As I’m finishing up this year’s garden, I’m taking stock of what we have as left overs from last year’s season.
Like, I discovered we still have 19 pints of carrots on the shelf from 2019…in 2019 there was a killer sale on 10lb bags of carrots, we bought 4 of them, I canned 42 pints and 5 quarts.
Now in 2022, I still have 19 pints.
So clearly, I don’t have to plant (or can) as much carrots, because we’re not going through them very fast.
And, if I get them on sale big time at the mega mart, it’s not a big deal to not have as many growing in the garden.
Same with beets.
Now, pickled beets fly outta here like mad.
Between us and my Uncle, beets are a hot commodity.
So a couple rows of them is still a good idea.
Problem with them this year, is the voles had a damn good time eating the beets.
And the cats and chickens ate a lot of voles.
😉
Nature happens, right?
But dang if I want to be planting tons of beets for the damn voles.
I have found tho, that in the local gardening groups *tons* of people have had vole problems this year.
It really does seem to be a bad year for them.
We’ll see what happens next year.
What we do need more of is tomatoes.
And green/purple/yellow beans.
Neither one of those produced enough for our yearly needs.
Oh, they produced very, very well.
I just didn’t have *enough* plants of them.
Onions are off the list too…it’s easier for us to hit the local potato farm and buy a 50lb bag.
Same with potatoes.
Ah, but peppers, that’s a different story.
I have a poblano plant growing inside that will provide seeds so that we can have a lot of poblanos growing in the garden next year.
And also shepherd peppers (which are a sweet red pepper) to grow as well.
I’m also looking at more perennial plants, because I’m old and tired.
😂😂😂
Okay, I’m not that old, but I am getting tired.
Especially with the butchering too.
So raspberries, more apples, a big patch of asparagus, more grapes, and black currants too.
And, of course, the perennial medicinal plants too…
I think that’s why I felt like I had to take a good hard look at what we use frequently, and what we don’t.
And decide what we really need to grow and what we can skate by on buying local.
I have all that season I don’t want to name to think about it.