How to Grow Your Own Food – 6/19/2013 Garden Tally

This year I’m on a mission to grow 4,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables in my suburban backyard. In 2012 I was able to grow 2,028 pounds, and in 2013 I’m going double or nothing. I have absolutely no idea if I’ll be able to achieve my goal. But, as with any adventure, half the fun is getting there.   ~Mavis

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This past week we harvested nearly 19 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables from our backyard garden. The peas were the big winner this week along with broccoli, Swiss chard and strawberries.

We’ve had to battle a ton of slugs this year and trying to keep Lucy out of the garden this spring was a little challenging so I feel like I am off to a bit of a slow start. But there will be pumpkins and potatoes and all things squash to harvest this fall so I need to keep that in mind so I don’t get discouraged.

After all, anytime you can feed your family with fresh fruits and vegetables you’ve grown right out your backdoor, it’s a good thing. No matter how much you grow.

~Mavis

Here is what I have harvested so far this year:

Basil – 7 ounces

Our second round of basil is poking through the soil in the greenhouse. I LOVE making fresh pesto.

Beets – 14 ounces

I planted yet another row of beets over the weekend. Looks like roasted beets will be on the menu this fall, that’s for sure.

Bok Choy – 4 oz

Check out this Asian Noodle Salad with Bok Choy I made. It’s pretty awesome.

Broccoli – 11 ounces

Our lone head of spring broccoli. Hopefully it will do better this fall.

Cabbage – 3 pounds 4 ounces

Carrots – 3 ounces

I’m happy to announce our carrots are FINALLY popping through the soil. Hurry! This is the first time I can remember having to plant them so many times. Note to self: seriously amend the soil asap.

Chives – 13 ounces

We are picking about an ounce a week to use in recipes.

Egg Count – 1,450

We collected  65 eggs this past week. What a bunch of slackers!!! 😉 We still have 3 hens sitting on eggs and they practically growl at us every time we try and collect eggs.

Kale – 9 ounces

We harvested a boatload of kale this past week and I can’t wait to share the recipes with you!

Lettuce – 21 pounds 6 ounces

Note to self: The romaine we have growing in the pallet garden needs to get harvested!

Microgreens 5 ounces

I need to grow some more of these. My favorite way to eat microgreens is with egg salad sandwiches.

Oregano – 4 ounce

Peas – 13 pounds 8 ounces

Over the past week we have harvested 10 pounds 9 ounces of peas! And we are not done yet. We still have another round of sugar snap peas to pick and our green arrow peas are just now flowering. We’ll shell the green arrow peas and freeze them to use this winter.

Potatoes – 2 pounds 11 ounces

While I was out weeding I accidentally pulled up a volunteer potato plant that had 2 wee potatoes growing. Since they only weighed about 2 ounces I couldn’t exactly make a meal with them so I just fried them up in some bacon and had them with eggs. New potatoes are like gold, aren’t they?

Radish – 22 pounds 2 ounces

I won’t plant radishes again until the fall, but they were sure nice when we had them.

Spinach – 15 ounces

The last of the spring spinach was pulled up from the pallet garden last week. I’ll plant some more in the fall.

Sprouts –2 pounds 2 ounces

Here are instructions for growing your own sprouts.

Strawberries 4 pounds 1 ounce

Last night we had strawberry shortcake for dinner for the third time! How crazy is that? Dessert for dinner? Heck ya! When it’s in season, eat as much as you can I say. 🙂

Swiss Chard 2 pounds 15 ounces

When my parents came for Father’s Day my mom went home with a sack full a Swiss chard and kale {thank goodness!}.

Wheatgrass – 7 ounces

Total Food Harvested in 2013: 89 pounds 13 ounces

Total Eggs Collected in 2013: 1,450

If you are new to gardening or just want to learn more on the topic of organic gardening, my #1 favorite book is The Gardener’s A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food By Tanya L.K. Denckla.