This year my goal is to grow 2,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables. I think I can do it. With 16 raised garden beds, a greenhouse, a raspberry patch and a few more planting beds sprinkled throughout our property, I believe growing 2,000 pounds of food is an attainable goal. Even if I do live right in the middle of high maintenance suburbia, and my neighbors think I’m nuts. ~Mavis
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This morning I sent The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird out to pick a few vegetables. Her first load was a little over 32 pounds. She still has more beans and carrots to harvest, but this is what a typical haul is looking like these days.
The tomatoes are growing like mad, and with the impending heat wave {upper 90’s in the forecast} I’m hoping my counters will be so full of tomatoes by the end of August, that I won’t have room for anything else. Because if there is one thing I’ve been looking forward to this year… it’s tomatoes. Lot’s and lot’s of tomatoes.
I must admit, I’m pretty excited with the latest tally. I just hit the 25% mark, and we still haven’t gotten into tomato, potato, or pumpkin season yet. Wahooo! I think I can do this!
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Here is what I have harvested so far this year:
Basil 1 lb 7 oz {how to make pesto}
Beans 12 lbs 4 {green bean salad, how to can green beans, dilly beans}
Beets 48 lb 140z {how to can beets}
Blueberries 1 lb 14 oz {mixed berry pie recipe}
Broccoli 4lb 14 oz {pasta salad with broccoli, carrots, and sun dried tomatoes}
Broccoli Rabb 1lb 6 oz {chickpeas with broccoli raab and bacon}
Cabbage 44lb 13 oz {how to make sauerkraut}
Carrots 101 lbs 1 oz {carrot cake recipe}
Cauliflower 4lbs 11 oz {cauliflower hummus rocks!}
Chives 1lb 1 oz {chalkboard painted herb pots}
Cucumbers 4 lbs 2 oz
Kale 1 lb 4 oz {how to make kale chips}
Lettuce 14 lb 6 oz {bbq chicken salad}
Mint 4 lbs 12 oz {Fresh Pea Salad with Spinach, Feta and Mint}
Onions 9 lbs 15 oz {Kentucky Fried Chicken Cole Slaw}
Oregano 4 lbs 15 oz
Mushrooms 9.25 oz {read more about how I grew mushrooms}
Peas 38 lb13 oz {fresh peas and bacon recipe}
Peppers 1 lb 1 oz
Potatoes 37lb 0 oz {potato soup recipe}
Radish 15lb 12 oz {how I bartered radishes for avocados}
Raspberries 2 lb 5 oz {how to make a raspberry buckle}
Spinach 2lb 5 oz {garlic spinach dip recipe}
Sprouts 10 oz {how to grow sprouts}
Strawberries 7lb 5 oz {dehydrated strawberries are awesome}
Swiss Chard 24 lb 5 oz {rainbow Swiss chard recipe}
Tomatoes 1 lb 12 oz {roasted corn salad with tomatoes and feta}
Zucchini 106 lb 6 oz {how to make zucchini relish, zucchini salad, zucchini brownies}
Miscellaneous 8lb 2 oz {This means we let someone come and pick vegetables, or did not get a chance to weigh them individually, and this was the total weight of all the vegetables combined}
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So that’s what I’ve grown so far this year… How about YOU?
How is YOUR garden doing?
Total Food Harvested in 2012: 522 lbs 9.25 oz
I have spent a total of $496.58 on seeds, soil, plants and supplies for this year.
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Sherle says
So far this season, 328 pounds of produce from our 20’x25′ plus one row, garden. We grow everything vertically, so we put more plants in than most people would in that space. 🙂
Mary Ann says
So gorgeous!
My tomatoes are coming to an end. I already pulled out the cherry tomatoes and the majority of my beans. My zucchini got powdery mildew and after I cut off the bad leaves the plants don’t seem to want to produce anymore. (Darn it, I wanted to make more zucchini bread!)
I had a ton of tomatoes that were too ugly to present to someone else, so I made my first ever batch of marinara sauce from scratch yesterday. What a job for such a small amount of sauce — crazy! After all that time in the kitchen yesterday I didn’t even want to taste it, but my nephew and husband both said it’s delicious. We’ll have it tonight.
I would never be doing all I am in the kitchen without the inspiration I get from your blog, Mavis. Thanks!!!
CathyB says
Just a suggestion, and feel free to ignore it, but I would love to know your total for the week when you do the weigh in Wednesday. I love the whole running total thing, but I am too lazy to go back and look at what it was previously, so I am never sure how much you added to the total each week. It would be kind of cool to see how the weeks totals have built up over the summer. You don’t have to get crazy and tell us the total for the week for each vege, but an overall total for each week would be great. Like, “And the total weight of food harvested this week was_____ lb. ” Thanks. I love reading your posts!
Sarah says
Wow. That is awesome Mavis. Beautiful
Desi says
Awesome! I finally picked our first tomato here! Now to try my first ever heirloom tomato…
indio says
Nice!! I bet you are happy that you planted a lot of the heavier foods. If you put in fruit tress, you could really blow out your number easily.
Mary says
My tomatoes aren’t ready (I secretly think the chickens are nibbling on the flowers but hopefully they’re just in there gleaning worms…), but I have lots and lots and LOTS of basil from what started out as three tiny transplants. Success, since it’s my first year trying it. So I’m definitely making pesto for the freezer real soon. Unfortunately, the success is offset by a huge loss — a horrid storm messed up my fully-laden apple tree last evening, and I’m not sure the tree is fixible. 🙁 They’re Red Delicious too…hubby’s favorite. I think this is the first year we’ve had more than twenty apples…what a sad day…
CostumeDiva says
Mavis – what an amazing week! So much food…everytime I read about your harvest I sit and try to think what I would do with all of it (your recipes suggestions are wonderful!). What do you do with all the lettuce and leafy greens that you harvest? I’m sure that part of the answer is: 1) eat it fresh 2) barter 3) foodstand. Is there anyway to preserve these for later in the year? Iceberg lettuce doesn’t seem like a good candidate for freezing, but what about the rest?
Mavis says
You can freeze kale and Swiss chard, although I have not done it. I try and trade with my neighbors or use them in quiche. 🙂