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Final 2017 Community Garden Yields

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Final 2017 Community Garden Yields

This year we have 600 sqft of growing space at our local community garden. When I was first starting to garden, I wondered what are typical yields of a home gardener? Not yields for an experience commercial farmer with tons of pesticides, but the common man's yields.

pressure canning green beans and carrots

Sadly gardening season is over now but here are the highlights:

  • Zucchini and peppers did terribly! They died early or were slow to grow and produce. Not a great year for them.
  • Tomatillos did amazing! Having never grown these before, I didn't know what to expect. They grew well without support, and were a solid producer over the season.
  • Long Island Cheese Heirloom Pumpkins are amazing. Smaller and creamy colored pumpkins, these did great despite some squash bugs and powdery mildew.
  • Mustard greens, carrots, peas, bush beans, tomatoes were all solid producers I could count on, without too much weeding effort or pests.
  • Boston Marrow squashes were ok. Some rotted before ripening, but I got one good one.
  • Acorn and butternuts did well considering hard squashes aren't my strong point. But they grew the best I have ever grown them, which isn't saying much.
  • Onions. This was my first year growing onions (from seed no less) and they did fairly well. I am proud of my meager harvest, and will plant way more next year.

Garden Yields

Plant # of Plants Yield (lbs)
Mustard Greens 10 3.25 lbs
Zucchini 1 2.5 lbs
Tomatillos 5 25.75 lbs
Tomato 20 168 lbs
Peas 6’x4’ 7 lbs
Green beans 5’x4’ 15 lbs
Green peppers 6 ¾ lb
Jalapenos 3 1/3 lb
Carrots 5’x4’ (x2) 20 lbs
Long Island Cheese 3 18 lbs
Acorn 2 1.3 lbs
Yellow squash 2 1 lb
Butternut 2 5.5 lbs
Boston Marrow 3 2.25 lbs
Onions ~20 7 lbs
garden tomatoes

So what did I do with all this produce? First off, we ate some of it fresh and delicious from the garden. I froze the green peppers, jalapenos, grated zucchini/yellow squash, and some green beans. The hard squashes and onions are sitting out. The tomatoes, green beans, carrots, and tomatillos were all canned.

Canning Record

Tomato Sauce/Salsa 32 pints
Diced Tomatoes 32 pints
Tomatillo Puree 25 pints
Green Beans 13 pints
Carrots 18 pints
Peas 5 half pints

What it means for us:

  • Tomatoes/Tomatillos: What I canned should last Tim and I the whole year, based on last year's consumption.
  • Green beans/Peas: I was hoping for 26 pints of green beans and actually canned about half that. I was aiming for 26 half pints of peas, and got 5...so not even close. There is always next year.
  • Carrots: I dreamed about 52 pints, not knowing where I was to store them. But I canned 18 pints. Not even close, but my dream was unrealistic. (As I don't have a root cellar in my urban apartment, I can't store root crops without canning or taking up fridge space.)
Cleaning the garden
Tim cleaning on last day

Conclusion

Made it to the bottom of this article? Thanks for sticking with me. I record these yields to help me plan for next year and understand my family's food needs. I hope they give you an example for what might work for your family.

Here is what my garden looked like: My Community Garden Layout for Summer Success

How did your garden turn out this summer? Let us know in the comments below.

Read more:

  1. 10 Lessons Learned from Last Year's Garden
  2. How to Peel Tomatoes for Smooth Pasta Sauce
  3. 7 Actually Easy to Grow Vegetables for New Gardeners

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Vegetable yields from 600sqft community garden.
7 Actually Easy to Grow Vegetables for the New Gardener

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7 Actually Easy to Grow Vegetables for the New Gardener

When I was first learning to garden I read many articles that all started with "Grow tomatoes they are super easy!" Well, then reading more I also learned that for tomatoes you have need support because they will fall over and the tomatoes will rot.

You need marigolds or prepare to fight off hoards of aphids. You need to watch out of the big dreaded green tomato hornworm. If you water too much, or inconsistent watering then the ripening tomatoes will split open.

Prune the suckers to encourage growth, wait don't prune them if they are indeterminate varieties. But do remove the lower leaves to increase airflow and prevent rotting. Don't forget about blossom end rot, failed pollination and also listen for frost warnings.

Cover the plants or remove green fruit before the first frost.

Gah, that is not an easy to grow vegetable!

Here is my list of easy to grow vegetables, and it doesn't include tomatoes!

7 Easy to Grow Vegetables

1. Bush Beans

They grow quickly, and can be planted earlier when there are few pests around. They don't require support or much space her plant. They will keep producing after the first harvest, although not as much. Mulch under them when they are 2" tall, thin the seedlings to give them 3-4" a piece and leave them be! In a few weeks you will have green beans!

3. Carrots

For the first planting, sow and forget. They do like consistent watering though. Once the season is in full swing, the carrots tops will shadow out their competitors so you won't have to weed as much. Mark your calendar for 10 weeks and harvest your bounty.

easy to grow vegetables

2. Shell Peas

Peas also grow quickly and don't have many pests when planted early in the season. They produce many pods per plant. Similar to the bush beans, thin them when 2" tall and mulch to prevent weeds and evaporation if desired. Then leave them be. They will do well without support, but support makes it easier to harvest.

shell peas

4. Cooking greens

While they don't germinate in hot dry conditions. Mustard greens or other cooking greens like collard greens are also easy to grow. I sow seeds and mark my calendar 6 weeks later. These can be planted in succession for continual harvesting. Minor weeding might be required as they grow.

6. Lettuce/Spinach

If you eat salad greens, grow these quick leaves. The bonus is you don't have to wait for the plant to flower and fruit before the harvest. This means less chance something could happen, like you forget to water or bugs eat them. Sow the seeds, maybe thin them down and wait for harvest. Cut and regrow varieties are even easier!

7. Radishes

Like carrots, radishes are also easy root crops to grow. With harvest times in 4-5 weeks, there is little opportunity for things to go wrong. Especially when planting early in the season, when there is little weed competition, radishes will grow quickly. Radishes can be cooked into stews like potatoes as a lower calorie root crop.

What crops do you find easy to grow? What plants do you struggle with? Thanks for reading!

Related articles for new gardeners:

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tomatillo

5. Tomatillos

I know I said tomatoes weren't easy but my tomatillos are a snap! They don't need support like their red friends. Tomatillos form green paper-like laterns first and then the fruit fills out the husk. They can grow +4 ft tall with no additional support but sometimes grow shorter and stockier. I have not experienced any major pests with these!

6 Steps to Setting Up a New Garden Space

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6 Steps to Setting Up a New Garden Space

As many readers may know, I live in an apartment but rent space in a community garden. This offers me many benefits but also has the draw back of limited space. However this weekend, the extra unsold lots got put up for sale and I was able to buy one!

Exciting news, I could add 200 more square-feet to my garden! I now have 600 sqft of gardening space. Not bad for an apartment dwellers who lives in a 700 sqft apartment.

This new plot has been rototilled at the beginning of the season in May and now we were here at the beginning of July. The lot has had 2 months to sit and grow weeds undisturbed. I spent my Tuesday July Fourth Day preparing this garden to grow for me.

Here was my process:

Step 1: Remove the weeds.

I first removed the weeds that had been growing happily. In doing so, I found a volunteer tomato plant that I decided to keep and see what grew. I also found some sort of squash plant I will let live as well. Yay! Free plants!

garden overrun with weeds
The weed-filled plot to start.

Fun facts: For those curious, the two most common "weeds" found in my garden at lambs-quarter and common purslane. Both are in fact edible. Lambs-quarter you can treat like spinach and cook or eat raw accordingly. Purslane is often eaten in salads raw or pickled.

Step 2: Dig out the pathways.

I wanted to include pathways between the beds. The i removed from between the beds was added on top to give the beds a nice fluffy layer of dirt on top. This also allowed me to get a feel for the soil, it does not have too much clay and there were many earthworms I tried not to kill with my rake.

I think it is very important not to compact the soil you plan to grow in, so not stepping in the beds is very important. My pathways also define the edges well, and look great.

garden ready for plants
Digging the trenches between the beds.

Step 3: Add Posts and Fencing

While the garden as a whole as an outer fence, the little baby bunnies fit right through! So cute, yet so destructive. I hate to say it, but really with a community garden you just want to make your garden the least tempting, hoping the bunny goes for an easier lot. (You don't have to out run the bear, only your slowest friend? Yeah, I know it's mean....) I added some plastic green poultry fencing to attempt to keep the bunnies at bay.

garden ready for plants
Adding the posts and green plastic fencing.

Step 4: Plant and Transplant

Besides the 2 volunteer plants I left in place, I also found 2 tomatoes in my main garden that were growing where I didn't want them. I transplanted these tomatoes into the expanded plot. I bought 2 oregano plants, since I LOVE oregano and those got space in the expanded lot. I then planted more seeds for the things we especially love. Peas, beans, melons, mustard greens, beets and watermelon. Hoping for a great second harvest of beans and peas later this fall.

Planting seeds and marking the spot with wooden chopsticks.
Planting seeds and marking the spot with wooden chopsticks.

Step 5: Mulch

One thing I noticed while digging up the soil was how dry it was. While this kept the weeds down, that won't work for my garden plants. To combat this and to prevent the weeds from re-growing. I added mulch on top. I am starting to love mulch for weed suppression and for keeping the soil moist. It prevents evaporation as the rain drains through to the soil and stays there. I have more to add but was running out of energy that day. More next time I visit.

setting up a new garden bed
Added mulch to help reduce weeds and hold soil moisture.

Step 6: Shower

After all this work, I was tired, sun-burnt and covered in dirt! A good shower seemed well deserved.

Conclusion

I loved spending my day off working the soil. It was so rewarding to see my work in the physical world. I was also relieved to find that my back didn't hurt after all that digging and planting. This gives me a good indication that this is what I want to do with my days. My body felt much better after a day of gardening than it does after a day of sitting at my desk.

Thanks for reading!

What more gardening tips?

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