Faye and me recently spent a wonderful two plus weeks in England and Wales, and over half of our nights were in bed and breakfasts.
As you see, the full English breakfast, toast and coffee (or tea) is a hearty one indeed. It sustained us right past lunch all the way to dinner!
From the beginning of the growing season in April through August, this 20′ x 20′ plot (plus a much smaller one in the back yard) has yielded (list below photo):
5.4 kilos of Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes
4.2 kilos of Piennolo del Vesuvio tomatoes
0.6 kilos of Purple Heart tomatoes
0.1 kilo of Beefsteak tomatoes
3.9 kilos of cucumbers
5.2 kilos of green zucchini
2.3 kilos of Cocozelle zukes
2.8 kilos of Kusa zukes
0.5 kilos of tomatillos
0.3 kilos of jalapeno peppers
0.4 kilos of Sugar Rush Peach peppers
0.4 kilos of Cayenne peppers
0.3 kilos of Scarlet Runner Bean pods (after a short harvest time we’re letting the beans go to
4.7 kilos of asparagus
2.2 kilos of haskap berries
48 bulbs of garlic (huge aromatic cloves, enough for replanting and for cooking well into winter)
An unrecorded amount of rhubarb
Lots of lettuce
More tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, and *maybe* some figs are on the way.
And from elsewhere in the yard:
1.5 kilos of blackcurrants
An unrecorded amount of redcurrants
More rhubarb
Some pole beans
Some chives and green onions
We’re very unlikely to have bought this volume of most if not all of this produce. The green zukes alone would have cost around $40 at the grocery store. We will never be self-sufficient yet we know our produce is pesticide- and herbicide-free.
A much more productive, healthy, green, critter-friendly, use of 400 square feet than growing, and mowing, turfgrass.
One can grow a lot in a 20’ x 20’ space. Around the perimeter, clockwise from upper left.
Tomatoes – 3 varieties, and tomatillos, with basil underneath
Zucchini
Thyme
Some flowers (forget the variety)
Cucumbers (1 so far, 4 on the way)
Sunflowers
More sunflowers
Another tomato
Small evergreen tree
Another zuke
Squash
Nasturtiums and marigolds
Sage
Inside the perimeter, again clockwise from upper left
Haskap
Sunflowers and oregano
Tomatoes and hot peppers
Some dill
Still more tomatoes
The bare patch: just dug up the 48 garlic plants
Asparagus allowed to grow (we harvested about 10 lbs this spring)
Rhubarb
Todays’ late season bounty, before the late afternoon rain arrived.
The winter wheat harvest is in full swing.
First cutting of asparagus, which actually occurred over a week ago. Second cutting happened today.
Fresh out of the oven, this boule was too warm to slice. Waiting for it to cool required a lot of patience.
It was worth the wait.
Marinated vegetables and bacon/sun dried tomato sausage. All of the vegetables were grown in Ontario, some within 30km of home. The sausage was made in the grocery store right here in town.
Have picked about 4 cups of Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes in the last few days. That’s on top of the 8? cups picked before this week. More are on the way, in varying stages of maturing and ripeness.
So good simply popped in my mouth – not all make it inside – in salads, baked in a little olive oil with garlic, rosemary, and pepper.
Yum.
We grow a few of many things in our small garden.
Todays’ harvest: jalapenos, ‘ugly’ tomatoes (which are volunteers from last years’ effort), Chocolate Cherry tomatoes, tomatillos (also volunteers), beans, a cayenne pepper, ground cherries. Also growing: rosemary, spearmint and peppermint, basil and Thai basil, sage.
previouslytexan 