2010 Vegetable Garden Review

Vegetable gardens are different from flower beds in that most of the plants are annuals and every year we get a chance at a fresh start.  We learn from the mistakes of the previous season and find out what works.  This year I started a brand new raised bed vegetable garden and these are the things that I liked.

I planted 4 Scotia tomatoes and 1 Sweet Millions cherry tomato and I've had tomatoes coming out my ears in the last month.  Tomato soup, tomato sauce, tomato sandwiches.  I think I've had tomatoes in every meal since August.  It was a rough start at first and the plants looked a bit wilty and yellow but I added a shot of fertilizer and away they went.  Now we're at the end of September and the plants are all but dead.  But hang on, there's STILL tomatoes out there!  I'm not even sure how that's possible but I'm liking it.  And how about this. (my apologies for the slightly fuzzy photo)

I went out to my veggie garden tonight and discovered that under my cherry tomato was a small plant with bright yellow blooms and the beginnings of, a TOMATO.  Life is obviously pretty darn good in my tomato patch.

Another crop that went particularly well for me this year was carrots.  I planted 3/4 of a 4 foot square bed with Chantenay Red Cored carrots.  I picked this variety because they are short and stocky.  I wanted my carrots to stay within the raised beds rather than dipping into the soil below.  It was a good choice because the carrots have emerged healthy and large.  I've been eating them raw for some time now but will start making soup and cake in the coming week.

That's a BIG carrot!

My other favourite plant of the year was cilantro.  Too often I find the cilantro in grocery stores to be old, wilted and lacking in smell and flavour.  Not the cilantro in my garden.  The scent was incredible and the leaves so fresh.  Absolutely mouth watering.  And it only got better as the season went on.  The plants began to flower and the insects couldn't resist the smell either.  At any given time I could find large crowds of bees, wasps, moths, stink bugs and earwigs all crowded in and enjoying themselves.

Hover fly in the cilantro flowers

Overall the square foot gardening adventure has been a success.  I had some great fresh vegetables, my freezer is quite full and I've enjoyed going out to my little patch of paradise and seeing all the insect action going on in that world.  I even managed to cram in a few flowers to appease my penchant for pretty things while the flower beds undergo their renovations.  

Despite my small garden I still managed to make room for the blossoms of chamomile

Next up, the things I didn't like about my vegetable garden....