This year we planned our most extensive garden yet, added more garden space as well as more raised beds. We added more 5 gallon buckets and brought in a pallet of nice, rich organic soil. Now halfway through the season we thought we would post a little update.
Still recovering (or not) from an injury I suffered hiking earlier in the year, I have been of little help in the garden this year so all the credit goes to my amazing wife.
Last year green beans were a big success, so this year we expanded expecting the same, but it wasn’t to be. We planted 3 large areas of beans, but 2 failed outright and one showed only minimum growth. We replanted one area and it is now producing some, but the others never produced much of anything.
The tomatoes as well as green peppers, banana peppers, and even some cayenne, are producing well and are producing far more than we can eat. The ever bearing strawberries are producing again; not enough to preserve, but a nice treat every morning. Our patch of watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew are progressing nicely, if we can keep those pesky raccoons out!
The squash and zucchini were a bust; we were able to harvest one nice zucchini before an unknown pest wiped them all out in a day, sad. However we have been successful (so far at least) in growing a variety of lettuces, dill, lavender, chives, rosemary, sage, thyme, cilantro, chamomile, basil, oregano, arugula and more. Whew, the wife has been busy!
Cucumbers! Cucumbers everywhere! We planted 4 varieties and apparently they are loving the weather because they are producing far more than in previous years. My dear wife took the plunge and has tried canning for the first time. So far she has canned 16 half pints of salsa (3 varieties) and 38 pints of dill pickles as well as few bread and butter!
So how many of you grew at least some of your food this year? To us, growing food is the most basic element of survival, and well isn’t that what prepping is all about?
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
Prepper 365 
Our green bean produced nothing this year. Lots of growth but maybe it’s too hot right now. I had yo replant after chickens got in and destroyed the plants earlier so maybe that put us too late in the season. We grew enough cucumbers to make four quarts of fermented pickles so that was nice. Our zucchini did very well. I actually dehydrated a lot of shredded zucchini to add to soups or make into zucchini bread later in the season. Our yellow tomatoes are going pretty good too. We actually managed to have s successful ted onion harvest too earlier in the year.
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Green beans were crazy productive, but the squash bugs got most of the cucumbers and melons. However, the late crops of both those are looking good, and I’m being vigilant seeking/destroying the bugs. Broccoli and cabbage, peas and peppers all preserved in various ways. Potatoes ok and tomatoes to give away despite twice weekly canning! It’s been a fairly good year and the fall salad crops & peas, black-eye peas, late cabbages look terrific…knock wood. All the Alliums were smaller than usual, but there will be enough to get us through the winter.
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Great harvest!
I also really like grilling the peppers and canning them too! They go a little bit soft after the grill and they’re perfect to pull out of the jar and use in salads.
Also, did you find out what happened to your squash? You might have to change the soil around them before growing anything else. I had the same problem and everything I grew in the same spot died. I replaced the soil down to a foot deep and it was fine after that.
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Not sure yet on the squash
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