Final harvest. The swiss chard and carrots are going straight into the freezer for use in smoothies.
Here's a review of how each plant went:
Strawberries - went great. I bought, I think, 25 little plants on the internet. They all grew to about 10 times their initial size, and sent out a bunch of runners. Also, new strawberry plants are springing up on their own - I guess from the seeds. There are even some about 6 feet away from the strawberry patch that I'll move over to the patch in the spring if they look like they're still alive. There were a small amount of strawberries this year. I expect the patch to be filled up by the end of next year, and probably a lot more strawberries than this year.
Tomatoes - I tried starting from seed, but I started them too late. I bought some plants, and got some from the seeds. I went really simple with supports for them. My brother got me some fencing to use next year that should work better and allow them to grow higher and spread out better without falling on to the ground. The plants all did well and I had a ton of tomatoes.
Bell Peppers - I bought some plants, and grew some from seed I believe. They didn't get very big (maybe 2-2.5 feet tall) but they grew a lot of peppers. I'm surprised how many peppers the little plants could grow. I got just as many peppers as tomatoes, and the tomato plants were much bigger. Definitely planting more next spring.
Carrots - Did fine. I planted them way too densely. Still got a lot of carrots. Will plant some next year, not so densely.
Spinach and lettuce - Did well. I planted it early so it grew nice and I had a lot early on. Will plant again next year. More spinach than lettuce this time.
Swiss chard - Seemed to do well. Got a lot. I'll probably plant more next year just to have a variety of greens.
Broccoli - Horrible. I planted to too densely. I grew too tall. It bolted and made very few florets. I pulled off a few but didn't eat a single one from these. I won't plant it next year.
Squash - Grew huge and fast and made squash like crazy. I had to make sure I harvested them each week or they would get too big. The plants expanded a ton and I cut them back a couple times, which basically killed them.
Cucumbers - Also grew really fast. Got quite a lot of them. I don't really care for cucumbers or squash much, but they work ok as filler for smoothies, and grow so well. So I'll plant more next year.
Cantaloup - It came up pretty slow. I didn't watch it close enough and watered too much. There were about 5 melons growing but I didn't notice them, and they got all wet and rotten on the ground. One of them, that was growing on the grass was doing well, but then got all nasty and fucked up before it finished. Total bust here but it was my fault, so I may try these again next year.
Various herbs - big failure. Basil was the only one that did well. And I don't really like basil. I mostly wanted the oregano but it didn't do so hot. There was a plant or two that was growing well at the end of the summer, but it was in/below a bunch of other plants and didn't get much size. Never harvested it. I don't know if I'll do any next year..
Flowers - did well. They grew so damn tall. I think it was partly due to how densely they were planted, but also just the type of plants. I'll pay more attention when I buy seeds next year. I also had one other patch of flowers that never really sprouted up. Not sure what happened there. It was nice having the flowers. I can see them from my bed - out through my kitchen and the back door, I see them whenever I'm entering and leaving my house, I was cutting them and putting in vases every week or two, and I had flowers to give to women.
Cabbage - I planted to too late and way too close together. None of them grew to maturity. I may do a smaller amount next year to see how well they grow when I do it right.
Beans - I had just a couple bean plants. I think they may have gotten ruined from over-watering. I watered using a sprinkler and programmable timer. The sprinkler doesn't water entirely evenly though. May need to be more careful next year.
