Due to things going on at home, I've been taking a break from blogging over the last few months. But lots has been going on in the garden too, and I've got many things to share. First, just for the record, let me share that I DID exceed my goal to grow 1000 kg of produce, starting at the beginning of 2013. It took me 1 year, 1 month and 4 days - by the 4th of Feb 2014, my harvest totals were 1027.96 kg (after that I stopped weighing and recording). At the end of 2013, I had so far harvested 863.35 kg - in Jan another 98.36 kg came in, and in the first 4 days of Feb, another 66.244, taking me over my goal.

When I set that goal, it sounded HUGE, I had no garden to speak of, and no idea if I could do it, especially with little money to spend, and starting halfway through the summer. But I figured a big goal would motivate me to do all that I could.

Turns out, I could do it. And so can you! What are your growing goals? Remember, a goal should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant to you, and time-specific.

In late Dec 2012, I decided to set a goal to grow 1000 kg of food in my back yard. At that point I had 4 small raised beds and no other gardens in place. Was I crazy? Maybe! But I knew I wanted/needed to grow more food, and in order to motivate myself I needed to set a goal and make it public - ie tell my friends. My friends wanted to see my monthly photos...and out of that came the creation of this blog.

If you've read the previous blog post, you will see that as of the 31st of December 2013, I had harvested 863 kg of food from my back yard! Not quite my 1000 kg goal, but definitely a lot of food - food I wouldn't have grown if I hadn't set the goal. Besides, knowing that I was only getting started mid way through last summer (summers here in NZ are Dec-Feb), I was always flexible about whether the "year" would end on 31st Dec or at the end of the 2013/14 summer.

Let's take a quick look at what my garden looked like when I started this crazy gardening goal - photos taken Jan 2013:

Four 2m x 1m raised beds, with a few veges in them.

Lots of open space.

A year later, January 2014......

Remember, basically NONE of any of this existed a year ago!

And this is just ONE part of my yard...I've also begun creating gardens in my front yard and an old chicken run....photos of some of that in the Jan pics to be posted soon.

Do YOU have a gardening goal? What is it? Leave a comment!

In December, I harvested a total of 133.124 kgs of produce, bringing my year-to-date total to 863.35 kg!

December's harvest included:

9.789 kg of berries (mostly strawberries, with a few raspberries and blueberries thrown in)

646g peas

10.988 kg leeks

6.511 kg carrots

3.815 kg lettuce

42.549 kg zucchini

5.073 kg broad beans

1.784 kg gherkins

12.87 kg silverbeet

1.312 kg bok choy

134 g celery

748 g spring onions

18.148 kg broccoli - this one was the surprise of the month; I've never succeeded in growing brassicas in the summer months due to white butterfly, but these ones I planted in the bed of garlic as an experiment to see if that would keep the butterfly away. Turned out to be a year they were slow to get started, and I got to harvest all the lovely broccoli before the caterpillars got to be a problem.

10.124 kg parsley

6.682 kg garlic

124 g tomatoes

The total produce harvested from my garden in November weighed 43.353 kg, brining the total year-to-date to 730.226 kg! (That's 1610 lbs)

November's harvest included:

7.245 kg strawberries

46g herbs (parsley, chives etc)

16.438 kg silverbeet

1.91 kg peas

4.476 kg mixed brassicas (broccoli, purple cauli, cabbage, brussel sprouts)

5.14 kg celery

48g raspberries

2.914 kg lettuce

3.816 kg carrots

1.32 kg leeks

In October I harvested 31.454 kg of food, bringing the year to date total to
686.873 kg! October's harvest included:
11.47 kg of mixed brassicas - purple cauli, broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale and cabbage
649g strawberries
5.6 kg silverbeet
4.846 kg beetroot
7.212 kg lettuce
44g spring onions
and small amounts of parsley, chives, etc.

In September I harvested 31.41 kg of food from the garden, bringing the year to date total to 655.419 kg (that's 1357 lbs for my American friends!)

The September pickings included:
1.05 kg broccoli
3.592 kg purple cauliflower
16.812 kg beetroot
5.184 kg lettuce and parsley for salads
1.288 kg silverbeet
256 g brussel sprouts
304 g spring onions
2.606 kg cabbage

Plus small amounts of chives, calendula, baby carrots and peas