One would think, but we are also on granite slab and have more chipmunks and groundhogs than I care for. We will have to wait and see since this site has never had a veggie garden there before.

This year, I think we will be too late for peas - by the time we get plants in the ground it will be June. Next year it should work though! I will see how the food pantry feels about dried beans - I'm not sure how they would store them so I need guidance from them on that one.

The National Park Service is starting something similar at the Home of FDR. I thought they had a planting list prepared for this year, but there isn't much up yet on their webpage.

Something I've been told is very desirable in our local food banks are hot peppers. Except for habaneros, most hot peppers do very well here - much better than bells. They can also help to deter critters. One taste, and small rodents learn very quickly to avoid peppers, and tomatoes, and eggplants .....

My favorite hot pepper for New England is Ace or New Ace. Not super hot, and so prolific that I grow them in small tomato cages since otherwise the branches break under wind stress due to the weight of the fruit. We still have two stuffed gallon bags in the freezer from last summer. I grow 6 plants and it's more than enough for us for the year.

I wanted to update with some photos since the production has been absolutely incredible. To date, we have harvested over 200 lbs of produce, including:

1000 green beans

100 cucumbers

45 zucchini/summer squash

2 dozen heads of lettuce

160 radishes

4 dozen bunches of kale and swiss chard

80 bunches of dill, cilantro, basil, parsley and rosemary

All that and we still have tomato harvest to look forward to! It's quite tomato jungle in there :) All the food is harvested by volunteers and donated to local food pantries and several refugee families who have recently settled in the area (they also helped with installing the garden). It's been an incredible experience!

JUNE

AUGUST

So nice that you came back to update, Suzabanana! It looks lovely and healthy, and it sounds quite successful. I am very impressed!

Suzebanana, did you end up planting an outside border of onions to repel rodent pests? (I've done this & find onions don't seem to repel chipmunks, the plague of my garden, though for all I know it may repel other "interested" furry parties....)

It looks from the photos like you have perhaps planted a border of marigolds and/or nasturtiums....? But I can't tell what else is in your garden border. Has there been any "competition" or depletion of your crop from hungry wildlife marauders?

We did not end up doing onions around the perimeter, but may still do garlic in the fall - mostly for harvest, but I'll always take the added benefit of repelling pests! We do have a border of marigolds outside the fence and zinnia with some perennials on the inside border. In the end, most of these plant choices were what the local garden center was willing to donate or give us at cost rather than being exactly what we wanted. Because we were starting from scratch, we had a budget of $6k for the garden - fence, compost, soil, containers, plants, irrigation and labor. I'm fairly certain we have kept to the budget, as we don't have much extra to draw from as a tiny, all-volunteer non-profit :)

Thus far, we have not see significant depletion of our crops by any wildlife. I have seen a cucumber strew across the lawn with teeth marks in it, but because we have dozens of cucumber ripening every week, it's not much of a concern. I haven't seen any obvious fence breaches or hidey-holes for rodents, so I feel lucky thus far! Wish my own yard was so pest-free! This may change in coming years as the garden becomes "discovered" by wildlife, but at the moment I am super pleased with what we've been able to accomplish in a small space (1200 sq ft). It's nice to know that there are roughly 100 families that are directly benefiting from our efforts :)

I actually had several onions eaten by voles, so there is a limit to the rodent resistance of onions.

Yes, rabbits and/or voles ate mine too this year

The garden looks fantastic! What a great thing you are doing. Are the zinnias for cut flowers? If so, how thoughtful to have beauty as well as sustenance. Keep updating!

deannatoby - the zinnias are for cut flowers and pollinators.

Most of the squash has become infested with squash vine borer and has been pulled out :( Luckily, we harvested loads before it got really bad.

I have sowed beet seeds and will sow lettuce, chard, kale, spinach and more radishes tomorrow. I'm hoping we can get a few more cool harvests before it gets cold!

To date, we have harvested over 4,000 green beans, 200 cucumbers, 89 squash and 48 eggplant with a total of 350 pounds of produce. Tomatoes are just beginning to ripen...