This past week we harvested squash, potatoes, tomatoes and kale from our backyard garden. Things have totally slowed down because of the colder temperatures, but I don’t mind. I think it’s kind of nice because it give me more time to get a few projects crossed of my list both indoors and out.
Last week we set up the grow lights and the lettuce, basil and beets we planted are all up. I plan on growing the basil indoors, moving the lettuce to the greenhouse and the beets to a garden bed once the seedlings get a little bigger.
Gardening is cool no matter if you do it indoors or out.
~Mavis
Here is what I have harvested so far this year:
Basil – 1 pound 3 ounces
We’ve got basil growing under the grow lights. Hopefully by Christmas we’ll have a boatload of fresh basil. In the past we’ve enjoyed making fresh pesto and strawberry basil jam with it.
Beets – 133 pounds 12 ounces
We’ve still got plenty of beets in the garden and we just started some indoors as well.
Bok Choy – 7 pounds
We pulled up all the remaining bok choy a while back and tossed it to the chickens. I don’t think I’ll plant it again until next spring.
Broccoli – 13 ounces
Our broccoli plants are doing great and I’m looking forward to a late fall harvest. Girly Girl stole almost all my plants. We won’t have a huge harvest this year, but we should get atleast a few dinners and side dishes out of it.
Cabbage – 40 pounds 14 ounce
Still waiting to harvest our fall cabbage!
Carrots – 43 pounds 11 ounces
I didn’t pull up any carrots this past week but we’ve still got quite a few in the ground.
Chives – 2 pound 5 ounces
We regular chives and garlic chives growing right now.
Cucumbers 9 pound 6 ounces
Our cucumbers are done for the season. I guess this means I’ll be buying hothouse cucumbers at Costco until next summer.
Egg Count – 2,197
This past week we collected 58 eggs. Happy chickens make happy eggs.
Garlic 9 pounds 2 ounces
We planted our garlic a few weeks ago and it should be ready sometime in July of 2014. 🙂
Garlic Scapes 11 ounces
We use them to make Garlic Scape Pesto.
Green Beans 17 pounds 11 ounces
Our green beans are officially done for the year. Now if I want some fresh green beans I’ll have to get them from the grocery store. Booo!
Kale – 42 pounds 14 ounces
I grow it along side the chicken coop for the chickens.
Kohlrabi 5 pounds 10 ounces
Lettuce – 37 pounds 3 ounces
We currently have lettuce growing in the greenhouse and just started some under grow lights for a winter harvest.
Microgreens 5 ounces
I need to jump back on the microgreen train. It’s been awhile since I’ve grown some bean sprouts.
Mint 13 oz
I made some blueberry mint jam this summer and also harvested some mint for tea.
Oregano – 1 pound 12 ounces
I been using fresh oregano for my heirloom tomato sauce.
Onion – 37 pounds 8 ounces
While I was cleaning out the garden boxes over the weekend I found a few more onions growing beneath the tomato plants. We might have a few more out in the raspberry patch yet to harvest but I’m not sure.
Pears 47 pounds 7 ounces
Pear butter is AWESOME!
Peas – 42 pounds 9 ounces
We’ve got peas growing in the greenhouse and in a garden box. Hopefully we’ll get some fresh peas soon.
Potatoes – 319 pounds
How to Harvest and Store Potatoes for Winter.
Last week while I was clearing the pumpkin patch I also dug up a few of the potatoes we planted beneath the pumpkin mounds. So far I’ve only dug up about 19 pounds, but there’s more to be dug up.
My original plan was to dig them all up at once, but now I’m thinking I may just wait until just before the first frost. We’ll see.
Radish – 22 pounds 2 ounces
Planting seeds today!
Raspberries – 21 pounds 7 ounces
Raspberry season is officially over in our backyard. 🙁
Rhubarb – 39 pounds 9 ounces
Sage – 14 ounces
We are using sage as we need it.
Squash 230 pounds 10 ounces
Last week I got started on clearing the pumpkin patch. After all was said and done we ended up with an additional 122+ pounds of pumpkins. Not bad, but not great in my opinion. My pumpkin crop totally failed this year due to poor crop rotation and I didn’t end up with any giant ones. I’ve learned my lesson though so hopefully next year I’ll be able to grow more.
Spinach – 15 ounces
I planted more in the greenhouse for a winter harvest.
Sprouts –2 pounds 15 ounces
Here are instructions for growing your own sprouts.
Strawberries 23 pounds 14 ounces
Strawberry season is over for the year.
Besides eating them fresh we made strawberry kiwi jam, strawberry freezer jam, strawberry pie, and homemade strawberry shortcake.
Swiss Chard 52 pounds 4 ounces
Our backyard chickens love it and it’s great for trading.
Tomatoes 234 pounds 15 ounces
We picked 5 Green Zebra and a handful of Sun Gold tomatoes this past week from the greenhouse. The greenhouse tomatoes days are totally numbered, but we’ll take what we can get. 😉
Wheatgrass – 7 ounces
Zucchini – 72 pounds 13 ounces
I harvested our last zucchini over the weekend. This was not a good zucchini year for us, which is really odd because they grow like crazy around here.
Total Food Harvested in 2013: 1454 pounds 13 ounces
Total Eggs Collected in 2013: 2,197
If you are new to gardening or just want to learn more about organic gardening, my #1 favorite garden book is The Gardener’s A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food
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Deborah says
Did you count the veggies you “donated” to Girly-Girl in your weekly tally? If not, I think you should. After all, you grew them and did all of the work raising them. Just my two cents… 🙂
Good job Mavis!
Mavis Butterfield says
I thought about it, but I wasn’t sure how I would add them in lol.
Connie Northrup says
Mavis, I have too many cucumbers, brought over from my Dads organic grown garden, in Selah, Washington. Let me know if you are interested in any, I am trying to find someone to donate to.
Mavis Butterfield says
Thanks for the offer Connie but I have too much to do this week to stop and process cucumbers. I bet your local food bank would LOVE the donation.
Felicia says
Think a ground cover where your pumpkins were would let you plant them again there next year?
I’m so excited my husband just built me a cold frame! I transplanted over the weekend, and am hoping to extend the season. Beets, Collards, Swiss Chard, Lettuce and Spinach! Hopefully I’ll have some luck!
Michele says
Hi Mavis! I’m getting tickeld at lining up my list of plants to do next year as well as planning out my garden and HH’s to-bulid list (even though we will move in May). I plant to start my seeds ontime since I totally missed the boat last year. But my question, how do you determine what species of each veggie do you choose? I got the Territorial Seed book and my wish list going on the Botanical Interest site but they have conflicting names and different prices…how do you know which company to buy from too? There’s 50 different tomatoes and squash…my head is spinning! I really want to can and freeze my own pasta sauce so I am researching the best tomatoes for that venture (we eat a lot of pasta!)
Which do you use or prefer?
Mavis Butterfield says
Hi Michele, here are the varieties I grew this year. –> http://www.stage.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/how-do-i-know-what-variety-of-tomato-to-grow-determinate-vs-indeterminate-tomatoes/
Michele says
I want to do the striped/speckled roman tomatoes this next season. How did yours turn out?
Mavis Butterfield says
Really well! I used them in my homemade tomato sauce. I’ll be growing them next year.
Michele says
Perfect! I was sure hoping they did well for you. Hope they do well for me too.
Preppy Pink Crocodile says
What happened with all of your artichokes? I planted four this year, three almost died, one did die. Of the three living, one is tiny, one is huge with no fruit, and one is all Goldilocks just right medium with FOUR…yes FOUR…do you sense my excitement at FOUR artichokes!! Hoping all three produce for me next year. But I don’t recall you ever telling us how yours turned out and I don’t see them in the tally above.
Hope all is well!
KK @ Preppy Pink Crocodile
Mavis Butterfield says
We ended up with about 3 dozen artichokes… all of which I let go to FLOWER. Can you believe it? 🙂 They are just so cool to look at.
Preppy Pink Crocodile says
Gasping! Ha. Though I keep saying if I ever get more than one plant to produce, I will let at least one go to flower, too. But I still can’t believe you didn’t eat a few. Mine were smaller than what you find in the grocery store but soooo yummy!
KK @ Preppy Pink Crocodile
Angela says
All of your produce is beautiful! Do you put any amendments to the soil in your raised beds in the fall and/or in the spring before planting? Do you fertilize during the growing season? Any recommendations would be helpful and appreciated! Thanks.
Rachel says
Hi Mavis,
We are starting our garden and generally shifting into a frugal living lifestyle. I am so excited to to start planting tons of winter vegetables, but I also feel anxiety about storing all of it. How long can vegetables stay in the ground before we have to eat them. We are in northern California and have some cellar space where we could possibly store onions, etc. (although i worry about mice). Do you have any thoughts/tips on storing? Thank you!
-Rachel