I’ll be the first to admit that our vegetable garden isn’t looking its finest right about now. That’s why you haven’t seen many outdoor photos lately. Its been hot and dry recently. So dry that it is hard to keep things looking green and lush. The melons ares are done, the first round of zucchini have hit retirement and truth be told, our minds have drifted over to other parts of our yard.
Carmen Peppers
We always had it a goal to own a small house on a large lot, which we gratefully have. However, having a large lot means having a large list of things to do. This summer has been titled ‘The Summer of Taking Care of Business’. A summer filled full of to-do’s which we didn’t accomplish last year, which was ‘The Summer of Getting It Done.’ So we’ve set about the business of reseeding the entire back lawn, building new and repairing old fences and planting large landscape plants to give us a bit more privacy.
Quadrato d’Asti Giallo Peppers
One thing we are having great success with in the vegetable garden are with peppers. We planted enough to feed a small army. We planted all sorts, Carmens, Quadrato d’Asti Giallos, Serranos, Gourmets (remember when we ordered them from Territorial?) and a few from some fellow Seed Savers, Colossal Kim’s and a few pimentos. All are doing outstanding. Peppers take a long time to grow (some long time readers might remember our post about planting the seeds) and needs lots of sun and heat. Things that we have in abundance here in our Sonoma garden.
What’s your most successful crop this year? What have you been disappointed by?
Such a heavenly post. The photos, the peppers, the vast quantity of useful information (as always…), wonderful!
Tomatoes and zucchini were, as I think you know, a big hit this year around our place.
But, what didn’t grow well at all and has left us stumped??? Let me tell you:
edamame
all spring crops, mesclun, lettuce, spinach, kale, chard
birdhouse and dipper gourds
carrots were patchy
several varieties of tomatoes never germinated
pumpkins
delicata, butternut and spaghetti squash
We planted all these things and they all died. Never had that happen before, but sadly, all I can attribute it to is the fact that we bought all organic, open-pollinated seed from a seed exchange for the first time this year. And I have several friends who did and we all had the same rate of failure.
Either that, or it may have been the weather. Except that many of the things I tried to grow that never germinated, were started under my loving care, indoors, where the weather was not a factor.
Can’t figure it out for the life of me, but you can bet I’ll be out there as early as possible next year, doing it all over again with a gleeful heart…
It’s been a fun, fun year hasn’t it??
My peppers this year were also a huge success. It can be hit or miss in Connecticut, but we got enough heat to make it happen. My tomatoes did poorly and got nailed by disease, but the peppers remain healthy and bursting with offerings.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, none of our heirloom cucumber (and very few of our bean) seeds worked out, either. I bought hybrid plants from the nursery at the last minute. But I got me some yummy toms so it’s all good!
I’m so sorry that so many things didn’t work for you Krista! We’ve had really mixed success with heirlooms. Which is unfortunate because it sounds so romantic to grow only heirlooms. S.ometimes you can’t beat hybrids for their reliability.
Compostings – I’m glad that your peppers turned out to be prolific after your disasterous tomato year. You deserve at least that.
In this, my first garden, the potatos were the winners. I had no luck with carrots and cucumbers, my yellow squash got eaten, all but one pumpkin got eaten, and my pepper plants are producing but the plants are very small in stature. But my flowers, my-oh-my. They are just obnoxiously huge.
We have had an amazing bounty of fresh herbs this year. That and all different types of lettuces, beet greens and kale, onions and carrots, zucchini and flowers. Oh and pole beans!
Not so great: edamame (2nd try on this one, never seems to go), okra (3rd try), the tomoatoes are just now turning red, the eggplants are bushes of gorgeous flowers but only little scraps of fruit developing after allll summer, our pepper plants are not producing much so far.