant and not too huge for a squash plant (about 4′ x 4′ and we got 5 to 7 big squash on each plant tis fall)
Radishes- quick to grow and can be tucked in between rows of slower growers.
Cilantro: grow it first for it’s leaves, then let it flower for the good bugs, and then harvest green seeds for fresh eating and dried seeds for spice and replanting)
Blueberries- I wouldn’t put them in the raised beds in a small garden, but they are great looking and can get put in amongst the shrubs in other areas of the yard.
Indio says
Your garden totally rocked this year and it will be even better next year with the crop rotation.
I love the photos of the mulch as it faded from its bright orange hue. It looks to me like you still have space to squeeze in some more raised beds or is that where the lasagna garden is going?. With all of those tall trees, hows the sun situation?
My seed catalogs have already started arriving so Im checking out the new varieties and thinking about ways to expand.
Julie says
I’ve been itching to start my seeds lately but told myself I would wait until January (last frost where I am is end of feb). In the meantime I’m looking at “gardening porn,” which your blog fits perfectly 🙂
Laura Z says
Good job, Mavis! I hope that you are really proud of your 1500 lbs of food. That’s a ton and a half!!! Amazing and inspirational. Hope the Christmas season is super happy for you and your family.
Gwen in L.A. says
Looking forward to your 2014 pics and posts.
Your garden photos and remarks each week remained an inspiration to do what I could, even if it was for only a short time every day or so. Bit by bit was able to build and plant two more 4 x 8 foot raised garden boxes. Should mention here, I was diagnosed with colon cancer in fall of 2012, had chemo and radiation. Followed by surgery early 2013 and more radiation..
Bit by bit, 2 more 4 x 8 foot raised beds were built, filled and planted this year for a total of 3. Lots of produce…lots of lessons…lots of leafy goodies for my chickens too and the mild exercise helped in my recovery.
With all good wishes,
your fan in Los Angeles, CA
Dawn says
Hi Mavis!
What a great year! I love the progression of your garden – it’s so great to see it go from nothing to something.
We’re building four more flat beds this year – -hopefully to expand our haul for 2014.
Dawn
oh, and P.S. There’s nothing “little” about your backyard! Come to So.Cal and see mine!!!
Georgia says
Hello! Stumbled across your blog yesterday – I’ll be starting my very own garden in a few weeks (raised beds) and will have my Dad (has been turning our backyards into gardens most of my life) down to help. Question re: seeds – Do you buy new “fancy” seeds every year or do you get heirloom varieties and then harvest the seeds for replanting the next year? What are some yummy “beginner” fruits/veggies I could grow? My hubby’s very picky when it comes to eating produce (read: potatoes. That is all.) so I’ll have a TON of leftovers which I’m planning on canning… Any tips would be fantastic! Thanks and I’m looking forward to following along with you in 2014.
Mavis Butterfield says
As far as seeds go, I use Botanical Interests seeds and I do save some varieties {mostly heirloom tomatoes}. 🙂
Renee says
i LOVE YOU’RE BLOG!!! After my computer crashed I spent 3 hour finding your blog on my new computer. I know I have issues but I love your down to earth advice. Thanks for all you do. I’m asking my Girl Scouts to grow 1 plant for others come Spring,inspired by your work.
Thanks
Mavis Butterfield says
Renee, I think having the girls grow 1 plant for others is an awesome idea! 🙂 Girl Scouts Rule!