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successes and failures part 3 - the garden


 Success - Onions. We got about 150 onions, yellow white and red.

Failure - Storage. Most of them rotted before we could eat them. 
We need to work on a better drying rack, location, and dry cold storage for after that.

Failure - The pumpkin vines all got a blight and died before any pumpkins formed. :(

Failure - Watermelon and two other kinds of melons all grew but the fruits never reached maturity.

Success - The small warted gourd mixture I planted went crazy. We sold a few, 
decorated with a bunch, and are drying out some to try to make little bird houses and things.

Success - The six tomato plants we bought as transplants did really well. We didn't stake them up very well, but they gave us more than we could eat anyways. We sold some of the extra, but I really wish we had tried to can or freeze some.

Failure - The direct seeded tomato plants didn't do much, just a handful of cherry tomatoes, 
although they were delicious.

Success - The yellow squash and zucchini did fantastic, although next year we need to do several plantings in order to extend our growing season. 

Failure - Cucumbers. We only got a few from a bunch of seeds. 

Failure - Beans, peas, and peppers.

Mediocre Success - The potatoes planted in the halfed barrels seemed to work well, but we needed to start the plants with the barrels half full, and then hill them as SOON as the vines are getting tall enough. Harvest was easy, but there were only potatoes in the very bottom. Also, the same drying and storage issues as with the onions.

Mild Success - The garlic crop we planted last October came in small and we waited too long to harvest them, making the skins slimy. 

A few more garden notes for next year:

-same space, more walkways.
-stake the plants early.
-multiple plantings to increase harvest time.
-spread the vine plants around the property to save space.
-fence along the backside of the garden to protect from deer, rabbits, etc

Live simply,
Angela and Jonathan

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