What worked this year, what didn't?
Well, the rhubarb tanked. Again. Too much early rain, rain, rain. At least it didn't bolt from early heat this year. Ack. About half the plants are looking okay at this point, the rest appear gone. I guess I'll see in the spring. Meanwhile, the horseradish continues perfectly content no matter what the weather throws at it. The peas I hoped would shade the rhurbarb a bit came in too late. My fault, should have planted earlier. Next year. The peas were so yummy, just not very many of them! Mostly they didn't make it into the house. The weather didn't help, along with my lateness in planting. Didn't find out until too late that I should have planted them on St. Patrick's Day or thereabouts!
I will plant more patty pan squash. They did very well, and were quite good. I'm glad I picked them small, per the package directions again, as mine were so much better than the one I got from the CSA that had a terribly tough shell. Almost like a butternut.
Carrots did okay, but had that funny bitterness some carrots have. Not sure how to deal with that. I may do some research over the winter for a possible soil amendment. The plants just looked so healthy.
Tomatoes did not do well this year. The weather totally did not cooperate. A good crop of grape tomatoes, a few of each of the other varieties planted. Lots of green ones still on the vine, which may ripen if it ever stops raining. Again. Green tomato pickles for everyone this Christmas. Yumm-o!
Green and yellow beans did okay. I needed to put in a bit more effort in training them to the tower, maybe. They were delicious, so I will try again.
Lettuce did fine, as always. I also planted this too late. Well, only too late in that there was plenty from the CSA at the same time. There is only so much lettuce a girl can eat and drop off on the porches of her friends and family. The radishes did okay, too. I should have thinned them, though. They didn't really grow to any size. I hate thinning, but I will do it next year. I will.
Zucchini did fine. Dependable! It could have used a bit more room. I no longer believe there is such a thing as "container-size." It's a myth. But, with the stuffed zucchini and zucchini-crust pizza recipes now tried-and-true, along with zucchini bread and chocolate zucchini cake/muffins, why not plant it again?
Swiss chard did pretty well in the big pot. A big water hog, I often came home to find it wilting, but it always perked right back up. And grew back after each harvest. Good stuff.
Basil seems to really prefer the bigger container. I'm okay with that. Next year, no little baskets of basil. I think I'll just put marigolds in them to hang above the veggies. Dill is happy in the little baskets. Happy, happy! Parsley, cilantro, and mint in big pots, too. I had to plant new mint this year. It didn't come back like it always had before. I think the winter was rough on it. And the pot crumbled this spring. New plants, new pot, hopefully it will do okay through this winter. Maybe I'll put it in the shed with the jasmine.
The rosemary is doing fine in its pot from last year after spending the winter in the mud room. Smells great, likes to be watered every time you walk by.
The raspberries did okay, but not great. But they're still babies, really. The blueberries did nothing. The plants look terrible right now. We'll see what they do next year. No point in pulling them out, it's not like they're in the way!
One apple this year. Seriously. One teeny tiny apple. None on the neighbor's tree either. I know there were a few munched by the squirrels and deer, and several by assorted bugs, but this was a really bad year for the apples. Oh well. Next year I will spray. And maybe the weather will cooperate a bit more!
The bell peppers did not work. I got a couple itty bitty green ones that fell to the ground. I don't like green peppers. They were supposed to get red. I might try again. Or not. We'll see. Maybe in pots. Sigh. The jalepenos did okay. They got red.
The cow peas did great. I picked them once they'd dried on the vine. Cooked them up with some Indian spices. Yummy. Still a few more coming. Essentially they are black-eyed peas. I still don't remember where the seeds came from. Go figure. They just grow over and on everything in their path. I'm not sure where I'll put them next year, but I'll probably plant them again. If I find some seeds!
I think that's it. The herb garden is settling into its new grade. So far, so good. So far, no water in the basement since the work was completed.
It's okay to be planning for next year already, isn't it?
