It’s starting to look like Fall around here. First frost is nigh and that means a close to this year’s urban gardening experiment (and no more fresh salsa, oh no!). In this urban gardening experiment update, Harvest Edition, we’ll celebrate our successes, review some failures and plan out iterations for next Spring.

Overview

I did my best to keep the urban gardening updates rolling in throughout the summer, but you know how it goes. It’s tough to get anything done with sun, beach and stream pulling you outdoors and away from the computer… Good!

If you want to catch up with this year’s urban gardening experiment, see: Update 1, Update 2, and Update 3.

We’re happy with our experiments overall and had a blast trying new things. In the very least, 2019 was a massive step up from 2018, which featured little more than some tomato plants.

What Went Right

Tomatoes

It wasn’t a competition, we love all of our fruits, vegetables and herbs equally. BUT, if it was, then the tomatoes would be crowned the clear run-away winner for urban gardening experiment 2019 best-in-show.

We put three varieties in our large half-drum planter. I had fun pruning and putting up makeshift support structure as needed.

We peeled off some more tomato plants into individual small plastic pots. These turned out to be nice for moving about to prune and adjust for sun exposure.

Herbs and Greens

Pretty much an afterthought, we didn’t invest mental energy into our initial herb and salad green decisionmaking. Basil, mint, thyme and parsley went into a plastic trough planter, with dill, chive and arugula tucked in open spots about the raised bed.

Despite the haphazard approach, everything thrived and we enjoyed fresh herbs with dozens of meals and salads over the course of the summer.

It was great! We should probably increase our efforts here next year.

Raised Bed

The “Frankenmonster” raised bed (that is not quite raised) made its world debut, exponentially multiplying both space and complexity of the urban gardening experiment. Honestly, I thought it’d be pretty “rustic-looking,” i.e. complete eyesore, but it turned out better than expected.

The contents of the raised bed produced decent yields. Pretty much everything did OK or above average. Our main hindrance, and a recurring theme, stemmed from planting/sowing items too closely. This applied to the squash and zucchini, but also, to a lesser extent, the beets.

Side note: throwing some netting over the raised bed worked well to ward off whatever was coming through during the night (likely a neighborhood cat).

Strawberries — Hanging Trough Planter

I’m going to put this in the success column because these strawberries were so delicious.

The plants also flourished in their spot, so this was a win here too. Granted, we only harvested maybe a dozen strawberries, but each one was a special moment!

(We had a couple in champagne! dorks)

Sunflowers

OK, so this isn’t really within our edible landscape, but I wanted to include it amongst our season’s successes. I thought it might be nice to have some sunflowers, so I got some. Of course, they couldn’t be normal sunflowers though, I had to get weird ones.

They were magnificent! They changed colors over time. I took way too many pictures of them, but it was great.

On weekends, I shot out of bed with my camera, excited to see where they were in their lifecycle.

They became more brilliant as they waned. We will sow these again next year!

What Did We Do Wrong?

Too Much, Dang-it!

A theme throughout this year’s urban gardening experiment, unfortunately, was overcrowding. We just tried to pack in too much, too close. Everything could have benefited from a little elbow room, I think. Oh well, probably pretty par for the course with overzealous novices!

Purple Beans

I pulled one decent harvest of purple beans. They were OK to eat, your standard green bean (they change color, holy smokes!).

I expected the beans to be climbers, so I think I positioned them incorrectly. More research is needed here (I bought a book on vertical gardening, yay!). For beginners, I probably shouldn’t have wasted prime location space and two large pots for beans…

Grape Vine Propagation

Well, I guess I can’t be too hard on myself here because the disappointment related to the grape vines resulted from an accident, something somewhat out of my hands. As you may recall, an especially windy day took my pots airborne and I lost most of my fragile grape vine branchlings. It was a dreary sight.

All is not lost! One valiant stem remains. I shall dub him: Gary the Grape Vine.

This will be an experiment, a side bet, going forward. We will see if Gary makes it through a Boston winter. Some more research is needed here too! Stay tuned! Pray for Gary.

Blueberry Bush

The blueberry bush survived the transplant and bore fruit this summer. Great!

The yield was enough to sprinkle on a small child’s yogurt parfait, nothing more.

The bush shed its leaves. I hope to trim him up a bit in the spring. I put the blueberry bush under the failure column because of the low yield and the uncertainty I feel about its location. Maybe it doesn’t get enough light there under the stairs? Or, I over-watered? Maybe it’s fine and just adjusting to a new environment… we shall see.

To Be Determined…

As of the drafting of this post, we still have a few items in the ground: broccoli, peppers, okra, tomatoes, beets and some herbs. The broccoli and okra were the true late season starts, but others are just late bloomers or perpetual. We’re holding out for as long as possible! Living near the coast may give us a little bit more time before first frost.

What We’ll Do Differently in 2020

Tomato Recalibration

One thing we will not change in 2020 is our heavy tomato focus. It’s so nice to have fresh tomatoes all the time. We can add them to anything we’re whipping up in the kitchen. What a blessing! We’d likely buy them every week at the grocery store, so this alone makes our urban gardening experiment well worth the effort.

To improve for next year, Ms. IS and I agree that the Juliet variety is our least favorite tomato. It may look rosy red and plump, but it has very little flavor and is not very juicy at all compared to the Sun Golds or Sunny Boys. You’re out Juliets!

Raise the Roof! Raise the Bed!

The Franken-monster raised bed is not really raised. I dug it out of the ground after all.

For next year, I’d like to build up material into a single humped row. I think this may add oxygen to the soil and help with moisture retention. I think this may also maximize the limited space, planting on either side of its peak. Lastly, I can begin to incorporate some additional permaculture techniques, potentially adding material like yard waste and compost. More to come on this in the future…

Hanging Trough Planter

As much as we loved the strawberries, they have limited output and may not be the best option for the hanging trough planter. This area is prime location with our limited space. I think it may be better utlized with plants that can be turned over/harvested multiple times, like herbs or salad greens. We may make some adjustments here for 2020.

Final Thoughts…

Our urban gardening experiment provided some learning opportunities and a nice wind-down from the workday. We relied on the grocer just a little bit less and improved our health and knowledge base in the process.

We’re looking forward to next season already. Any suggestions on new plants or techniques to try?