Drumroll, please

End of year tally!

My high-tech and sophisticated November and December recording sheets (the free notepad left on our doorstep by a local realtor) were somehow confused, so I must combine these two months into one tally.

November/December 2011 Harvest Tally:
17 lbs. of fresh fruits and veggies
108 eggs

Year to date:
484 lbs. of fresh fruits and veggies
480 eggs

We live on a 1/10th acre lot and rent a 20x20 foot community garden plot.

Pretty good numbers! I was hoping for a little higher in the fruit and veggie department, but our 3 new laying hens are right on track, producing eggs all through the winter as this is their first laying season.

Just for fun, a list of the produce we have grown and eaten from our property in 2011:
artichoke, avocado, basil, beet, bell pepper, blueberry, bok choy, boysenberry, broccoli, butternut squash, carrot, cauliflower, celery, chives, cilantro, corn, garlic, lettuce, lime, mushroom, nasturtium, onion, orange, parsley, peach, peas, persimmon, plum, pomegranate, potato, pumpkin, rosemary, sage, spaghetti squash, spinach, strawberry, Swiss chard, thyme, tomato, zuchinni.

In 2012 I look forward to trying some new plants like Jerusalem artichokes and hope that some of our trees will produce for the first time, especially the pear and apricot. Maybe this year we will solve the mystery of the lemon trees. We can't seem to keep a lemon tree alive and have tried 3 different ones in the same spot, and all yellow and die. Obviously, something is wrong with that spot. January and February are our big harvest months for oranges and avocados, and this year our avocado tree has finally borne fruit! Can't wait to add those to our menu. Dh pruned the peach and apricot trees this weekend and offered them threats while he was at it. If they don't produce well this spring, they will be replaced.

We have also been having trouble with veggies being stolen from our community garden plot so we are weighing our options for fencing. Electric barbed wire seems to top the list along with an alligator moat and/or tiger pit. What works well to keep your garden safe? What are you growing in 2012?