Fruits & Veggies,  Gardening

How I Grew 178 Pounds of Food in My Small Suburban Backyard!

Large food in a small suburban backyard

2021 was my 9th year growing food in our own backyard.  What a year it was! Am I right?  Our world has gone through one of the most difficult experiences of our lifetime.  COVID-19 has affected every continent, every country, every city, and every person.  It truly is something we’ve all gone through together. Many people have been negatively impacted in ways I cannot imagine.  I recognize and am incredibly thankful for, the privilege we have of owning a house in a suburban location with a backyard.  It has made quarantining at home tolerable and has allowed us to stay safe and isolated when many people could not.  It’s also confirmed for me how important it is to know how to grow and preserve food.

In addition to the global pandemic, 2020 gave us the worst wildfire season we’ve had here in western Oregon in my lifetime.  There were days this summer when it was not safe to go outside because of the air quality. We were in the house for two weeks just due to the smoke.  The hot orange sun blazed through the smoke to reach my ash-covered plants.  Thank goodness I had installed the irrigation system because I was not able to be outside to water during that time and I would have lost everything.

Many people in neighboring towns lost their homes and all of their possessions to the fires this year.  We packed up our most beloved photos and mementos in case the evacuation order reached us.  Thankfully it did not but it was very frightening.

In spite of all of this, the garden rallied and gave us some of the biggest harvests yet! This is the story about how I grew 178 pounds of large food in a small suburban backyard!

Strawberries – 1.25 lbs

large food in a small suburban backyard

We actually harvested more than this but we ate them before getting in the house to weigh them. Irresistible!

Basil – 1.63 lbs

Radishes – 2 lbs

Kale – 2.63 lbs

I had a few good harvests but overall I had a terrible time with aphids this year and had to pull the kale shortly after the wildfires were put out. The air was just too heavy and hot and I think the aphids just thrived in that environment.

Carrots – 2.75 lbs

Beets – 3.31 lbs

Raspberries – 3.4 lbs

Onions – 8.3 lbs

We ate a lot of onions and then dehydrated a batch and ground it up in the food processor to be used as onion powder this winter.

Squash – 54.75 lbs!

These lucky plants got to grow in the new raised bed by the patio. The soil was fresh this year and full of nutrients.  They did quite well I’d say. Wow!

Eggplant – 10.19 lbs

These beauties got to grow in the new raised bed with the brand new soil.  I could have gotten even more eggplant if the squash hadn’t blocked a lot of the light from these smaller plants.  They struggled until they were big enough to stretch past the squash and then they took off.

Green Beans – 13 lbs

I planted half the number of seeds this year compared to 2019 but got more than half the volume of produce. Last year we harvested almost 20 lbs of green beans, this year 13 lbs.

Blueberries – 13.8 lbs!

Last year we got 6.8 lbs off of three bushes. This year one bush did not produce at all. we need to be replaced. We still got twice the volume off the other two bushes. Incredible!

Cucumbers – 16 lbs

Tomatoes – 42.38 lbs!

I planted six varieties of tomatoes this year.  Some varieties did better than others but the true winner was the Japanese Black Trifele.  I got 24 lbs off of that one plant. Amazing!

Cabbage – 3 lbs

In case you weren’t counting, that’s 178 pounds of food from our small, suburban backyard garden!  I did not accomplish my goal of tracking the cost of my inputs and the prices at the Farmer’s Market to see my profits but I’ll shoot for that next year. This year I have reaped many harvests and am glad to have received them. How did your garden do?

One Comment

  • Barbara

    What a great post, Stacey! Your garden was such a success in spite of everything. Your photos are beautiful as always. It warms my heart to see the love you have for gardening. And, you are right that it is important to know how to grow and preserve your own food. Job well done!

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