RE: The Steem Running Project: Runner's Rainbow Nutrition Series--Red
2016 was my first garden. It was while we lived in the barn and in a 10x10 dog kennel. That kept the deer out and it was FULL of veggies. I raised much more than I should because we had no fridge (just a yeti cooler), no stove (just a wood stove) so I cooked the heck out of stuff. 2017 we were just moving in our house so I had what I referred to as my kitchen garden. It was enough to keep me busy and I canned quite a bit for my first year. I had more peppers than anything.
Red, Green, Yellow, Anaheim, Jalapeno, and cayenne. I put pepper in everything. I canned a lot of rotel and Marinara with the peppers, tomatoes and onions. This year I am planning a big girl garden and so excited. We just finished our deer proof fence so I am hopeful everything will not get eaten before I get to it. I have watermelon seeds from Baker Creek so this will be my first year with those. The mice ate my watermelon seedlings in the greenhouse last year before I could even plant them. We put a wildlife camera in there and I couldn't believe my eyes. Oh the joys AND disappointments.
Can I come be your neighbor? ;) Sounds awesome. I know contending with critters can be tricky, but can you blame them when you have such yummy stuff to tempt them?
I think we've had 2 watermelons reach maturity in our little garden, but not a lot of luck with peppers other than jalapeno peppers yet. We don't have a big space set aside, but enough to get some fresh goodies.