2023 garden recap

Last weekend was the first weekend for which I didn’t have a long list of gardening, harvesting, or preserving chores to pick from… feels strange! I did try to do a bit of weeding and spreading of compost but everything is frozen solid, so whatever wasn’t done, won’t be done. It’s a good time to kick back and do a retrospective.

At this time of year lots of people ask me “Was it a good gardening year?”, but it’s always a nuanced answer when it comes to polyculture. Most often, it’s a mix of winners or losers. A lot of that is dictated by weather, which this year was exceptionally rainy (so… much… rain…), a slow start due to skies hazy with wildfire smoke, and a very late first frost.

Here’s a bit of a recap.

Biggest winners of 2023:

• My garden “infrastructure” is falling into place
  • I had an easier start to the year – I didn’t do any rototilling or replace any fabric mulch, two work-intensive spring tasks that I usually dread. As I’ve been switching over to no-till gardening and natural mulch, it’s really made a difference to my spring.
  • The fence I put up last year continued to keep critters out
  • No watering worries – my irrigation and rain barrel system worked really well. It was easy to start it back up in the spring, no maintenance or further installation needed.
• New techniques
  • Fermenting – I added fermentation to my preservation arsenal and I’m getting comfortable with it.
  • Finally doing a fall garlic planting. I’ve been meaning to do that for years and finally got my act together.
  • I’m getting my act together in terms of seed saving
  • Trying the Kratky method for indoor aeroponics
• Best new tools
  • Broadfork for gently aerating soil without tilling it
  • Hori hori knife, I used it for so many things… just love it
  • My new steam juicer is a workhorse
• In terms of winning crops, the following did really well this year:
  • Peppers were the biggest winners! (but, see peppergate on the loser list…)
  • Strawberries – the strawberry patch is thriving and I don’t regret planting everbearing varieties. We ate a few strawberries every time we crossed the yard, during the whole summer.
  • Apples – we had a bumper crop! Lots for canning, juicing, cider, and fresh eating.
  • Squash – so many delicata and butternut squash. I gave away lots and I feel like we’ve been having squash for 50% of our meals since early October. I still have a dozen butternut squash left.
• Best rookie crops (new additions):
  • Loved Turkish eggplant (as long as it’s picked early, otherwise it gets bitter)
  • Spaghetti squash will be something I try to grow every year
  • Stinging nettle foraging (great soup!)
  • Fresh green beans, so delicious. I had a bad experience early on in my gardening with green beans and it took me way too long to give it a second try.
  • My first real crop of edamame which has been the most wonderful snack
• I also met several other local gardeners by attending a local seed swap and becoming a member of the Vankleek Hill horticultural society.

Biggest losers of 2023:

• “Loser” crops:
  • Grapes – One vine got a kind of rot and all the grapes shriveled, probably due to too much rain. That halved our harvest
  • Cherries – the flowers came early and died due to frost
  • Cucamelon – I’ve tried this a few times and it always dies when I transplant it.
  • Tomatoes and ground cherries – too much rain, they weren’t as productive as usual. It’s a good thing I had a bumper crop the previous year and still had a lot in storage.
  • Carrots – I planted them in a patch of soil that has too much clay, and they were short and stubby. I will relocate them next year
  • Amaranth – a new thing I tried this year, and it is just way too much work to harvest. One and done.
  • Strawberry spinach – I’ve tried a few times and I just can’t get it to grow.
  • Onions and potatoes at the back field – as we say in French “Loin des yeux loin du coeur”, the onions and potatoes that I planted at the field just didn’t get enough attention and had too many competing weeds, which made my harvest smaller. This made me decide to expand the kitchen garden and have everything in one place.
• Peppergate – there was a big pepper seed mix-up in the seed producer/distributor world and I wasn’t immune to it! I had tons of peppers but they were not the variety I planted. I had way too many hot banana peppers. Anyone who invites me to a party this year is guaranteed that I will show up accompanied by a tray of hot pepper poppers.
• Apple tree pruning – I have never pruned my trees and I feel like I’m on the verge of losing control. I need to read up on it for next spring (but I’ve been thinking that for a few years… so…)

So all in all there were lots of lessons learned, and I’m already excited about next year.
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To finish on a high note, I’ll mention that a highlight of the year has been writing this blog. It’s helping me reflect on my approach to gardening and it is a nice creative outlet. Thanks for reading (if anyone is reading!)