Winter is close and I have cleaned up the garden. The soil needs to be covered by something to protect it from the harsh weather. I used both straw and black tarp. Black tarp can cover large area and will kill weed readily. Straw will gradually break down and become organic compost to the soil, but I need a lot of them to properly cover the soil. Since I live in the country, I pay about $4 for 1 big square bale. I did not have time to grow oats as covering crop this year but hope to grow some next year.
To sum up this year’s harvest I would rate as average. Again, time is an issue. If you want a bounty harvest you need to invest time. That’s why I am going to experience square foot gardening next season. Here is a list of crops and my comments:

• Strawberry – very good crop but a lot is wasted due to dampness.
• Potato – red potato Norland grows well and large while yellow flesh Penta grows small but in large quantity. I prefer Norland.
• Cucumber – good harvest and easy to grow
• Zucchini – good harvest and easy to grow, needs lot of space
• beans – average harvest, will try pole bean next time
• watermelon – poor harvest, might be better to buy from store
• herbs – easy to grow and worthwhile
• garlic – good harvest and will increase planting next year
• swiss chard – good harvest
• cabbage – a lot of pest: slug, moth, earwig. I need to find a way to proplery cover the head. Nevertheless, after peeling off half the outer leaves we can still enjoy some organic cabbage.
• chinese veggies – very poor harvest, mostly due to slug and flea bettles, still need to work on this.
• tomato – average harvest, did not have time to proplery smother the weed and tie the plant to stake.
• squash – poor harvest, only 2 fruit.
• carrot – average harvest, taste good and the kids like to dig them out.
• green onions – good harvest, easy to grow.
• marigold – grows very well.

We have put black tarp over half the garden to cover the ground. I put some chicken manure on it before doing this.
I put the straw to cover the ground here. You will need at least 4 inches of straw to properly cover and smother the weed.