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Re: So how did my garden grow in '97?

OK, I can't resist.....

Tomatoes: I planted 4 varieties, Brandywines, Principe Borghese, Red
Currant (cherry toms) and some unspecified variety of ch. toms. Each
variety met or exceeded expecations except for the Brandywines. They
were initially tasteless, and although the later fruits were divine, I
was disappointed that the vine seemed to be determinate in that it
stopped growing after it set a few clusters of fruit. I thought it was
an indeterminate vine. I highly recommend the Red Currant. Sweet like
candy, set a million little fruits!

Garlic: what garlic? Didn't see hide nor hair of it.

Beans: I planted two varieties of pole beans, a scarlet runner bean and
one that we have saved the seeds for over the years--I think it's
Pacific Giant Purple Something. A very disappointing harvest--they were
sharing space with morning glories (and they only just started
blooming)  which eventually squeezed them out, but not before
leafhoppers and Mexican bean beetles had a go at them, despite my
vigilant spraying (organic, of course).

Sunflowers: Wow! Can you say giant? I planted an Autumn Mix from Cook's
Garden, and I think the tallest of them was about 12 feet, about 4 ft.
taller than they said they would get. Unfortunately they were so tall
that I couldn't use them as cut flowers 'cause I couldn't reach that
high.

Beets/carrots/radishes: My beets were a Rainbow Mix (again from Cook's),
and they were wonderful, both the greens and the beets. I highly
recommend them, esp. the yellow beets. It's nice to cook with them and
not stain everything in sight! I planted a mix of carrots, a ball
variety, a Nantes, and something else--I looked for varieties that
didn't grow long. They were, well, carrots--nothing special. Some had
that bitter soapy tasted that I hate, but none of them split or forked.
My radishes, a white icicle fall variety I planted in the spring, all
got root maggots. Yuck. They were woody and hot as hell.

Corn: Yum! I planted Seneca Dawn and Seneca Starshine. They were
amazingly good. The yeild wasn't fantastic but I do have about ten ears
in the freezer and I know what not to do next year.

Rhubarb: Got crown rot but hopefully will survive. :(

Peppers: Wow, what a harvest and they're still popping out. I planted
hot and sweet together--it didn't seem to affect them. The sweets
weren't as prolific as the hot ones. The most abundant of all were hte
hot peppers Garden Salsa and Cherry Bomb. I think the hot dry weather we
had this summer was just perfect for them.

Eggplants: Out of four plants I got two moderately sized eggplants, but
I looked the other day--lo and behold, the third variety has just put
out about four fruits--long slender pretty things. The fourth has a
little ping-pong ball sized green striped one.

Strawberries: Great June harvest.

Broccoli/brussel sprouts: these plants are about 4 1/2 ft. tall now--the
broccoli is still producing and the brussel sprouts look like they're
getting to be a harvestable size. I've never grown them before so I'm
just sort of winging it with them.

Potatoes: I tried Mel's suggestion of digging a hole and planting the
seed potatoes down at the bottom, then covering up the plants as they
grew up. For the most part my potatoes (four varieties--Yukon Gold,
Russian Banana Fingerling, Caribe and a Russet) didn't put out potatoes
on the plant stem. The Russian and the Caribe were the most prolific--I
hardly got any Russets. Next year, however, I'm going to try the
suggestion of building a bin for them (above ground). Digging those
things out was back-breaking, even with a four year old helping me.

Leeks/onions/scallions: My leeks last year were the diameter of my
wrist. This year they weren't any thicker than a magic marker. Go
figure. Small onions, huge scallions.

Winter and summer squash, pumpkins: The one pumpkin (a french heirloom
variety) that germinatied only put out one starter leaf, and that was
it. I finally pulled it up. My winter squash (a variety mix) gave me
about 10 squash before they succumbed to squash vine borers. BUT. My
summer squash, Tromboncino, was a winner--gorgeous lush vines, prolific,
and squash that could feed a family of five in one shot if you let them
go long enough. My freezer is filled with it and it's still putting out.

Cukes: Got crowded out early by bigger vines, then succumbed to powdery
mildew. I did make a batch of pickles though. They were the cornichon
variety. My lemon cukes never germinated.

Perpetual Spinach: Yum! All you spinach lovers, you have to try this
one. Kept us supplied all summer and it's still going strong.

Spring, Summer, Fall & Winter lettuce varieties: I took a chance and
spent $13 on this pack of 8 lettuce varieties and I wasn't disappointed.
The only fault was mine in that I seeded the summer ones once and we ate
off those plants all summer (instead of seeding every two weeks). By the
end of the summer it was pretty bitter. The fall/winter ones are coming
along nicely.

All in all, not too bad, except for my dad complaining that we had too
many sunflowers and not enough tomatoes!

OK, 'fess up, who's already planning their garden for next year? :D

Melissa on the coast of MA, zone 6

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