Sunday, December 27, 2009

Farewell 2009

I figure that things around here would be pretty slow for a while so I might as well get in one last post to bid farewell to 2009.

2009 was a transitional year for the garden. Moving and settling into our new house took a lot of my attention and energy. I had some nice successes, especially for my first year growing from seed. The peppers, eggplant, herbs, tomatoes, carrots, beets, and lettuce all produced, to varying degrees. My mother and aunt both had success with the seedlings I donated for their gardens.

My main concern for next year will be finding a way to keep the deer and squirrels from getting to my veggies before I do. I'm thinking this will require some type of fenced-in enclosure or netting. That will be something to think about in the coming wintery months.

I had a very successful year with canning. I made jam and tomato juice for the first time, as well as put away lots of whole tomatoes that are serving us well. My "canning shelf" in the pantry is a rainbow of color:


I'm sure in several months it will be less colorful as we work our way through the goods. Next year I would like to try canning some different things, like sour cherry jam, salsa, maybe even some tomato basil sauce. I'd also like to try my hand at freezing some pesto, if I can get my basil to get prolific enough.

For Christmas my parents got me a quart canner to supplement my pint canner. I now have the capability to do both pints and quarts. I'm finding that I go through whole tomatoes fast enough that I think I could use quarts and not have any waste.

Lots of good things happened this year, and there are lots of new things to look forward to next year. 2009 has been rough year for many people, and I'm sure a lot of us are glad to see it going.

Here's to hoping that 2010 is good to us all!