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A Good Appetite Garden 2009

We've had our first hard frost & snow in Minneapolis so it looks like the growing season is over. Seems like a good time to look back at our first vegetable garden... In the fall of 2008 Matt build us two 8' x 4' raised beds in unused space next to our driveway. Since there is a fence behind the beds its hard to get to the back so next year we will rebuild these beds to be 4' x 4'. We also planted garlic in the fall so it had a chance to spout before winter. Come spring, Matt build an adjustable light greenhouse set up in our basement to start seeds. Here's instructions on how to make one. Cool weather crops like peas, spinach, lettuce & kohlrabi were started from seed right in the garden. We used twine to mark out 12" squares. A soaker hose was placed through the garden for easy watering. Indoor seedlings were moved to bigger pots as needed. Cool weather crops start popping up. Matt built a trellis for the peas from bamboo & twine. Time to move the seedlings outdoors. We had way more than we needed & ended up giving a bunch away. The peas grew like crazy. The garlic scapes formed & we harvested them in the hopes of getting bigger garlic bulbs. Our spinach bolted before we got to eat any. We won't do spinach next year & just stick to leaf lettuce which was great. As things warmed up the the square foot gardens started to look very full but needed very little weeding. We harvested our garlic. The bulbs were pretty small but tasty. Next year we'll fertilize them to see if we get bigger bulbs. Beans, cucumbers, zucchini & tomatoes really fill one bed. Broccoli heads are starting to form. We had really good luck with bush beans this year & they don't require trellising. Look at the huge kohlrabi! Time to start harvesting. The zucchini got huge overnight. Our tomato plants, all San Marzano, are covered with green tomatoes, cool weather makes us wonder if they'll ever ripen. Harvest really hit full swing, especially the cucumbers, time to make pickles! We grew some super chiles in a pot which did really well as did our jalapenos. Finally the tomatoes start to ripen. We had enough super chiles from on plant to make two ristras. We start harvesting 6 - 12 pounds of tomatoes a weeks as well as a ton of jalapenos. The frost comes before many tomatoes can ripen though & we make green tomato jam. The last of the herbs are harvested & dried.
Next year we'll do less cucumbers & zucchini so we are so overrun with them. Also I'd like to do a good sandwich tomato as San Marzanos are really best for paste & sauce. We'll do peppers again & would like to find seeds to grow some pablanos. 
It was so productive! You are inspiring me to put some more effort into our garden next year (the slugs nailed all the garlic).

October 23, 2009 at 7:44 AM 
I enjoyed this post. I was interested in knowing about your garden. I love the variety.

October 23, 2009 at 7:49 AM Suzee said...

If you choose to grow a sandwich tomato next year, I highly recommend the Tomato Glamour - it's delish!

October 23, 2009 at 8:29 AM Unplanned Cooking said...

Your garden did well! Ours didn't. We're in MN, too -- did those raised beds solve the problem of rabbits? They chewed everything that managed to sprout.

October 23, 2009 at 9:11 AM 
kat... Looks like it was a bountiful year! You & Matt could start your own "green grocer" with the wonderful variety of produce.

But what is great about your garden, is all the wonderful recipes you post using the items from your garden. We are the benefactors and really appreciate ya'lls hard work. Thanks...

October 23, 2009 at 9:15 AM 
Unplanned Cooking - We had a problem with squirrels & slugs. We did have bunnies & we'd see them in the garden from time to time but they didn't seem to eat much. Next year we will do a higher fence.

October 23, 2009 at 9:19 AM 
Ah... gardening. You guys did well, considering the freaky summer we had!! Love the idea of using that space next to the driveway for gardens. We LOVE our raised beds and wouldn't trade them for anything. Do you compost as well?

October 23, 2009 at 9:38 AM 
Lo - We are composting as well, we'll see how it does since it'll freeze all winter

October 23, 2009 at 10:00 AM Lisa paul said...

Having seen it in the flesh...er leaf...I can attest that your garden was truly amazing. Organized, easy to harvest from. Not like might which always looked like some part of Cambodia.

October 23, 2009 at 11:05 AM Stacy and Brian said...

Thanks for the great ideas and inspiration. Next year Brian and I will plant our first garden, also in raised beds. We are very excited. Thanks for sharing. Stacy

October 23, 2009 at 11:35 AM KariH said...

This was your first garden? I love how organized it is, and yet it looks like it was all pretty easy to put together. Looks like you did some good planning ahead of time and that it was a very successful garden. I have been thinking about a garden since we bought our house a year and a half ago. Maybe next year!

October 23, 2009 at 2:22 PM Jessica Nunemaker said...

Your photos make me miss Summer already! Boo, Winter!

October 24, 2009 at 10:24 AM Spice Rack said...

Wow,nice garden. The chiles looks great.

October 25, 2009 at 11:48 PM