Wednesday, January 10, 2007

garden review

As part of the planning process for next year's vegetable garden, I've made a list of what were good crops and what were poor crops last year. I've also noted what I'd like to do differently (or the same) next year for each crop.

Good crops:
Basil (same)
Carrots (try a longer orange variety, also, purple and white)
Cucumbers (try 2 varieties this year)
Jalepeno peppers (maybe)
Lettuce (more varieties; add escarole, radicchio and endive)
Tomatoes (same, but no more Yellow Brandywine)

Poor crops:
Beans, pole and bush (try again with inoculant)
Beets (these were flooded by spring rain, try again)
Celery (terrible, why bother)
Peas, snap and shell (try again with inoculant)
Pumpkins (give up, I don’t have room)
Scallions (these were flooded by spring rain, try again)
Summer squash, Yellow crook neck (try zucchini instead)
Winter squash, butternut (try a different location)

S&P

4 comments:

Christa said...

I am curious to know... What happened with your celery? I was thinking about trying some this year, but if it's not really worth it, I'd rather save the space for something else.

Your winter lettuces look great!

kathy said...

It shriveled up and died. It did not have much sun where I planted it, maybe that was a problem. I also bought it late in the year, on sale, maybe it wasn't happy when I planted it. I don't know anything about growing celery. I figure its one of those things where I just have to say I can't grow everything ....

Anonymous said...

Celery is a really hard vegetable to grow. Among other things, it needs a really steady supply of water and rich soil. I don't bother with it anymore either.

Celery root or celeraic on the other hand is much less trouble and much more rewarding to grow. It's great in soups, and can be substitued for celery in many recipies. It's very popular in Europe, but isn't grown so often in the US. There are two kinds, normal and 'smooth'. I prefer the normal kind.

I grow celeraic every year.

kathy said...

I love celeriac in soups - also with roasted parsnips and fennel. It sounds like an interesting new vegetable to grow. I like the Wilkopedia description that celeriac "is not as popular as other root vegetables in the western hemisphere, very possibly because of its garish appearance before cleaning: it has been described as a vegetable octopus in reference to the tangle of rootlets that grow at the base." I find it difficult to start plants indoors, so I’ll keep my eyes open for seedlings in May.