2012 Harvest Totals

Icy rain dripping from the crabapples - nature's Xmas lights!

I always seem to start the New Year with a "What the hell just happened?" kind of deer-in-the-headlights stare.  The holiday season, though it seems far away now, is always a stressful time, despite our commitment to giving "time-with" experiences, handmade gifts, and good food, over lots of purchasing.  They are the days when extended families go through the motions of spending time together even though they have little contact with each other throughout the year.

And so, despite another year of enviously reading those articles and blog posts from (real?) people who say they just "enjoy each other's company" and spend December sitting around the fireplace with loved ones while enjoying a nice mug of hot cocoa and a book...well, our season doesn't look like that.  And that means a fair amount of garden avoidance, too.

In my 2011 post about harvest totals and 2012 goals, I mentioned our commitment to not expanding the garden and focusing on other important tasks like remodeling the kitchen (future post!).  No way was I ready for how much time and attention that project took.  So with that excuse explanation out of the way, here goes our 2012 garden accomplishments.  First, the poundage total:  158 pounds!

Basil & Sweet Potatoes

This is an 85-pound decrease from our 2011 harvest.  And seeing those numbers made me feel less than successful.  But then - because I have to find the good in it to be hopeful for the coming season - I realized that recording harvest in pounds has its limitations.  It's actually a fantastic tool for weighing fruits (including vegetable-fruits like tomatoes, peppers, etc).  But we save a lot of money by growing an insane amount of greens - both cooking greens and salad greens, and our own culinary herbs.  Unfortunately, those things don't weigh squat, and will never stack up poundage-wise to those gardeners who don't like to eat green things.  Another excuse reason for the lower poundage is our decision to cut back on the number of tomato plants from 9 to 4.  We don't have as much canned tomato sauce this year, but our new way of eating (future post!) doesn't require it.  It's been a nice treat rather than a staple.

Brussels sprouts, daikons, chard, kale, collards

Our top 5 crops for 2012 are:
1.  Tomatoes (33 pounds)
2.  Kale (27 pounds)
3.  Strawberries (16 pounds)
4.  Collards (14 pounds)
5.  Swiss Chard (13 pounds)
Close runners-up were broccoli and sweet potatoes.

Looking ahead, we're preparing to be the site for 2 home garden permaculture tours this year.  I like this kind of mini-stress because it gives a clear deadline for completing some of the many projects that we started in the past two years and haven't yet completed.

Ladybug eggs spotted on our front porch furniture

That said, our goal for 2013, now that we have worked with our current design for a couple of years, is to put on some finishing touches, i.e. dress it up a little.  This is the way of permaculture - taking resting periods from the doing to learn about your space, to observe how nature wants to interact on your site and with the design you've created.  You might reevaluate how water moves through your site and decide to improve the transfer of water from one part of your yard to the other.  Or you might realize how the neighbor's tree grew faster than you thought and is now shading out the vegetable garden, and decide to make it a black raspberry patch (which can take the shade).  Though my resting period was not on purpose, I've been given time to reflect on how things are working.  We will remove some garden beds in the front yard this year, but replace them with a 4x8 raised bed in the back.  In some new areas we will add a serviceberry tree, a plum tree, and some elderberry bushes.

In general, it's a good idea to make planting your fruit-producing trees and bushes a priority, since they will take a few years to start to bear fruit.  But this rule applies more to landscaping than to efficient gardening-based permaculture thinking.  Fruit trees are best left unmoved, i.e. be really sure about where you want them, and have a plan for how they will interact with your larger design.  You don't really want to move them.  Though it can be done, you will be setting them back to the point that it might have been more economical to have waited until you were sure about your design before planting them.  And it's easy to fill in gaps in the landscaping/design with vegetables while you take the time to observe and complete the design process.  In short, have a plan, don't be hasty.

Late-winter turnip harvest

So we were waiting to plant these perennial fruits - all of which will go in the backyard- until we had made some final decisions about design. We had been hemming and hawing about possibilities such as a chicken coop, a garden shed, and a greywater system.  All of which would affect the exact location of the fruit trees/bushes.  Additionally, by not planting them, we're keeping them out of the way during the potential construction process of said projects.  Well, since we've now made the decision to plant the trees, you can guess that we decided not to do any of these other projects.  At least for now.  The fruit trees/bushes will be planted in the exact location as to our design with the projects completed, but that really means nothing in the end.  After the massive 2012 kitchen project (which is still ongoing and aka the biggest investment a homeowner will make in the value of their home), we can't commit to big projects this year.  Except maybe a new walkway from the driveway to the front door.  But you didn't hear me say that.

Now off to plan those vegetable gardens and swoon over seed catalogs!  See you at the Cincinnati Seed Library swap on February 27th!