Wednesday, February 1, 2012

January 2012 harvest


Beans             100g
Tomato           580g
Potato           2730g
Cucumber     3560g
Corn               650g
Pumpkin       2300g
Squash            250g
Broccoli          210g
Beetroot          110g


Potatoes have been very successful. Since the first harvest as Christmas they have supplied us with 100% of our potato needs all through January. I think we have only eaten a fraction of what is still waiting for us underground.

Cucumbers have all ways been one of my favourites to grow, providing an abundance of delicious crisp refreshing fruit just perfect for the summer pallet. Again meeting 100% of our requirements all of January. Actually it is probably more like 120% as we are are eating more than we normally would. One thing I have found amazing and wonderful about cucumbers is how quickly they start producing.

Even though we had an early crop of tomato in December, thanks to my daughter, the plant didn’t survive long after its relocation and all other plants are only now starting to provide nice ripe tomatoes. I anticipate at any moment we will be inundated.


With the pumpkins, it was only Yesturday that I noticed our first mature pumpkin. Its skin changed from green to a blue. We have eaten a couple of young green ones to stop them pulling down the chicken fence.

Basil, well what can I say, I think we went a little overboard. We have got a dozen varieties producing probably a 100 times more than we need. They do have lovely flowers though and look great in the garden.

Corn has grown successfully however it tastes like wax. I am open to any ideas on what I did wrong with that one.

I only started reliably recording our harvest tally at the beginning of January. The key for me keeping a reliable journal has been to keep it where I need it. Now that the log book and pen are located in the kitchen, only an arms length away from the kitchen scales, it takes little effort to weigh and record the results of our effort. I am yet to work out a way to record things that are picked on an as needed bases and have little weight, like the basil. Is a handful a legitimate form of measure?

I am still yet to start recording the quantities that we purchase in order to make an accurate comparison and track my progress towards my goal. My guess is that we are producing 20% of our vegetables, Melanie thinks it is only 10%, so to save an argument for more serious matters I am going to say we are producing 15%. It may not sound allot but is more than we have ever produced and I know it is going to go higher.

3 comments:

  1. Wish I had been as organised as you have. I had loads of beans, zucchini, cucumber and tomatoes in January but didn't measure them. It probably doesn't matter though as I know I haven't bought any of those things this year and are therefore self sufficient in them.

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  2. What went wrong with the corn I reckon was the variety. My favourite variety is still Balinese - grows well in my climate, non hybrid non-treated seed, and sweet sweet corn. On the downside, it's a large, greedy plant. But it takes a bit of experimenting to find the variety that works for you.

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  3. greenfumb unless you have goal tracking progress is not that important. Then again even if you do a rough how-does-it-feel is often good enough.

    Linda Woodrow well I am very pleased to hear that the corn was meant to taste like that and not something I did wrong. One variety of the pumpkin we grew is the same, tastes weird. I guess that's another part of home gardening... broadening ones pallet.

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