I had a decent garden this year, though the mid-summer drought played hell with several of my plantings, like squash. But production was decent – especially with my completely enclosed cage which kept squirrels and rabbits at bay.
Overall, we had a good year for tomatoes. Nancy has a small, above-ground enclosed cage for her garden and she always gets a head start since the ground warms earlier. The downside to any raised garden beds is water – she has to water constantly, or the plants die. But we began picking her tomatoes in June while mine took their sweet time before finally producing in August. Her tomatoes are gone, but I’m still getting a few. That means for about 5 months I didn’t have to buy any “plastic”, tasteless tomatoes from the grocery stores. I’ll hate it when I pick my last tomato, but Nancy just found a volunteer in one of her pots and – who knows – maybe there’s enough sunlight to get a few more.
I think there is something to be said about having above-
ground garden plots for tomatoes and cucumbers, to stretch the season. I’m still getting a few cukes.
Already, I’m looking forward to and planning out my next spring’s garden.