Senas garden 16

i have totally dropped the ball on blogging about my garden, but let's be real, i have dropped the ball on blogging about anything this summer. i have, however, been keeping track of my garden in my garden binder (I have a binder for everything!) so next year, when I go to plan my garden 17 i will have the info about what worked and what didn't. 

this is how my garden looks right now:

this time of year, my garden usually starts to look rough. i have completely neglected the weeding, but i am fortunate and have a wonderful friend who trades me help in my yard, garden, and around the nursery for plants, its a pretty great deal! thankfully, she spent last friday digging me out of my weed mess and now i can actually see what is in my garden.

i don't want to make this post too long, but i do want to share about what has been good, and not so good this year. i love hearing about others gardens, so please share in the comments how yours is doing!

• first off, zinnias. if you've never planted them, i suggest that you do. they are an annual, so need to be planted every year, but honestly, these were so easy. i bought a seed packet at fleet farm, sprinkled the seed in my cocoa mulch, and they took off. they just keep blooming and they make a great cut flower. and lena the pup likes them too.

• next up, my herbs and cherry tomato plants (edible landscaping) near my front door. they are doing great. i failed with cilantro and dill, but that's not a surprise, because that happens every year. i'm going to get a patch of dill (apparently its a weed and it spreads) going for next year, and hope that it just keeps coming back. lord knows i need a lot of dill for all my canning and it would be nice to have some of my own. i love having cherry tomato plants right by my door, they are pretty and make a great snack when i'm walking by. the herbs that are doing well: upright basil, tri color sage, rosemary, oregano, and parsley. i have harvested basil and made pesto cubes, and planted another crop of basil, so i'm waiting for them to get bigger. basil is my favorite. i like to plant basil in between my pepper plants in my garden.

one thing i can say about my garden is that it has not disappointed when it comes to harvest.

• the summer squash were an afterthought, dave planted them near our asparagus and raspberries and they took off. they have produced a ton, enough for me to give away, can twice, eat for every meal, and STILL have too many. i noticed squash bugs this year, and several of the plants have died because of them.
• my tomato plants haven't been the greatest but my paste tomatoes have produced enough to have 3 gallon zip locks in the freezer, and the yellow early gold have made some great fresh salsa. 
• cucumbers were kind of a dud, they have produced enough for me to keep a steady supply of refrigerator pickles in my pick a deli. 
• carrots did well. i haven't pulled them all yet, but the ones i pulled were delicious. i tried to plant another crop of them, but they didn't take off. 
• i haven't harvested my potatoes yet, but will soon. i pulled 2 up on accident and we ate them and loved them.
• i've had a pretty good pepper harvest. i will be planting the pretty 'n sweet variety i got from opportunity village again next year. they grow upside down, start off lime green, then turn red, and are really sweet and delicious. my green bell peppers are producing well too, along with chocolate habanero, cayenne, and some other hot peppers. i'm a little disappointed in my jalapeños. 
• broccoli was another great crop this year. i planted all of the plants at the same time, which meant i had a huge harvest all at once. i may try to stagger plant them next year. i did get several containers full and into the freezer to enjoy in the winter. the plants started to rot in the main stem, so i'm not sure if they got some kind of disease or bug.
• cauliflower was doing really well for a long time, but i left it in the garden too long, and they rotted. i did plant 3 more late cauliflower, so we will see how that turns out.
• kale has been harvested once for kale chips, and it should be harvested again. i imagine this will continue to produce until we till up the garden a final time the fall.
• i usually do a lot of lettuces and leafy greens, but i haven't been wanting to eat that stuff during this pregnancy.
• i did pole beans this year, and they are producing now. they were late to the harvest party, but they taste pretty good. i got a majority of my beans from the furleigh farm next door for canning dilly beans.  

all in all, it has been a great year for my garden. it's so interesting to see what does well each year. i'm excited that my apple trees are loaded, asparagus is going to be awesome next spring, and our raspberries are growing and growing, but we have only seen a few fruits.  

how is your garden doing this year?