"we found ourselves with space left over ... won't grow again because they took up too much space for the yield we got when we grew it a couple of years ago. "

I don't get it. If you have too much space why are you refraining from planting certain things because they take up too much space?

potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash. all these can be kept well into winter.

I have a post on the front page with all my picks for this year.

You can freeze lots of stuff. Squash lasts and can eat up space very rapidly.

Herbs, strawberries, flowers. Try something new. I'd love to have more garden than I knew what to do with.

My reasoning for not wanting to plant big stuff like broccoli again is because I figure why plant 3 of something to get X amount of yield when I could plant 20 of something else and get 10x the amount of yield. I may try potatoes again... tried them last year for the first time and I wasn't impressed. Of 6 plants, only two survived and they only produced about 8 golf ball sized potatoes.

Herbs are great, but research them first! I just tossed several herb plants into a small 4x4 bed and they went wild! I put my back out trying to pull them out! And some are still coming back 5 years later! Now I have my herbs in containers!
OTOH, basil and other herbs can be made into yummy pestos and frozen, or dried and chopped up in an herb chopper (similar to a coffee grinder) These can also be frozen or given as gifts! (A favorite!)
Check out the harvest forum to see what people freeze/can/process! Nancy

What a good problem to have. I am looking to expand my land base . I noticed you are in zone 6. IMO you need to be succession planting to avoid too much of a crop at a time. I plant lettuce every 2 weeks. I have planted an area 2' x 3' for our person use. 2 weeks later replant next to it. etc. plant 1 or 2 brocilia at a time and plant again 4 weeks later. that is my one suggestion John

In addition to tomatoes consider :

==EGGPLANTS: there are so different varietie.
== Peppers (Capsicum): Anything from sweets to mild, hot and super hot. There are 100s of varieties. Some can be ornamental.
== Cucumbers: Good combination with tomatoes fo garden fresh salads.
Those are all warm weather summer crops.

ON HERBS: My suggestion is to make s separate bed for herbs. Call it "Herbs Garden". Most herbs need better drainage, alkaline soil, very little fertilizer like Rosemary, oregano, Sage, chives, Marjoram.... Also divide your herb garden into "Perennial and Annual" sections. They have differen needs for care (watering, fertilizing). DO NOT PLANT MINT IN THE GARDEN! they are just too invasive.

Seysonn

Greens. Greens. Greens. Cabbages, Collards, kale, spinach, mustards, chard, Asian greens.

They[re the healthiest veggies you can grow, and with the right choices and right timing, you can have them nearly year round. And their uses are endless.

Like NancyJane, I make basil into pesto and freeze it for use in the winter.

Like Seysonn, I grow eggplant and freeze it along with tomatoes, onions, and peppers as a garden stew that can be served over rice or pasta.

We grow enough garlic to last the entire year from a fall planting.
I grow leeks, and when well mulched, I can dig them until the snow gets too deep and then have them fresh for a few weeks in spring until they start to bolt.

Laceyvale mentioned greens, and I still am harvesting kale for use sauteed and in stews.

In one cold frame you could probably grow and store in the ground well-mulched root crops such as leeks, carrots, potatoes, etc for harvest all winter if you don't have a cold cellar. In the other you could have hardier greens planted in late summer and grown to a reasonable size before major cold for harvest much of the winter. (see Eliot Coleman's books such as The Winter Harvest Handbook for timing.)

I also plant varieties of broccoli that once I have harvested the main head, side shoots develop for a continued harvest. So I plant once (usually six plants) and harvest until hard freeze, though there is usually a pause of a couple of weeks after harvesting the main head and when the smaller secondary shoots develop.

Edible podded peas such as sugar snap are wonderful as well. I plant two varieties, times a couple of weeks apart and end up eating peas almost daily for about 6 weeks.

If you're looking for ideas, here is what I grew in 2014:

Type Variety
Bean Edamame - Giant Midori
Bean Edamame - Shirofumi
Bean Edamame - Tankuro
Bean Green Beans
Bean Lima - Fordhook 242
Bean Speedy
Broccolini Apollo
Cantaloup Athena
Cantaloup Hale's Best Cantaloup
Celery Tall Utah
Celery Ventura
Cucumber Telegraph
Cucumber Pepinex
Garlic Music
Herbs Basil - Genovese
Herbs Basil - Lettuce Leaf
Herbs Cilantro
Kale Improved Dwarf Siberian
Kale Redbor
Lettuce Valmaine
Lettuce Victoria
Onions Copra
Onions Walla Walla
Peppers Banana
Peppers California Wonder (Bell) - red
Peppers California Wonder (Bell) - yellow
Peppers Cayenne Purple
Peppers Jalapeño
Peppers King of the North
Peppers Lady Bell
Peppers New Ace
Peppers New Mexico Chili
Peppers North Star (Bell) Red
Peppers Orange Bell
Peppers Porto
Peppers Quadrato Asti Giallo (Yellow)
Peppers Sweet Chocolate
Peppers Thai Hot
Potato Yukon Gold
Pumpkins Atlantic Giant
Radishes Pink Celebration
Winter Squash Acorn
Winter Squash Butternut - Waltham
Summer Squash Costata Romanesco
Summer Squash Patty Pan - Green Tint
Summer Squash Patty Pan - Yellow
Summer Squash Zucchini
Tomatillo Miltomate
Tomato Black Krim
Tomato Brandywine
Tomato Cherokee Purple
Tomato Djena Lee's Golden Girl
Tomato Early girl
Tomato Green Zebra
Tomato Opalka
Tomato San Marzano Redorta
Tomato Sun sugar
Watermelon New Queen
Okra Clemson Spineless Organic
Corn Peaches and Cream

If you want something productive I also suggest basil. I have bags of it in frozen cubes ready to go in the freezer. I also have bags and bags of frozen zucchini, which is extremely productive. An herb garden is also a great idea. My sage and oregano are still alive in December.

You've gotten good advice. The main thing to keep in mind is grow what you like to eat. If you like broccoli, grow it!

Here's a suggestion though --- I always have a problem finding space to plant flowers and herbs that are beneficial insect attractors. Since you have the space now, perhaps set aside some of that space to develop an insectary. Research Integrated Pest Management(IPM) and you'll get the gist. Much easier to fight pest issues when you have allies doing the fighting for you.

Here's a decent chart. Main thing to consider is diversity and to have different flowers BLOOMING at different times of the year.

Kevin

Here is a link that might be useful: beneficial attractors

The only way I've successfully frozen zucchini, is to grate it, leave it in a colander for a few hours, then squeeze it out some more. Then freeze for soups/stews/breads etc. Not the best for just eating (maybe with tomatoes/garlic and whatever) Nancy

Nancyjane,

Cut lengthwise, zucchini and squash make great pickles. Frozen is okay but I find it holds too much water no matter what I do.

If you have the room Trpn, and you enjoy eating them, summer squash and zucchini are insanely productive and since you can freeze/pickle them (in a water bath) the inevitable extra is no problem. Though I would suggest no more then 2-3 plants or everyone in the county will be sick of your summer squash lol.

Yep, basil. Unlike most herbs, you use it in bulk -- when you make pesto. I mean, you need a basketful of basil to make enough pesto. LOTS of basil goes into each bottle of pesto you make so, unlike other things you put up, you won't end up with warehouses full of bottles. Pesto is concentrated basil deliciousness and, unlike pickled or frozen squash, is a terrific gift. No, don't say you don't like pesto! (Basil tea is nice as well ...) Basil grows like crazy -- like a weed really, and attracts no fruit-loving pests. It'll like moisture (but with well-drained soil), nitrogen, and will do fine with just half-sun. FWIW, it's also an attractive plant. It isn't frost tolerant though.

ZachS You do know that Aug 8th is "Leave a zucchini on you neighbor's porch day"!!!! =)
Daninthedirt I bribe my chiropractor and staff each month with a batch of pesto. The chiro's partner (who doesn't treat me) was extatic when I included her in the monthly gift! LOL Nancy
Ohh Ohh! Something I learned this summer was to make hummus and mix it with pesto! YUMMMMMMM! Also, mix guak with hummus! Double yum! It also doubles the dips for about a buck!
My recipe for the summer! (and winter!) Nancy

The bottom line is :

-- Grow what you like (as Kevin pointed out).
-- Grow as much as you can manage and take care of.
volume and quantity should not be a priority, IMO.

Seysonn

When it comes to pesto, volume and quantity are a priority, IMO!

It's summer... and I'm outside standing in the warm sunshine inhaling the rich licorice fragrance of basil...

wow - lots of suggestions over the few days I've been away. Thanks!

With regards to basil - I did convert half of one of the 4x4s to basil partway through summer, and I've got a hydroponic basil setup in my classroom so we did pretty well on that this year, but I would like to get into different varieties and see what I can do.

With zucchini - we MAJORLY struck out on that this past year. I've never in my entire life done poorly with zucchini or other summer squash, but this year we planted four plants, only got one zucchini which grew to about 6" and then rotted. The other plants failed to thrive....I've NEVER had that problem before, but we'll be trying again next year!

Peppers - we had four varieties totaling about 40 plants last year. They were planted a little closely for what the seed packs say, but we did okay. One thing that we don't get to produce well is bell peppers. We had great bells a few years ago in a different location that is now a flower bed, but we can't get them to grow much more than MAYBE tennis ball sized, but usually much, much smaller and more oddly shaped than what you should get. We've done better with banana peppers and two other varieties (including some of those mini bells that you can find at the grocery store...we saved some seeds from them a couple of years ago and they do great!). We are trying to overwinter in pots our two biggest plants from last summer. They're not doing so hot, but we'll see what happens.

Melons - last year we did melons and even the watermelons only got to be about baseball sized. They took up a ton of room so we won't be doing those again.

Beans - had some in both 4x4s and then planted them across the entire garden late in the season as a cover crop to put nitrogen back in the soil. Hopefully it will help solve some of the problems we ran into last year.

Greens - We did really well on greens the year before (chard, multiple lettuce varieties, and spinach) but couldn't get them to really grow well this past year. I'd like to figure out what's going on there because we did really use them a lot when we had them.

Cucumbers - two years ago we had so many that we still have pickles in the cupboard. Last year we planted a quarter of what we did the year before and we had enough for fresh consumption but not enough for any canning which was fine.

Spaghetti squash - Did well on them this past year but we didn't make good use of them so we probably won't plant them again.

Carrots - planted them in one of the 4x4s and got a single harvest. Had never planted them before, so we will be doing them again but will try to adjust timing to have more than one harvest.

Beets - same as carrots.

Chives, green onions, garlic - did alright with them, dried them, and are still using them. Will happen again!

Eggplant - I would LOVE to get good eggplant, but flea beetles DESTROY them every year and don't seem to bother anything else in the garden. We got a single one out of four to fruit this year and got one eggplant that wasn't even of usable size off of it.

Potatoes - would like to do these again. We tried them for the first time last year but they didn't get very big (we got maybe 8 golf ball sized potatoes off of two plants. Two other plants died early on).

Peas - Always do good with them in fall and spring.

a sprawling plant that's always a space-hog is pumpkin/melon!

I forgot to mention, we planted 4 pumpkin plants last year....we had never had an issue with white mildew until introducing those plants. The mildew hit the pumpkins HARD and did spread to several other types of plants. We had it somewhat under control, but I'm hoping it doesn't make an appearance again this year if we keep the pumpkins out of the garden. We really didn't use them for anything anyway so it's probably something I won't plant again.

I do like the idea somebody had mentioned about getting beneficial insects into the garden. We had squash bugs in the garden last year which I dealt with by hand, but I'd like to find something beneficial that could help combat them this time around.

NOTHING (organic) works for squash bugs except patrolling the plants every few days, examining every leaf and removing the orange eggs. Kill the adults if you find them too.

NOTHING (organic) works for squash bugs except patrolling the plants every few days, examining every leaf and removing the orange eggs. Kill the adults if you find them too.

Learned this last year on GW: Remove squash bug eggs with duct tape wrapped inside out around your hand -- works great and doesn't damage the leaves.

TrpnBils -- the issues you had with your garden this year (especially since you compared to past years) sounds like you might have a bit of declining fertility. Might want to try adding some manure (especially for squash, pumpkins, and melons) and/ or organic matter. The OM -- rough compost, fall leaves, and the like -- can be added NOW and give you a boost for next year.

For eggplant, covering with thin fleece (AG 15 perhaps) could protect from flea beetles (it lets in rain and enough sunlight for the plants)

I second the motion to use broccoli that boasts "excellent side shoot production" -- broccoli from spring until hard frost.

I have to say that if you have a hydroponic basil bed in a classroom, you likely aren't getting enough for serious pesto-ing. You really need at least a square yard or two to get a few bottles. We're talkin' pesto, not spice.

Melons would be a great space-user -- they pretty much expand to fill the available space -- but if you're too far north, you may not have a long enough season for them. Since melons have to ripen on the vine, you need vine-time for them. They aren't usable unless they're fully ripe. I believe there are varieties that do better in cooler climates, though I don't have any experience with them. Might look into those. Also, melons are heavy feeders, and will likely need supplemental nitrogen to accelerate things once fruit is forming, to get by in a cooler climate.

More peppers might be a good bet. You can dry them or pickle them, and the dried or pickled product won't care how big the fruit got or what shape they were. Especially if they look nice, of course, they're easy to give away.