At the beginning of every year, I start planning my garden. I choose seeds by determining which ones are best for this zone, which are disease and pest resistant, how long it takes until they produce the desired food, etc. A lot of consideration goes into it – and then it’s still just a guessing game.

The peas came up thick and nice – and then they just sat there. They refused to bloom. I was ready to tear them up to free up space for something that might produce, but then I saw one or two blossoms, so they got a reprieve. I waited. Nothing else happened. No more blossoms and no peas on the vine – which means no peas in the freezer. I pulled them out and planted some ornamental corn so at least we will have Indian corn and corn stalks for decorating this fall.

Other plants – like the beans – have taken off! In fact – they need to STOP! I pick colanders full of beans every morning and have them in the freezer by each night. The freezer is  full of beans.

The squash are going crazy. We’ve been eating zucchini every week and I can see that we’ll be eating acorn squash and butternut squash all winter long.

The tomatoes I can’t quite figure out. The Big Beef slicing tomatoes are doing great. They are big and juicy and plentiful. The San Marzano are few and far between and the ones we do get are empty inside. Most years the garden overflows with cherry tomatoes – this year we only get a handful or so each day. Unless my Amish paste tomatoes come through, we won’t be making much sauce this year.

The star of the garden has been the potatoes. Last year I got tiny potatoes – barely larger than the pieces of potato that I planted in the first place. This year, I tried some other varieties and gave them more space to grow. We now have 36 pounds of really nice potatoes – and some small ones too that are always fun for smashed potatoes cooked in bacon fat until they are crispy and ridiculously fattening!

And who knows what else we will get before the growing season is over.