The Garden Harvest

 

'He who plants a garden plants happiness.
If you want to be happy for a lifetime, plant a garden.'
Chinese Proverb

Caveat : Harvests vary with space, tending, and weather conditions.

Size Matters

My vegetable patch is organised in three rotating beds plus some pots for potatoes (our garden was pastureland so we're waiting three years to avoid wireworm issues), it is roughly 10 feet by 6 feet in size and is on the same latitude as Manchester, UK in a windy position but fairly close to the sea. Think about it, that's probably smaller than your living-room.

Weather Matters

I live in Zone 5. My garden rarely sees snow, the latest frost is usually in early June and first Autumn frost is about October. We have dry Winters, very wet Springs, wet and not very sunny Summers, and crisp dry Autumns. I don't have the cash or space for a green house but I am innovating during the Spring of 2005 with some windowsill crops (cress, mustard, basil), a cold frame (when my husband fits the perspex to the lid), and a mini fleece tunnel for early lettuce crops.

So is it really hard work?

No. 

I spend a day or two planting sets, seed potatoes, and seeds in the Spring and during the Summer. My wonderful husband spends a few minutes most nights during the Summer watering the patch with a hose while I hand weed and mulch every week or so. The biggest surprise of growing our own vegetables was how little work it took. The only part I dislike is going out on a dark rainy Autumn night to pull root vegetables and wash them for our dinner and at least the taste is good compensation.

Plans for 2007

Fruit

Blackberries (wild)
Alpine strawberries
strawberries
Apples - Golden Delicious and Elstar which I hope to use for apple wine following my Barolo and Roija experiments in 2006 (from kits)

Salad Vegetables
tomato - gardener's delight
tomato - ailsa craig
tomato - roma (plum)
lettuce - Organic Centre's baby leaf mix
lettuce - rainbow chard

Root Vegetables

Beetroot - boltardy
Parsnip - halbange white
Swede - helenor (turnip is an Irish variety of turnip)
potatoes - various
carrot - nantes

Peas and Beans

Pea - Ambassador and Krombek purple pea (a purple mangetout!)
Broad bean - express
Bean - italian borlotto
French bean Aiguillon (haricot vert type)
Runner bean Enorma (to grow with my 3 year old son)

Onions - the most foolproof vegetable in the world to grow

from sets - red, white and garlic

Other Vegetables

Courgette - nero di milan
leeks - atlanta
Celery - daybreak
Pepper - jumbo (bell type - indoors)
Chilli Pepper - pizza (indoors)
Butternut Squash - early
Jerusalem artichokes
Landsberger green manure mix for improving the plot over the winter

Herbs

Rosemary, Chives, Garlic chives, Oregano, Bay
Sage, Thyme, Mint, Sorrel
Sweet basil, hyssop, winter savoury

Aromatic herbs not eaten - Lavender, French lavender, St John's wort, lemon balm, roman chamomile, and comfrey.

New Additions to the Cutting Garden from seed

Primula candlelabra
Cosmos cosmea
echinaeaca Yellow nacca
various sow and grow mixes
butterfly flower
and anything else that takes my fancy!

Other Home & Garden Produce, 2007

to be decided

The 2006 Harvest

Fruit

Blackberries (wild) - none this year due to time constraints
Alpine strawberries - more than we could eat
strawberries - 30
Apples - c. 15 of each variety - Golden Delicious and Elstar
 

Salad Vegetables
tomato - gardener's delight - more than we could eat
tomato - ailsa craig - worked well outdoors but light in flavour
lettuce - Organic Centre's oriental mix - bolted a bit thanks to hot Summer
lettuce - cos little gem - worked well
spinach - palco F1 - grew well but we found we didn't use it much

Root Vegetables

Beetroot - detroit - 1
Parsnip - halbange white - grew excellently - still eating Jan 2007
Turnip - golden ball - slug attacks
potatoes - 12 pots - good harvest, good taste
carrot - nantes half long - good harvest
radish - cherry bell - too strongly flavoured for us

Peas and Beans

Pea - Zamira - poor crop due to green fly
Broad bean - witkiem manita - good crop
Bean - italian borlotto - excellent crop - great taste and colour

Onions - the most foolproof vegetable in the world to grow

various garlic and onion sets - all performed excellently

Other Vegetables

Courgette - nero di milan - 4 plants - more than we could eat, delicious
leeks - atlanta - sown late - hoping for coldframe Spring crop

Herbs

This is my harvest for storage only. I use fresh herbs almost daily from April-October in cooking. The big move in 2006 was a complete overhaul of the bed in the Autumn as several herbs had become thugs. Sage is now confined to a pot and thymes have their own bed to avoid being overshadowed.

Rosemary - 1 large jar
Chives - not stored but used year-round
Garlic chives - not stored but used year-round
Oregano - 1 small jar
Bay - not stored but used year-round
Sage - not stored but used year-round
Thyme - (two new plants bought) - 1 jar
Mint - not stored but used year-round
Sorrel - french - used year round in stirfrys
Sweet Basil - fresh use year round
Hyssop - waiting for plant maturity
Winter Savoury - waiting for plant maturity
Comfrey - aiming for comfrey liquid plant food production in 2007

Aromatic herbs not harvested - Lavender, French lavender, St John's wort, lemon balm, roman chamomile.

Additions to the Cutting Garden

Sweetpea - old fashioned Spencer mix - prolific, pastel, good long stems, Dwarf Sunflowers (slugs liked those), 3 hardy geraniums which need more time to mature, tulips which did brilliantly. Plus various 'sow and grow' mixes

Other Home & Garden Produce, 2006

copious jars of raspberry and strawberry jam and red onion marmalade
cut flowers from Feb to December
6 jars of cranberry sauce (shop-bought cranberries)
 

The 2005 Harvest

Fruit

Blackberries (wild) - 1 large bowl (gathered from a patch in our village)
Alpine strawberries - 10 and numerous new plants
strawberries - 20
Apples - none so far, my dual Golden Delicious and Elstar apple tree still lacks maturity
I am removing my raspberry canes as the space required isn't worth it, even for a raspberry addict such as myself

Salad Vegetables
Cress - curly - good
Mustard - white - good
tomato - gardener's delight - 2 buckets of tomatoes
lettuce - italian blend from organic gardening catalogue - 30
lettuce - lambs - 15

Root Vegetables

Beetroot - detroit globe - 70
Parsnip - gladiator F1 - 40
Turnip - golden ball - 50, very sweet
potatoes - 3 varieties - planted in 15 large pots - excellent harvest

Peas and Beans

Pea - Norli and Douce Provence - crop decimated by poor soil and aphids
Broad bean - witkiem manita - crop decimated by poor soil and aphids

Onions - the most foolproof vegetable in the world to grow

various garlic and onion sets - all performed excellently

Other Vegetables

Corn - F1 Sundance - 8 very small cobs
Courgette - nero di milan - 15 from two small plants, delicious

Herbs (some harvest information still outstanding here)

This is my harvest for storage only. I use fresh herbs almost daily from April-October in cooking.

Rosemary -
Chives - not stored but used year-round
Garlic chives - not stored but used year-round
Oregano -
Bay - not stored but used year-round
Sage -
Thyme -
Fennel - reluctantly removed due to space considerations after it reached 8 foot in height
Mint - not stored but used year-round
Sorrel - french - two new plants

Aromatic herbs not harvested - Lavender, French lavender, St John's wort, lemon balm, roman chamomile.

Additions to the Cutting Garden

Sweetpea - cupani - prolific, good deep purple, but short stemmed
Nicotania - evening fragrance - good
Achillea - summer berries (perennial) - good
various 'sow and grow' mixes
rosa - climbing, New Dawn - good fragrance and soft peach colour, wine coloured hips

Other Home & Garden Produce, 2005

three jars of raspberry and strawberry jam
cut flowers from March to December
6 jars of cranberry sauce (shop-bought cranberries)
4 varieties of handmade chocolates as gifts for Christmas - fudge, white praline, white truffle, and centre surprise.

The 2004 Harvest

Fruit

Blackberries (wild) - 1 large bowl (gathered from a patch in our village)
Strawberries (not known) - 4 and two runner plants (I'm creating a patch slowly by propogating runners)
Raspberries - 63 from June to July from one bush
Apples - none so far, my dual Golden Delicious and Elstar apple tree lacks maturity this year

Salad Vegetables
Rocket Lettuce - 11
Lambs Lettuce - 20 from June to October
I tried some other varieties too but these were the most productive by far, despite
inroads by caterpillars and slugs.
Tomato (gardeners delight outdoor cherry type) - c. 200 over 3 months

Root Vegetables
Carrots - 69 over a period of 4 months
Parsnip - 18
Turnip - 10
Beetroot - 15
Potatoes (pink fir apple, early cropper) - 6 portions from three pots of 8 inch diameter

Peas and Beans
Broad Beans - 2 portions, not tended well enough
Sugar Snap Peas (oregan)- 2 portions, not tended well enough
Mangetout (oregan)- 1.5 portions, not tended well enough

Onions - the most foolproof vegetable in the world to grow
Spring Onions/Scallions - 26 over a period of 6 months
Onions - red and white from seeds and sets - 58 over a period of 8 months
Garlic (variety not known) - 40 bulbs

Other Vegetables
Leeks - 7 (some still to be harvested)
Cauliflowers - two, attacked badly by pests
Broccoli - none, attacked badly by pests
Brussel Sprouts - none, attacked badly by pests

Herbs
This is my harvest for storage only. I use fresh herbs almost daily from April-October in cooking.

Rosemary - 1 large jar and 4 small jars given as Christmas gifts
Chives - not stored but used year-round
Oregano - 2 large jars
Bay - still re-growing after the 2003 wind-burn-incident
Sage - 1 large jar
Thyme - 1 medium jar
Fennel - 20 canes for BBQ flavour
Mint - not mature enough this year

Other Garden Produce, 2004
1 bundle of dried BBQ herbs
two jars of raspberry and strawberry jam
many vases of flowers from chives in April to 'mums in November
two bottles of rosemary oil
one bottle of mediterrean red wine herb vinegar
one bottle of mediterrean white wine herb vinegar
8 jars of cranberry sauce (but I had to buy the cranberries as I can't find a variety to grow in my garden)
two jars of corn relish (had to buy some ingredients)

All photography and text on these pages, except when otherwise indicated, are copyright Grace Tierney, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008