As you’re reading this I’m probably out in the gardens, getting a start on putting them to bed for the winter. I’ve noted before that I don’t do much with the flowers – I leave most of the seed heads up for the birds, and I let the leaves fall and create a thick mulch for critters and plants alike. I will be collecting some seeds if the weather is dry.

But the veg beds do need to be cleaned. Plus I have garlic to plant.

It’s also a great time to take stock of the year and reflect on what I’ll do again or change for next year. So without further ado…

The Good:

Carrots – were FABULOUS this year. I planted a full bed and I still have about 1/4 of it to harvest – which I can do right to frost. I will be planting another full bed because it’s been the perfect amount.

Potatoes- did well too. They were mostly really small. I’m not sure if that’s the type I planted (I just planted some small unknown type I had leftover from the grocery store), or the dry weather. Regardless – they are tasty and I got enough to keep us going for several months. Next year though, I think I’ll try some seed potatoes from the nursery and see if I get a better result.

Garlic – I planted 18 cloves and got 15 bulbs – which is about par for the course in my experience. I am planting them again, but I got a different type this year. Not because I didn’t like the first, this is just what was available at the nursery I was at the other day.

Shallots – In total, I got over 50 lovely little shallots. I think they are going to be my go-to onion. Dave likes the flavour – and I like them because they are small. One is usually just perfect for whatever dish I’m cooking up – so there’s no onions left kicking around in the fridge.

Sugar Baby Melons – In total, I think I got seven good-sized melons. I personally HATE watermelon. But the watermelon lovers in the family (Dave and Mom) said they were great. The Sugar Babies were the perfect size. The only downside – lots of big seeds. So I will plant melons again next year, but I’ll look for a seedless variety.

Raspberries – another fantastic year for the raspberries. But I can’t really take the credit. Once raspberries get rooted, there’s no stopping them. I just give them a trim every spring and let them do their thing.

Blackberries – though I didn’t get a tonne of blackberries, the ones I did get were lovely. (The birds thought so too). It is technically the first fruiting season for the blackberries so I’m sure they will do wonderful next year.

Tomatoes – The tomatoes were a mixed bag, but overall good. I had five seedlings of the yellow pear tomatoes. Only one of them survived, but one was all I needed. And for once, I haven’t been over run with tomatoes. We get a small handful almost every day. It’s just perfect for our needs. The Chocolate Cherry tomatoes I bought on a whim did so-so.. but they are in a pot. I’ve found tomatoes never do as well in a pot (at least for me). Last, I had one small Sweet Millions cherry tomato that grew in the mulch (from last years tomatoes). I put it in a pot and it’s given us a few tomatoes here and there – but like the Chocolate Cherry it hasn’t been spectacular. Still – overall it’s been a win.

Snap Peas – I never do bad with snap peas, though I do think the harvest was down a little this year. That could have been the lack of rain though. But the peas never make it out of the garden to the kitchen, so a big harvest isn’t a big deal.

Swiss Chard – My Swiss Chard is HUGE!! And tasty. We’ve had a few meals from it. It’s supposed to overwinter well so I’m going to transplant it from it’s pot to somewhere more permanent and we’ll see what happens.

Sweet peppers – I’ve struggled with peppers before – so I was thrilled to get four lovely red peppers this year. They weren’t huge – but they were beautiful! I’ll definitely do more next year.

Gourds – Just like last year, I harvested a whole pile of tiny gourds. I don’t think I’ll plant these next year though – they were fun, but I do think I’d like to give the space to something we eat instead.

Now onto the bad.

Pumpkins – I planted the last of my baby Jack seeds (about five or six) and only got one plant – with two small white pumpkins – one VERY small. So a bit of a dissapointment. Of course, this is likely the lack of rain, the squash bugs/squash vine borer. I’m debating on growing pumpkins next year. I’d like to grow some big pumpkins, but I’m not sure I have the room.

Lettuce/Spinach – I don’t know what it is, but I just don’t do well with these two. I did manage to get a little bit (one meal) of spinach and a couple (Very small) heads of lettuce – but the rest bolted and was no good. Neighbour Bronson had an absolutely gorgeous bed of lettuce in his yard, so I may talk to him about what kind he was growing and see if I have better luck next year.

Green Beans – As you may recall – the beans got off to a horrible start. I think this was a couple factors… I think the company I normally get my soil changed things up – and this years soil was crap. I got some seaweed fertilizer from Amazon to make up for it… and I think I got scammed – I’m pretty sure it was soy sauce. Once I gave the beans some bone meal – they seemed to pick up. I think the dry weather also had a poor effect. Eventually though – we did start getting some beans – even enough for a meal a couple of times – though Dave ate most of them raw. They are still producing, so I’ll leave them for now.

Cucumbers – The cucumbers did not do great this year. I think I got a total of maybe seven cucumbers this year – as opposed to the dozens I got last year. We were giving them away, we got so many. I only got two of the fancy lemon cucumbers I bought. But I won’t plant them next year anyway, because they were tricky to peel. But it was a fun experience.

Cucamelons – Last year, by mid-August we were drowning in Cucamelons… This year, I didn’t get a first harvest until late September – and it was small. These will go to the Frost, but we certainly won’t be get the amount we got last year.

Strawberries – I did get some strawberries – but not very many. In truth, I think my plants are past their prime. I’ll get some new ones next year. I also need to get some netting to keep the birds off them so I can enjoy more berries.

The Ugly

Leeks/Green Onions – I did get some green onions, but they weren’t spectacular. The Leeks however, were a complete write-off. I got nothing! I might try the leeks again next year though.

Zucchini – I think the zucchini suffered from the same thing as the beans. After I gave them some bone meal, they did get better – but I only got one zucchini – but it was really small. I will try again though – because Dave really likes grilled zucchini.

Squash – The saddest story of them all, as you may recall. I planted seedlings that came up from last year – only to learn that squash/pumpkins/gourds/cucumbers hybridize super easy. I got some weird monster gourd/squash. Lesson learned – next year I will start with fresh seeds!

Do that’s it. Some wins, some fails – but overall – a lot of fun. I look forward to next year!

And before I go… I harvested the peanuts the squirrels planted…

That little harvest came from three plants. I think it’s only fair I give the bounty back to those intrepid squirrels.