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« WEEKLY MEAL WRAP UP | Main | WILD & SCENIC SCHEDULE UPDATE »

January 5, 2009

By Anais | email author

Harvest (herbs, fruits, and vegs) 5,500 lbs (or there abouts)

Eggs: 3,155 (duck & chicken)

Honey: 25 lbs

If you have been following us this year, you know that the weather played havoc with our summer crops.  Many such as cucumbers and tomatoes were lackluster and poundage considerably down than in previous years.  From our records we “normally” harvest upwards of 850 lbs of tomatoes,  in 2008 we harvested 1/2 that — a mere 425 lbs.    Why?  Well, it was too hot too early and then we went through a roller coaster of temperature flux from 100 degrees one week to 60 degrees the next.

Though we didn’t reach our goal of 10,000 lbs we still fed ourselves and our animals, stocked up the pantry and freezer and provided the surplus to a few restaurants for income.   We didn’t go hungry and we made do and that’s what’s important.

With it being such a terrible year, by November we knew our harvest totals would be low so didn’t “pad the poundage” come December.  Figuring we’d just let the ripening harvest be and carry over the poundage in 2009.  What does that mean?  Well, we just left a few hundred pounds in tomatoes and citrus not harvested for 2008 otherwise we may have bumped up the 2008 tally to 5,800 lbs but instead opted to harvest the fruits and vegs in January.

With the 2008 recap, what does 2009 look like?  Well, from where we are now we’ve went from the second warmest October to the coldest December so the garden is in a semi dormant state.   Looking at the garden you get a sense like it’s been suspended, after all it’s winter so that’s expected.

How’s your garden growing?  I know, I know many of our readers can’t even see their garden but those of would who do care to share?

Or tell us how your 2008 garden grew, did you weigh your produce?  What’s your tally ho goal for 2009?

(5 votes)  Loading ...

Topics: Harvest Tally, In the Garden, Posts by Anais | Tags: eggs, Fruits, Herbs, honey, summer, tally ho, Weather

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15 Responses to “TALLY HO 2008”

1. P~ Says:
   January 5th, 2009 at 7:54 am

   Hi Anais, It was a great year in the garden. Our goal for this year was much more modest than yours at 500# but we were able to exceed it by just a bit to come up to a total of 521 pounds. Our Urban chickens did well for us too by blessing us with 771 eggs.
   As for now, the garden is frozen solid as a rock but all the fall work was done to build the soil and I’m already planning expansions for next…er, this year!
   Thanks for your leadership and inspiration as always!
   P~

2. Florence Says:
   January 5th, 2009 at 8:09 am

   My garden is perfect–full of tasty fruits and veggies with not a blemish nor an insect in sight. Of course my garden is still on the pages of the seed catalogs…LOL. One of the true joys of winter is spending time with hot tea and a stack of seed catalogs.

3. Maureen Says:
   January 5th, 2009 at 8:14 am

   Well, we didn’t add ours up this year….but while the tomatoes were miserable the green beans were abundant and we froze plenty for the winter(had some last night

   As for our winter garden….
   You convinced us to try row covers and tho they’ve only been up less than a week, the lettuce is definitely perking up. Our peas seem to thrive in the cold, but the brocolli is struggling (not dying but not happy). Hard to tell with the onions and garlic, the tops seem healthy enuf. Half our potatoes haven’t even sprouted (wisely staying hidden…or dead?) and the other half are alive but growing at a glacial pace. I guess I should just be happy that we are able to grow all year long….but I really want to try some new brussel sprout recipes….soon!

4. Eric Says:
   January 5th, 2009 at 8:50 am

   Great job, and congratulations on your accomplishments.

   I currently don’t have a garden, but will be looking to expand at the new house. One of my concerns relates to your tremendous harvest, and how that might be impacted by traffic.

   My garden will be on approximately .34 acre about 100 yards from a major interstate. Have there been any scientific studies on the particulate residues that end up in the soil and crops? I’m sure this is not a major worry, but I can’t seem to find any straight answers from anyone advocating urban agriculture.

   Nevertheless, keep plugging away and providing a great example for all of us in the trenches.

5. Kristi Says:
   January 5th, 2009 at 9:00 am

   My goal for this year was 350 lbs. Although we had a bumper crop of apples, the total harvest only came to 255 lbs.

   Next year, no corn (too much space used for what I get), and I’ll start curcurbits indoors. Hopefully we’ll have a good spring and summer….

6. Kory Says:
   January 5th, 2009 at 9:56 am

   currently its under a foot of snow, but it brought about 53 pounds of produce. I still say I can get 100 next year. And since fruit trees are part of the equation now, that number will jump significantly in a couple years.

7. Stacy Says:
   January 5th, 2009 at 1:12 pm

   Logging my crop is one of my new goals. I didn’t keep track of anything last year except the 7-1/2 gallons of plum jam I made. But this year I’ve already started keeping track of lemon harvest (by volume of juice harvested). Now I just have to train the rest of the family to weigh before eating!

8. Chris Says:
   January 5th, 2009 at 3:23 pm

   Everything is under the snow, but my mini-orange tree is flowering right now! Hope to eat the little things this spring! C

9. Frugal in Mexico Says:
   January 5th, 2009 at 5:43 pm

   Hi from Mexico, I didn’t weigh anything. There is just myself to feed & I did that & sold some lettuce. I am NOW eating 4 kinds of lettuce,spinach & radishes from a small patch. That patch is full with shallots,garlic,beets, red swiss chard,& 3 tomato plants. In another small plot is self sown New Zealand spinach & I planted lettuces,sage,flat leaf parsley,Kentucky wonder beans & another kind of pole bean. Another place I planted sweet corn,Chinese greens,leaf radish,lettuces,a few broccoli. I have 2 other places to plant. I have to search for sunny spots on this block long property with it’s extra large Mango trees. I am using the last of the Calomadrin oranges. I have been giving lemons away. No market for seedless lemons. I have 1 tree. 1 stalk of cooking bananas were cut this week & another stalk of good cooking bananas about ready. 7 more stalks of bananas are growing. I am a retired 76 year old granny.

10. Di Says:
    January 5th, 2009 at 5:58 pm

    I started weighing, then just fell out of the habit I am making a renewed commitment though this year to actually weigh everything. It’s not much but hey it’s homegrown!
    I plan on a conservative goal of 50lbs, no idea really how much my little plot will product this year. But I figure with fruit trees, 3 raised beds and containers I should be able to reach that. Weather permitting… brrrrrrr

11. Mary Hysong Says:
    January 5th, 2009 at 6:30 pm

    woww 3,000 eggs? how many birds do you have anyway? I know the year was a disapointment for you with your totals way off and the crazy weather. here’s hoping we all have perfect weather this year I haven’t totaled mine up yet, but probably around 50-70 pounds, mostly greens planted in Sep.

    Starting the year off right tho, over 4 pounds of turnips and greens today; ate them for dinner, yum.

12. Sinfonian Says:
    January 5th, 2009 at 10:33 pm

    Wow, with ALL that you still came close to your last year’s totals. That’s a real accomplishment. You made do with what nature gave you. Let’s hope for everyone’s sake 2009 is much better weather.

    My garden died during the coldest December in over 50 years. My hoop covers were no match for temps that are so unlike our 8b climate (low of 14 that I saw inside my covers) /sigh.

    Oh, and unfortunately we didn’t even get to eat the root crops (I was looking forward to eating the candy carrots with my sons). Raccoons beat us to the harvest during the snow we got over Christmas. Grrr.

    I hope next fall/winter is much better with what I’ve learned this year.

13. ruthie Says:
    January 6th, 2009 at 12:07 pm

    This year will be exciting for us as we’re possibly moving into our own urban homestead! We’re putting in an offer on a little cottage today. It doesn’t even have as much land as you, but we have big dreams.

    Last July we moved down here and started growing at my in-laws. We got many meals worth of veggies, including an impressive armful of sweet potatoes. We’re currently harvesting lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, collards, chard and more.

    My goal for ‘09 for our new home (hopefully!) is 50 pounds. My other goal is to let my in-laws eat their own veggies. I think I will also weigh fruits and veggies we get from other free sources, such as satsumas from our aunt’s tree, wild mustang grapes and blackberries, etc… That way, even with such a small homestead (6k sq ft) we can see real results!

14. Cindie K. Says:
    January 6th, 2009 at 1:55 pm

    We have no winter garden, but we do have an abundance of frozen veggies from our summer garden. We have more than enough tomatoes frozen for our tortoises, several batches of chili, soup, and sauces. And we have an abundance of green beas frozen as well. We have a small amount of corn frozen; one major summer storm knocked out most of our crop. We didn’t weigh our veggies; however, I would like to take that on as a challenge and task for the coming summer. I would also like to begin solar oven cooking and other sustainable challenges.

15. Linda Says:
    January 13th, 2009 at 2:54 pm

    Just finished compiling and estimating November and December harvests, and even with my inconsistant record keeping, I’ve pulled in 50+ pounds of produce from the waning summer garden and the waxing winter garden. My journal and records are better now, and I’ve already hit the 10 pound mark this month - and I still have 2 more weeks! I’m looking forward to seeing how much food I grow in the coming year. I don’t have any pound goals, just enough tomatoes to keep me happy. (That takes a lot of tomatoes, by the way - one cannot HAVE too many tomatoes in my opinion, and they can be eaten for and as any meal.) Given that I can garden pretty much year round, and given my previous guess-timate, I think I can probably produce about 250 pounds of vegetables (no fruit trees yet) in the coming year and probably more. It will be an interesting year

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