<p>As I was making spicy eggplant stew last night, I had a thought: I have not bought any vegetables except potatoes and carrots since July! I still have a pantry full of slowly ripening green tomatoes, a bed of beets waiting to be pulled out of the ground, some eggplant and “flying saucer” squash in the fridge, and plenty of frozen peaches and wild strawerries in the freezer. The only things that are still have not ripened in my garden are the quinces. My herbs are still going strong: dill, cilantro, chives, leeks… So my small 6-bed garden did very well this year. How did yours do?</p>
<p>do you want to give a general idea where you are BB? I am in the northeast and we have sadly had our first hard frost. This year was a terrible year for most of my plants- tomatoes, cukes, squashes, etc due to a cold rainy cloudy June. My root crops onions and carrots are still great and the herbs were good. I got some tomatillo plants from a friend for the first time this year and although our short growing season didn’t allow full production before the frost, I did get some nice green salsa made. We also have strawberries which were great as usual. But I missed the tomatoes…</p>
<p>We (Northern IL) too have had a hard frost and a lot of rain. Zucchini did great this year. Tomatoes, not so good. I had plenty on the vine but they never wanted to ripen. They just stayed this odd orange color. Green peppers, however, out did themselves. Peas and beans also were good, as was the rhubarb.</p>
<p>Iowa has had a hard frost and rain (it is raining again as I type). Tomatoes not so good, peppers outstanding, beans (both string and lima) and peas good, cabbage good (the cool wet weather seems to have kept down the cabbage moths), strawberries and blueberries okay, but raspberries and grapes outstanding (we picked almost 8 quarts of raspberries every couple days for about 6 weeks!!) Potatoes and carrots okay, although they do not seem to be storing well, so I am using them up as quickly as I can. </p>
<p>In general we had a cold wet summer and it really kind of skewed our gardening. We normally freeze gallons and gallons of corn, three different types. This year we barely had corn for fresh eating and what we had came very late.</p>
<p>Due to both a health insurance paid CSA and an amazing farmers’ market, my garden is limited to certain items. But produce is the centerpiece of our diets, so I need large volumes. In this cool year, the lettuce kept on keeping on till July. No lettuce bought for months! I plant lots of tomatos, and they were anemic in production, but still enough for fresh eating and cooking. Putting in numerous varieties gave me a few smaller fruited types that produced well. The large varieties, not worth the space. Basil, was anemic as well, and sad to make very little pesto. Beans were great, and raspberries had the best year ever. Cukes were ok, broccoli reliable.</p>
<p>We had a mixed year. Except for the cherries, our tomatoes didn’t do well, much less than last year. OTOH, our basil was spectacular; we’ve had pesto once a week, and have enough frozen to get through the winter. Had a month or two of steady green beans, a few eggplants, and a pretty good amount of butternut squash. Our rosemary bush is thriving. the hot peppers are looking good. </p>
<p>Last year was a bumper crop of everything, but as others have said, the cold and rain slowed this year down.</p>
<p>We had a strange tomato season near Chicago and all I could really get out of it was some sauce…but the broccoli has been fantastic and squash! Herbs proliferated and, as always, cucumbers and peppers will inherit the earth.</p>
<p>I don’t have lots of sun for growing, but thoroughly enjoyed my first attempt at herb gardening on our deck! I still have some parsley, chives and oregano that has not given up yet. I picked the basil clean a couple of weeks ago but used that lots and lots all summer and early fall. Will DEFINITELY try to expand the herbs next summer since they don’t take too much room - will miss walking out the back door and picking what I need!</p>
<p>We are in Southeastern PA.</p>
<p>My peas were a treat and the string beans (two kinds) did very well. I would say the beans were our easiest and most successful crop this year. I love to just pick and eat them right then. The tomatoes were just OK. We had broccoli but wildlife (including a skunk!) got to lots of the spears before we did. The herbs did great and we still have a late crop of beets in the ground. They are so much better fresh! We also have rows of late lettuce flourishing until our first frost.</p>
<p>I have potted up some basil and chives for indoors for winter. So far they are doing well.</p>
<p>I’ve never grown beets. I should try those next year! I’ve never even THOUGHT of growing beets and I love them. I can’t get snap peas into the house before we eat them all. When the girls were little, they would sneak into the garden and eat them all!</p>
<p>This summer I focused my energy on growin the best tasting melons, I think I succeeded. I harvested about 8-9 French Charentais melons and 4-5 big watermelons, considering the location, coastal and not hot. I also had lots of cucumbers, 5-6 per day. I had lots of Stupice tomatoes(small, early season) but the big tomatoes were all eaten by the squirrels until I found a way to deter them. By then it was too late. So I did not give up on growing tomatoes and already started another bed of tomatoes in August, it seems to be doing very well. Right now the lettuce bed is doing very well, same with the 4 peas bed that I put in. The kale bed is just starting. It still 80s degree weather here.</p>
<p>RIP tomato plants - frost got them early (Chicago area). But for me they did as well as ever, maybe because I got them in early this year.</p>
<p>Has anyone ever tried planting winter wheat over the winter?</p>
<p>We only grew Heirloom tomatoes this year and had a sparse but delicious crop. Until the “attack of the tree rats”.
We had a heck of a time getting rid of our ratty friends and just gave up last week and pulled the plants. Shades of “Willard”.</p>
<p>Although I did not plant beets, I finally found a farmer that had volunteer sugar beets in his corn field. Delicious. Try planting some sugar beets, taste much better than red beets. Sugar beets are a much larger plant. </p>
<p>Scavenaged/gleened a bit of food this year from a local pioneer-historic homestead. Quince, and concord/purple grapes which became grape/quince jelly and syrups. Only did 3 batches of dried apples and want to put up canned gravastein apples. Big year in italian prunes, 24 quarts and 30# dried. Big year in basil, a lot of pesto. Big year in beans, eggplant, cucumbers. Trying to worry about 4 more red banana quash. Farmer made me a deal for 4-10#ers. </p>
<p>Great year for persimmons. </p>
<p>Mid Willamette Valley, Oregon Trail’s end.</p>
<p>Longprime, I planted sugar beets before, they were awful, very big, not delicious at all. It seems like a crop people used to grow to feed some big animals because they are most cost effective.</p>
<p>Any hints from the prolific raspberry posters above? I can grow about anything, but I don’t think my berries produce nearly enough. </p>
<p>I know they say to cut down the dead canes and that the berries produce on the 2 year old canes. I always cut out the dead canes and spend way too much time (for my taste) attacking the bushes with hedge trimmers to get them to manageable size. Otherwise, they get so wide and tall, I couldn’t get in to pick the berries even if they did produce more. I also never understand “cut the 2 year old canes”. How does one know? It’s not like they have labels stating which are 1 year old and which are 2!</p>
<p>Sorry, fellow CC gardeners, I should have mentioned that I live in Western WA, just north of Seattle. We did have a truly terrific summer this year! According to my estimations, the veggies and berries paid for my investment in The Great Wall of Chickenwire 
Silly rabbits, lettuce is for humans! And the dry, hot weather helped with slug control.</p>
<p>no slugs just tomatoes
and more tomatoes.
next year I am keeping them in pots where I can keep my eye on them.</p>
<p>srsrstress, I don’t know if I had prolific raspberry season because I garden the lazy way, I left the whole berry patch the same from previous year, not cutting any canes, and I had a lot of sweet raspberries for breakfast. Sometimes, I got bored with picking them and let the birds eat them.</p>
<p>Years ago I planted six raspberry plants in the way back yard behind our garage which is pretty much useless, steep slope. It’s a no man’s land, full of horrible invasive species and tall trees all owned by neighbors, but uncared for by them as they have put their fences at the top of the slope. I used to get a fair number of berries, but one by one the plants died. I thought I had no berries this year - so imagine my surprise when I went to dump a load of compost this morning and there was a perfectly ripe raspberry! I’m going to get a second raspberry soon. </p>
<p>Slugs got some of my tomatoes despite being in pots on my patio - most unfair! Tomato blight got a bunch of tomatoes as well. I have two almost ripe tomatoes and then I’ll be done. The only thing that’s doing well in my yard is herbs - I’ve got plenty of mint, lemon verbana, parsley, thyme, oregano and chives. I’ve got to go back to growing lettuce.</p>
<p>I do have a terrible yard, it surrounded by trees none of which actually belong to me so there is little I can do about getting more sun.</p>