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Now is the time to reflect back on your edible garden season to capture what went well and what did not. What you planted too much of and what you didn't plant enough of. Make sure to include the names of varieties that did well and those that didn't so you have them for future reference. I also like to make notes of what I want to learn more about over the winter. Do it now so you don't forget the details!
Here are my reflections on this year's garden............
Overall
In general, the garden did well in the spring, was slow to start producing summer veggies, and faded in the fall. This year was the first in a long time that we actually had a real spring. Usually, the season changes from winter to summer like a flick of a switch. This year, we had a couple of months of actual cool temperatures before the 80's kicked in.
Overall, there were high points and not so great turn outs for the season. Just your typical edible garden season!
The good
The cultivated dandelions, cilantro, sage, bay laurel, lettuce, arugula, sorrel, eggplant, cucumbers, peppers, onions, basil, rosemary, sage, tarragon, okra, watermelon, cantaloupe spaghetti squash did very well. I had lots of volunteer cilantro and dill plants along with Cock's Comb, holy Thai basil, zinnias, and a couple of orach. I got a bumper crop of coriander from the cilantro when it went to seed. It's always fun to get surprises in the spring and summer garden.
I planted Hilton, a Chinese cabbage, and it did quite well in the garden. It is something I will add to my standard edible garden. It has large leaves that you can use in place of bread or tortillas and it is sweet enough to use in place of lettuce in salads.
I also had eggplant and cantaloupes that showed up that I did not plant. They must have been in the store bought garden soil we bought this year. It was a nice surprise!
I sprayed organic fungicides on my squash and tomatoes this year and had little to no powdery mildew in the garden.
I did see a few stink bugs. I squished the eggs I found, sprayed with Neem oil and dusted the plants with DE (diatomaceous earth). This took care of them. Be careful to not get on the flowers as these controls will kill beneficial insects as well.
The okay
Green beans and tomatoes did okay. I think they both got early blight. This is interesting because both powdery mildew and early blight are fungal diseases. The tomatoes started off strong, but then the leaves started dying from the ground up. I only planted a few pole green beans this year as I had many left over from last year in the freezer. The pole beans produced until this week.
I will do the Serenade and Southern Ag fungicide sprays next year as they did make a huge difference in powdery mildew. I will also do a drench at the beginning of the season.
I did have more issues with worms this year than I have had in years past with all the fruiting plants, even in the pots. I think I also had slug issues for the first time this year on the greens. We had a wet summer, which slugs and snails love! BT (bacillus thuringiensis) is my go-to for caterpillars and worms since they only effect worms. For slugs, I sprayed with Neem oil for a short term fix. I'll do beer baits next year if we have another wet summer. You can also sprinkle DE around the plants. It has to be reapplied after a rain or watering.
This year when the cabbage worms showed up at the beginning of July, I harvested all my kale. I did kale chips with the harvest since I still have plenty of kale frozen from last season. It is best to harvest no later than the first sign of the worms to keep the population down.
Tomatoes were slow to ripen; I didn't get ripe tomatoes until the end of July. I got a good tomato crop through August, but early blight took its toll. It took me a while to figure it out since I have not had an issue like this before. I've done some research on it so have my plan of attack for next year. I did not save seeds from this year's tomatoes as the fungus can live in the seeds. One of the best things to do is to not plant tomatoes in the same spot the next year. Optimum is to wait 4 years; practice crop rotation. I'll grow plants that have a tolerance against EB and spray the seedlings with an organic fungicide before transplanting and use a fungicidal drench when planting and prune so no leaves are touching the ground. I will also disinfect the supports I use with alcohol to make sure any fungus is killed before using them next season. All plants from this year go in the trash and not the composter. Lastly, next year, I will keep a close eye out for the brown dots on the leaves and lower leaves dying. You should remove them as soon as you see them. To be really cautious, you can remove any plants that it shows up on.
Overall, the greens did okay. The Chinese cabbage, chard and tyfon had slug damage, which Neem oil seemed to fight back. The chard, Chinese cabbage, tyfon have all rebounded now in the cooler temperatures. The red and green orach did quite well; they were volunteers. They make a great salad green. The Giant Red mustard has severe seedlings coming up in the garden. I had issues with mealybug on my stevia plant last year; this year it is doing great.
I tried a shade cloth over my greens this summer. I am not sure it helped all that much. The plants did not look as healthy as they normally do. I am not sure if I will use the shade cloth next summer.
I looked back at the years that I had the best luck with tomatoes and pole beans in the garden to see what I did for garden prep in the spring and when planting. I used a layer of mushroom compost, fertilized with Re-Vita Pro fertilizer before mulching. With each seedling, I added biochar, worm castings and dusted the roots with mycorrhizal starter. In the summer, I used a spray liquid fertilizer on the leaves. I will do this again for next season as well as crop rotation.
I planted a couple of dwarf okra this year, Baby Bubba, to try out. The plants did quite well and they only grew to about 4' tall in the garden. They produced well for their size, but not as many as you would get from a traditional sized plant. If you have a small space or are growing in a pot, I would recommend this plant.
The bad
The garlic did not do well this year. We moved our awning from the deck to the patio and the overhang extended past the garlic plants. I watered weekly, but I think they just did not get enough moisture. I replanted them all and did not preserve any. Typically, I pickle 4 or 5 quarts of garlic to last us until next year. This is my favorite way to preserve garlic as it keeps for years. Quick tip-”peeling” garlic
I didn't have the best luck in starting lettuce and spinach in pots this summer and fall. I think the slugs got them. They would sprout and then something would come and eat them to the ground. I have a few that made it and the last set I started, many have survived. There are also a few volunteers from the lettuce that went to seed in the summer. I'll keep transplanting them into the pots that I'll cover with a portable greenhouse to keep the salads going through the winter.
Next year's garden
We are hoping to start our addition next year. It goes right over the top of my current edible garden. Next year's garden will be mainly in pots. There is a small amount of space in the back garden, but it gets a lot of shade so not ideal for an edible garden.
Here is my garden plan for next year:
Pole green beans around one trellis
Baby Bubba or Burgundy okra
3 tomato plants-large paste, slicer and small paste
3 white eggplant
1 white cucumber
1 summer squash-either zucchini or patty pan
Potatoes in the potato boxes
Snow peas in pots
Dragon Tail radish in pot
Hilton Chinese cabbage (1)
New Zealand and Malabar spinach in pot (1 each)
Lettuce and spinach in pots
Sweet and hot peppers-check at end of winter to see if I need any
No cantaloupe, watermelon, beets, heading cabbage or broccoli
I have to be stern with myself about what I will not plant. My eyes are always bigger than my space or need.
The garden season is not over yet. There will be much to enjoy through most of the winter. We will have arugula, mustard greens, Chinese cabbage, tatsoi, lettuce, chard, blood veined sorrel, garden sorrel, French and Italian dandelion, spinach, lettuce, purslane, chives, parsley, cilantro, celery and sprouting broccoli for salads. The Egyptian onions will produce all through winter. The herbs will be available for harvesting until the snow covers them up. I planted winter cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower this fall so should have these through the winter as well.
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