Last year was our second full year here and the garden did pretty well. The fruit trees were just starting to produce, and this year is looking to be even better with lots of new growth and blossoms. We had some trouble with some of the veggies last year, but I think we have it figured out now. Anyway here are a few of the things we harvested last year.

Bananas. Apple bananas, local bananas, and plantains. We started with 5 plants and now there must be at least 25. Plus you have to cut the plant down once you harvest the bananas and we have given a few plants to friends. It looks like we will always have bananas.

Cacao. We only harvested a handful of pods last year, but it was enough to make our own chocolate. This year the plants are doing much better.

Pineapples. If they last on the plant until they fully ripen then they are soooo sweet. We currently have about 150 plants.

Star Fruit. Last year we only got a few off the tree, but currently, the tree is loaded with new blossoms.

Coffee. The plants supplied us with enough to make about 25 pots of coffee. Right now the plants are starting to flower and it is looking good for this season.

Raspberries. Considering we just planted it 9 months ago, it still gave us enough to snack on. Now the plant is out of control and we are having to keep chopping it back even though it is loaded with fruit.

Guava. We had a few last year, but the tree is getting bigger and is already starting to set more fruit.

Calamansi Limes. Last year we got a dozen or so off the plant. There was a lot of growth last year so hopefully this year we will have a lot more.

Dragon Fruit. We only had a few last year and I think they were maybe the best thing in the garden. We are currently building a lot bigger trellis for them, as they are growing like crazy.

Golden Plum. This tree grew big and fast last year and was loaded with fruit. Unfortunately, it dropped most of them, but the ones that did ripen were great, sort of the texture of an apple and a slight taste of a pear.

Peanuts. Our first time growing them and they did great. We’re not sure we will plant more this year we just have to see how the space in the garden goes.

Cantaloupe. We actually did manage to harvest a few of them before the critters got to them, and they were very good.

Kale. The kale crop grew for the entire year and never stopped producing. We ate as much as we could and were giving some away to friends.

Tomatoes. They didn’t grow as we were hoping they would, but we did still get some nice tomatoes. Considering all the plants were from an old tomato that Kelley threw out in the yard.

Romaine Lettuce. We got a few nice heads, but then again insects, rains, and who knows what else got to a lot of them.

Okra.  The okra grew great here last year. Kelley breaded a bunch and froze for later and pickled a whole lot more. I think we might skip planting it this year.

Hatch Green Chiles. The plants did well last year, giving us enough to roast and save in the freezer until needed. The first harvest off of the plants was very good and hot, but the second round on the same plants were almost too hot to eat. Can’t figure that one out.

Other peppers. Habanero, cayenne, and pequin peppers. They all did pretty well which allowed us to dry, grind and make some very good extra-spicy chili salt.

Turmeric. We haven’t really used it too much, but it did grow well and is supposed to be good for you.

Mushrooms. We actually aren’t growing these we just forage for them around the property. And why not when you have wild oyster mushrooms out there.

Besides eating all this good stuff straight from the garden we also preserved them in different ways. The peanuts we made into peanut butter with a little salt and coconut oil.

There were spicy kale chips and plantain chips. Dehydrated pineapples and bananas. Pesto from the basil and peanuts. Chocolate covered peanuts. Different teas from the coffee skins, lemongrass, raspberry leaves, and moringa.

This year we are hoping that some of the other trees will start producing. There are still mango, avocado, 5 types of citrus, 3 types of apples, peaches, papaya, and macadamia nut that we are waiting patiently for. We know in the future that all these trees will be producing more than we will ever use, but I’m sure we will come up with something to do with it all.

That’s some of the harvests from 2020. There were a lot of veggies that just didn’t work out for some reason, but we will keep planting and trying until we figure out what really works here. In the meantime, we are looking forward to seeing what the garden provides for us in 2021.