October 9, 2024
We started our garden in February with high hopes. We planted winter-sown sunflowers outdoors and started indoor germination trays. By the end of the season, we were rewarded with an abundance of tomatoes, garden beans, summer squash, cucamelons, and cucumbers. We enjoyed fresh produce all summer, mostly eaten fresh. We were also able to freeze some summer squash and can tomatoes and pickle cucumbers. We canned the tomatoes and pickled the cucumbers.
But it was not all good news and we had a few disappointments. Our radish and carrot crop never materialized. We did not harvest the eggplant we expected, only one small fruit which we made into a tiny eggplant parmesan ( which was delicious nonetheless!). We did not harvest any pumpkins, although we had a few small examples but they were eaten by animals or rotted on the ground.
Aside from a few setbacks, we are pleased with our bounty of crops. We planted more summer squash in a new garden plot alongside our driveway. We picked squash as soon as it was matured to encourage more growth. At first we did not know what to do with so much sqaush until we found delicious recipes for sauteed squash and squash casserole which we froze. We also froze the fresh squash for a delicious winter soup. you can find these recipes and more at our rt23 NJ Garden Recipes page.
2024 Flower Gardens
On a brighter note, our flower gardens were colorful and successful.
