We have really enjoyed our garden the past two years. This year we had alot more variety of veggies turn out well. The only weird thing is that we got zero squash out of it. I've never heard of zucchini not producing, in fact I've only heard of it being prolific. It must have been hit by some bug though.
Here's a run-down of our crops: (Mainly so that I can have something to refer to next time.)
* Strawberries and Blackberries did pretty well this year. The only problem is that between the birds and the rabbits we hardly eat any.
*Japanese Eggplant was totally awesome! I would pick about 4 good sized ones every other week. It is my favorite vegetable but I have to go to the Chinese/Filipino grocery stores to get them (there is a huge difference between Japanese Eggplant and regular eggplant that your regular grocery store sells) so I rarely buy them. These were also very sweet and totally pest and critter resistant.
*Watermelon didn't do as good as last year. I think because it was wetter. The couple we got that weren't invaded by insects were pretty delicious though. It probably didn't help that we were in Mexico when most of them were ripening.
*Cantalope was better then last year but again we weren't around when the bulk of them ripened.
*Tomatoes were awesome! My favorite were the little yellow ones we planted. I ate then pretty much while we picked them. We were horrible at picking them as the season went on though, which was kind of a waste.
*Bell Peppers were really good! They never grew very big (maybe 3") but anytime I wanted a bell pepper there were some ready to harvest. And since I was still having a craving for all things Mexican it was perfect. We were able to harvest until late fall.
*Broccoli was so-so. It was great in the spring and in the fall it came back.
*Basil pretty much took over our herb garden.
*Sage was tough and survived. It seems like it thrives in the winter, dies in the summer, and comes back in the fall.
*Beans we had no patience for training the vines or picking them so they just died off
*Onions were hard for us to tell when they were ready to come out of the ground.
*Carrots were the same as the onions but we finally did pick some decent ones. It's weird but once I peeled them they were half their size. I don't know if it was because they were so fresh that the peeler took off much more then the first layer or what?? Anyway, we just used them for a base to cook our turkey on.
*Kale we planted in the spring. Nothing really happened to it until this fall though. That was kind of cool because I thought it just didn't take. Then I learned it's a cold weather crop. I'm happy about this because I crave making a soup that takes Kale a couple of times a year but I am too lazy to buy it from the store.
A picture of our last pickings. I was frustrated that our grass was growing into our raised beds and I wanted to prepare them for a winter garden so me and the kids cleared them out even though they were still producing. I do have to say that it is lovely living in Texas where you can get fresh tomatoes from the garden in December.
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