Harvests from the garden in 2015

I have just spent some time totting up the time spent in the garden last year and the yields:

Harvests from the garden in 2015
	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total	%
Onions	57	477	19	245	798	7
Cooking greens	106	544	913	922	2485	22
Salad leaves	311	154	25	50	540	5
Roots	1492	17	623	1954	4086	35
Pods / fruiting veg	0	209	2072	0	2281	20
Fruit	0	0	252	1000	1252	11
Seeds	0	0	0	51	51	<1
Other		60	0	10	70	1
Total g	1966	1461	3904	4232	11563
Total kg	1.966	1.461	3.904	4.232	11.563
2014
Total kg	3.573	2.927	14.001	1.502	22.003
2013
Total kg	0	0	1.695	4.015	5.813

As I anticipated root crops an greens constitute the majority of the harvest.  I was initially a bit disappointed that the yields decreased compared to the previous year, on closer inspection this is the result of:

• Growing a decent crop of beans, peas and courgettes in 2014 (when they constituted the majority of the yield) and far fewer this year.
• Due to the appalling wet weather I have not yet being able to harvest many of the roots grown during 2015.  Some skirret is harvested, one mashua, one oca and a few Jerusalem artichokes.  Still remaining in the ground are at least a dozen mashua, some oca (not sure how many), also Jerusalem and Chinese artichokes, burdock, carrots, root chicory.  Had I been able to harvest them I am sure the yield would have been considerably greater.  If I remember, when I do harvest them I will come back to this post and update it.  3.8 kg mashua harvested on 4 February 2016
• Some crops were not harvested because I left them to bulk up more – perennial leeks, Babington’s leeks.
• There are always masses of greens, both for salad and cooking but I don’t always pick what there is.  Partly because we are not there all the time and partly bad organisation.  Had I been more attentive yields would have been higher for these.

Comparison of yields in 2014 and 2015
	2015	2014	Change
Onions	798	595	+203
Cooking greens	2485	2603	-118
Salad leaves	540	494	+46
Roots	4086	4104	-18
Pods / fruiting veg	2281	13895	-11614
Fruit	1252	151	+1101
Seeds	51	0	+51
Other	70	161	-91
Total g	11563	22003	-10440
Total kg	11.563	22.003	-10.44

 

Time spent in the garden in 2015
	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total	%
Sowing seed / taking cuttings	2.5	8	0	0.5	11	11
Planting out	7	10	4.25	4.5	25.75	25
Management / maintenance	2.5	9.25	7.5	7	26.25	26
Preparation of new areas	19	18	0	2.5	39.5	39
Total	31	45.25	11.75	14.5	102.5	100
Total 2014	38.5	6	12.5	2.5	59.5	100
Total 2013	2.25	54.25	17.75	3.75	78	100

I spent 102 hours gardening in 2015 – equivalent to fourteen seven hour days.  This was twice as much time in the garden as in 2014.  I had prepared more ground in 2014 than in 2013 so the resultant growing area for 2015 was larger and needed more time.  I also had more time available and as I used that to prepare some additional beds for next year – nearly 40% of the total.

Management and maintenance – ie “weeding”, removing or cutting back plants that have finished their growth and moving things round – took 26 hours, compared to 9 the previous year, again reflecting the increased growing area.  However 26 hours equates to under four days of work doing what most conventional gardeners spend a lot of time doing!

	2015	2014	Change
Sowing seed / taking cuttings	11	5.25	+5.75
Planting out	25.75	19.5	+6.25
Management / maintenance	26.25	9	+17
Preparation of new areas	39.5	29.5	-10
Total	102.5	59.5	+43

As time goes on and there is less scope for extending the growing area and things become more established I would expect management and maintenance to take up a larger proportion of the time, but not a great deal more actual time.

In addition to the basic numbers I really want to emphasise the less tangible harvests, such as pure joy.  The garden has been incredibly beautiful, with an astounding amount of flowers.

This is burdock in flower growing amongst flat leafed parsley, also in flower.

Flies love carrot flowers

I have had such pleasure watching bees, flies, butterflies, moths and other unidentified things buzzing constantly through spring to autumn and such a wealth of flowers on plants left to go to seed, in particular flat leafed parsley, radish and carrots.  I have seen several frogs and toads underneath the polycultures furthest from the house.  It is really damp down there and they are constructed of lots of old twigs, branches and decomposing ‘stuff’, which seems to leave little nooks, crannies and passageways for these lovely amphibians to get through or just to sit about in.  There are plenty of beetles and spiders too.

and bees love hyssop!