It’s the great pump….err…onion harvest!

So ends another year of growing.  This year we planted our garden in the community garden plot at the edge of our neighborhood since we hadn’t decided exactly what to do with our backyard yet.  A local boy scout troop sets up the PVC irrigation pipe system from the neighborhood irrigation canal, marks off the plots, and mulches paths between.  It costs $40 to participate.  Our plot was 40’x40’ or so.

We then added our timer, a soaker hose, and a sprinkler to our plot so everything would get water. 

We planted tomatoes, onions, beets, peppers, lettuce, okra, zucchini, yellow squash, acorn squash, pumpkins, corn, sugar snap peas, green beans, cucumbers, watermelons, cantaloupe.

We harvested tomatoes, onions, beets, peppers, lettuce, okra, zucchini, yellow squash, acorn squash, pumpkins, sugar snap peas, and green beans. 

We attempted the cucumbers FOUR times, but alas, they would not grow!!!  We started them inside and transplanted, we purchased small plants and transplanted, we planted seeds in our garden plot…twice…and they were just a no go for us.  I was so sad!  I even found seeds for the longer English cucumbers I like so much. 

We didn’t get the watermelons, cantaloupe, or corn to really get started with as hot as it was this summer (ignore the fact that it was still not quite hot enough for the okra…but that could have been the weeds too…).  Coupled with the fact that our soaker hose busted a few times, it just wasn’t meant to be.  The zucchini, yellow squash, acorn squash, and pumpkins were close enough to the other sprinkler in our plot, so they all did alright.

What did the best?  Zucchini and yellow squash of course.  And onions.  Holy moley did we have onions!  Tomatoes did pretty well, but we had a gopher move in and they didn’t really recover after that! 

Yes, we did have 3 zucchini plants.  Before you call us crazy, let me tell you about our first year out here.  Two or three plants produced ONE total 6 inch zucchini.  Period.  We more than made up for that this year….yes, the neighbors started refusing our “gifts.”

What would we do differently?  We decided that the community garden plot really was farther away than we would like for our schedules.  A 15 minute walk or 5 minute drive doesn’t seem that far, but our work schedules better allow for running into the backyard for a just before dinner harvest or covering everything up for an early freeze.  It’s also easier to see the weeds when they are in your backyard, versus across the neighborhood towering over everything you planted….

We would also use soaker hoses exclusively. Granted the sprinkler was cheaper and watered a greater number of plants, but that included the weeds too…

Here are a few pictures of the harvest for the year, starting with some onions.

Java with the pumpkins. 

Kona with the pumpkins but watching for quail to flush out from the corn behind her.

Here's the final haul.  Yes, the box is FULL of onions. Guess what I'm taking to work with me...

Of course, a trip at the end of summer wasn’t complete without a stop at a produce stand in Kansas.  Apparently Kansans enjoy Idaho produce too. 

As for the rest of today, we're back to looking at our schedules to figure out our huge flooring project.  We're looking forward to getting it done, just not the actual ripping out part.