2024 was a busy year as our community garden created a new communal bed right outside our community garden the size of about 40 x 6 feet. I got a late start this year because my focus was on the communal bed, which was a lot of work, but very rewarding. The year started with challenges: We had a rabbit family living around our garden, and those bunnies wreaked havoc on everyone’s seedlings. They destroyed the kale, but also loved greens, peppers, peas and even flowers. I ended up rabbit-proofing my kale and chard plus the zinnias and dahlias with chicken wire, which worked well. However, birds then completely destroyed my peas, and I did not harvest a single one. Bird netting next year perhaps?

Fruiting crops (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants). It was not a great year for tomatoes. We had a stretch of very hot weather for a little over two weeks in July, with the day temperatures around 90 F and the night temperatures not falling below 75 F. Brutal. The tomatoes stalled during that time period and did not set flowers or fruit, but somewhat resumed producing later on. I had eleven tomato plants in total (eight different varieties). I thought it would be too many tomatoes, but with the growth problems, it was just the right amount. I grew only slicing cucumbers this year (three plants total), as the pickling cucumbers never germinated. I ended up pickling some of the slicers, which worked just fine. I also had a single (gifted) cucamelon plant, which did not produce a great amount. I might grow them again, but next time more than one plant. My eggplant and hot pepper seedlings strangely never grew true leaves after germination, and I ended up buying one Thai hot pepper plant (for the porch). I did not grow any eggplant this year. The Thai pepper produced enough fruit to make a small jar of my (super potent) delicious Thai hot sauce.

Squash. I grew one zucchini plant and four winter squash (two Butternut, and two Delicata). One of the Delicata squash plants died almost immediately after transplanting, the other one did very poorly. I only got one small squash from that plant. Not sure why I always have problems growing Delicata. The two butternut squash plants did great, and I harvested seven or eight huge squashes total. I still have three left. As always, the zucchini plant did exceptionally well, and I ended up giving away quite a few zucchini (we installed a donation box outside our garden gate).

Root vegetables. I had two or three plantings of beets (Chiogga and Golden beets) over the season and one fall planting of radishes (French Breakfast). The beets did great. The radishes grew fine as well, but something had been nibbling on them. As always, I planted spring radishes in a container on my porch, which (as always) were amazing. I also did a fall planting of carrots, which were super sweet and tasty, but tiny. I probably planted them too late.

Brassicas. I again only planted kale this year, three plants total of the curly dwarf variety. They did well, but I think I might move to regular size next year. They did get aphids later in the season, so I will need to pay more attention to pests next year.

Greens and lettuce. I planted a row of Swiss chard (about 8 plants) and then fall greens later in the season. I also inter-planted the peas with spinach, but the spinach did not do great and bolted quickly. The chard was glorious, and the fall greens were great as well.

Legumes. I planted two rows of peas in the spring (March 30), with one row of spinach in between. I netted them against critters with fleece (I built a tunnel), but once they were well established and growing on the trellis, with the fleece removed the birds completely destroyed them in early June. This is the first year I did not get to harvest a single pea. Very disappointing. I did not grow any beans this year.

Alliums. It was a good year for garlic. I harvested 25 heads total, 13 softnecks (Transylvania) and 12 hardnecks (Red Russian). I planted less this year as I am an empty-nester now. But this fall, my daughter moved back after graduating from college, which made me wish I had grown more garlic. In November of 2023, I had planted 12 hardnecks and 15 softnecks, so I lost two softnecks. Back then, I had also planted shallots (12 total, each of them were supposed to yield 4 to 12 shallots), but they were a complete fail. Not sure what happened. I will try again and plant them this coming spring. I also planted a row of leeks, but they were crowded out by the chard and did not grow very strong. I left them all to overwinter. On November 8, I planted 6 rows of garlic total, 15 cloves of hardnecks, and 20 cloves of softnecks for the coming season.

Fruit. I harvested a good amount of red currants from the bush in our backyard, which is doing really well producing more fruit each year. I froze some and I am excited to use them in baking this winter.

Flowers. I had a lot of zinnias and dahlias (the dahlias flowered late and were kind of buried among the zinnias) and a row of calendula, which was an absolute delight. I will plant calendula again next year and be sure to harvest and dry the flower heads this time to make a salve or tea or some other medicinal product. My cosmos never germinated (I had planted it together with the zinnias and dahlias). In the plot, I also had nasturtiums and marigold, both the “regular” kind and the beautiful striped pinwheel, which unfortunately was also a favorite among the resident rabbits.

Herbs. In the plot, I planted Italian basil and an entire row of Thai basil. I made a good amount of pesto, both regular and Thai basil pesto, most of which I froze for future use. In June, I had made a delicious garlic scape pesto with sunflower seeds. So good! I made four batches of Thai basil pesto, of which I froze three. We used the first frozen batch a few weeks ago to make one of my kids favorite, Thai Pesto Noodle Bowls. Freezing the Thai pesto worked really well. On the back porch, I had my usual flat parsley (two large plants) and other kitchen herbs: basil, rosemary, thyme, mint, chives and coriander.

Perennials. I harvested my first rhubarb from the plant I planted in 2022, but was careful to not take too much, so the plant could continue to be strong. I also harvested a handful of strawberries, though the slugs and critters usually always get them before I do. I started experimenting with asparagus on the porch. I was gifted asparagus seeds, and the seeds germinated and the asparagus grew. I planted it in deep fabric grow bags and paired it with zinnias and cosmos. In the fall, I cut the yellow stalks back. Hopefully, the asparagus will come back next year. I plan to plant annuals in the same bags again.

Porch. I grew mostly herbs and flowers on the porch. I had a big container with a Thai hot pepper and nasturtium, which was very pretty. I had another big container with parsley and basil. A third large container, designated for flowers only, where I planted tulip bulbs for spring flowers, was planted with dwarf zinnias and nasturtium. As usual, on the shelf, there were a number of smaller pots with kitchen herbs (thyme, rosemary, mint, chives and parsley). I also had lavender and (for the first time ever) ginger. I will definitely grow ginger again, but this time in a larger shallow planter.

New communal bed. In May, we turned a bed outside our garden that was overgrown with ugly diseased shrubs into a communal flower and vegetable bed. We planted native perennials on the shadier end of the bed and lots of flowers (dahlias, zinnias, calendula, sunflowers, annual asters, daylilies, Rudbeckia) several cherry tomato plants, eggplant, spaghetti squash, chard, herbs (basil, anise hyssop, creeping thyme, Thai basil) and a blueberry bush. It was a big success. The people from the neighborhood enjoyed the flowers and picked some tomatoes. The squash was destroyed at some point (I suspect by a dog), which left a big empty space in the bed inviting more canine exploration. I am afraid we killed the blueberry bush. We may have overwatered it. We will plant a similar mix next year.

Plans for 2024. Next year, I plan to grow pretty much what I grew this past year, but will add shallots. I want lots of flowers, tomatoes, greens, basil, Thai basil, pickling cucumbers, squash. In 2024, I had 11 tomato plants. This turned out to be a good amount as I did not have a good tomato harvest because of the hot and dry July. I will probably grow about the same amount next year and I will stagger them again, so I have a mix of early, mid-season and late tomatoes. I loved the varieties I grew this year, but will get one of my favorite tomatoes back, Dr. Wyche’s Yellow. The seed company had shipped the wrong variety, which was a tasty yellow tomato but not Dr. Wyche’s. I will plant hot Thai pepper again on the porch, but be sure to amend the soil before planting and give the plant plenty of room to grow. I have not decided about eggplants. I really love them, so perhaps a few (4 or 5) Asian-style varieties. I plan to plant three (or four) pickling cucumber plants and two (or three) slicers. I will grow one zucchini again and also winter squash. Butternut of course, but I really love Delicata, and will try to find out what the problem is. I will grow radishes (French Breakfast) on the porch only, and a few different beet varieties in the plot. Not sure about carrots. If I plant them, it will be for fall harvest. I plan to have three or four (full size) curly kale plants, but likely no other brassicas. I will grow different kinds of lettuces on my porch and in the plot and rainbow Swiss chard in the plot (about six plants). I will also definitely plant my trusted fall greens mix. I am on the fence about peas. This year was such a disappointment. If I decide to plant them, I will have to be very diligent about protecting them from critters. Not sure about pole beans, perhaps later in the summer if I have space. The garlic is already in the ground, and I plan to grow shallots and leeks as well. I will definitely grow flowers for cutting: zinnias, cosmos, dahlias, calendula. And for pest control, I will plant nasturtium and marigold. For herbs, I will continue to have my container kitchen garden on my back porch: basil, Thai basil, parsley, sage (for some reason I did not have sage in 2024), thyme, rosemary, mint. In the plot, I plan to grow Italian basil, Thai basil, parsley, sage and cilantro. There also will be mint and lemon balm, as I cannot get rid of them :). As for perennials, I plan to enjoy my rhubarb. I miss the asparagus, but as our community garden will be upgraded over the next few years, starting a new patch is not an investment that makes sense right now. On my porch, I plan to have herbs, hot peppers and flowers (Alaska nasturtium, cosmos, zinnia, lavender). And lettuces and radishes in the spring. I plan to grow ginger again. I am looking forward to a bountiful 2025!