I hung on as long as possible, but finally gave in to the fact that the 2011 gardening season is over. It was a long run, though. On Feb. 17, the temperature in Lancaster was 71f which got me outside to fertilize the asparagus patch and spread black plastic in between the rows to help the ground heat up a little earlier. We started the lettuce seeds in peat pots on March 2 and bought/planted some starter lettuce plants directly in the garden on March 15. The first asparagus came in on April 20 and the first lettuce picked on April 22. April was very wet, though, with 17 days of at least some rain. July was blistering hot which caused some loss in the blackberry production. The last of the harvest came in when we picked the broccoli on November 11. The total produce for the season came to 313 pounds with the most productive week being August 8 - 15 counting for 62 pounds.
We're planning some changes for next year. Our experiment with the county park plot was definitely a one time only effort. The soil is poor, full of weed seed, and the area attracts an incredible number of squash and stink bugs. The 5 plots closest to ours were all abandoned and overgrown by mid-July. We will change one of our backyard beds from flowers to butternut squash, grow the pole beans in a different area and so on. In 2010, we had a total of 312 pounds of produce, so the loss of the park plot wont affect total yield.
In just over 3 months, we will be starting the 2012 garden. I CAN'T wait!
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