I thought it might be fun to include a picture of this year's garden.

Here's my kitchen garden/potager, horses and all :)

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Hope you'll include a photo of your garden, too.

I like your potager picture. It looks so romantic especially with the horses centered in the background.

I am definitely going to change my fence. My son ran into the corner of the fence with our cart and not only are the deer getting in but anything that wants a free meal. So right now its not my potager anymore; its a wildlife refuge.

I am keeping my layout. It's so much easier to move around than last year's plan. The rose and basil circle in the middle looked pretty all summer.

I may change from using my square tomato trellises to a taller straight trellis across the back 2 raised beds.

The pumpkin patch was a failure; not enough sun. Several groundhog break-ins until I secured the gate. So, next year, I'm thinking that spot would make a good lettuce patch.

I also want to make an attractive mesh cage to cover my cabbage and swiss chard at the beginning of the season. I had an idea to make a 4 x 4' cage with a pagoda style top (I plan to modify some plans in book I have for a small arbor to get the shape). If all that doesn't pan out, I'll use some PVC to make a domed cover.

Oh, no, just when I'm looking forward to a rest from gardening; and you remind me I have to plan for 2011.

Next year no winter squashes, just a couple of zucchini plants. The acorn & buttercup plants took over a big center part. Next year the crop rotation means all those 24 tomato plants need to be in a different bed. Probably the center one, now that the squash are (almost) out. And if I have any sense, NOT 24 plants.

The young climbing old-garden roses have been either planted in the ground near the 8' posts I'd like them to grow up, or repotted into 2-gallon pots which were then planted in the center bed deep enough so one can't see the pot edge. This will hold them until next Spring. They come out and the tomatoes go in.

Fewer eggplant plants next year - How could I know how many only 6 bushes would produce? Maybe 3 green pepper plants, instead of the one. Stringbeans again. They did very well and surprisingly are still producing.

The main purpose of my potager was as a garden for my climbing roses, with fencing to protect them from the depradations of deer. The vegetables were a bonus. Kale, lettuce, chard, basil, parsley and radishes all did well. But as the roses grow tall and wide, I think the veggies will be phased out. Except for those tomatoes. Gotta have home-grown ones, nothing like them, not even the local farm stand ones.

Outside the potager fencing, along the south side of it, we've dug a new 2' deep bed for alliums: garlic, onions, chives, leeks. I've heard that deer don't like them.

So the footprint of the potager will remain the same, but what grows within will evolve to mainly roses.

Carol

I need taller and stronger tomato cages, for sure. Next year, it's the Texas Tomato cages for me! (Have given up on finding "pretty" ones that are also functional.)

I will also invest in two more bean teepees. We found out this year that we really like butterbeans! The pole ones will be alot easier to pick. In addition, they will be among my first crops to plant since, with care, they produce all summer.

I learned this year that if I plant a second crop of pole beans in August, I'll be picking beans in September.

NO melons: too much space, attract critters and insects: too small payoff for too much time investment.

No more than two eggplants. I planted Ping Tung and each plant produced 5 to 8 fruits per WEEK. Ditto for peppers.

I must say I agree with everyone about the eggplants. What was I thinking planting 16 of them! I am sad to say that the groundhog that rummages through my compost pile feasted on eggplant this summer. Maybe only 4 eggplant and the rest of that bed can be swiss chard or bush beans.

Carol, You're right. Deer do not like leeks, onions, garlic, chives or alliums. They are the healthiest things in my garden right now. My blueberry bushes have also been untouched. So, perhaps I'll put them outside the fence for next year.

Ali-b, The deer have sampled a few leaves (probably babies) but usually don't seem too interested in the blueberry bushes, at all. I can't say the same for my forsythias. I got them because they're supposed to be deer proof, but they're just little sticks. I'm going to give them to my mom, if they make it through the winter.

I'd like to try a few eggplants and peppers, but I don't know if we have the right climate. I guess I could try a few with the tomatoes and see what happens...maybe they'll be deer resistant. That would be helpful :)

This post is great, it gave me a lot to think about.
Thanks lavenderlass! Also, I always enjoy your photos of your gardens.

As for next year - for me also, fewer peppers; no kale next year (except maybe one or two for fall outdoor decoration); no cauliflower (none of my six plants made it). More lettuce for sure, more spinach. I would plant my herbs together in large pots again, they did very well that way, but I would not plant my cherry tomatoes in pots, none of them did well this year.

Our larger tomatoes did so well this year (9 plants) that I am still picking, cooking, and freezing, and sharing! The method of pinching/pruning the lower growths from the plants as they grew really worked well. No complaints there.

I plan to add a large semicircle side to the garden, for squash, cukes and maybe pumpkins. These plants wander too much and at times took over the garden this year. If they have their own beds on the edge it won't matter.

The dwarf delicious apple tree is doing fine, I would like to add another across the path from the first. Also, I was incredibly lucky to find a long wrought iron garden bench at a garden center that was getting rid of them - it's like one that would be in a Monet garden! I am thinking of moving it between the trees across the path, facing into the garden, to help create a sense of enclosure on that side (no fence there).

I have little garden budget money left (and two kids in college), so if I buy anything it will just be the little apple tree this fall. I will enjoy moving a few flower plants and cleaning up. That's it!

This garden has been my favorite one so far and it means a lot because I had a hip replacement this past November. A year ago I couldn't even imagine having another garden.
Yay! for orthopedics!

Wishing everyone a great fall season -

Donna

Funny you should ask
You all have inspired me to redo my garden out back. The raised beds are fine, but the center herb section had become overgrown and out of control.

So I have removed all the old herbs, am adding soil that I meant to years ago, putting new material on paths (pebbles) and will plant new herbs in spring.

also added a one-brick high small section at each end of the raised beds. These will be for lettuces, small herbs and the like.

Am trying to get this all done before the snow flies so all is ready to go when spring arrives.

Enjoy the fall colors if you are in an area where the seasons show change.

This year was a throw away year in more ways than one. I managed to get things in the garden but really didn't pay attention. Next year succession planting is the mantra!
PS Corn was not much of a success except for one of the horses that loved to munch, stalk and all!

This year was the pits! NO sun all summer, now we have 80s 90s and even 100s in Sept and Oct! The gophers took over 2 beds. One I dug out, mostly, but turned it into an herb garden in pots (wish I knew how to post pics!)
The herb garden I started a few years ago (not knowing what herbs grew to what size!) got ripped out. That's winter stuff.
We're going to elongate our garden by about 20x40 feet, adding some fruit trees, berries and other perrenials.
Gotta do some research!

Nancyjane- It sounds like your garden is going to be really pretty next year! Fruit trees and berries will be very potager :)

I think I'm going to add some grapes next year and maybe some asparagus. I'd love to add fruit trees, but the deer would just eat them...maybe over by the lilac hedge. They don't seem to go over there as often. Of course, once I put in fruit trees, it will probably be a lot more interesting to them! LOL

I'm just getting started so there is rearranging and changing going on all the time.

2011 I'm putting peach pom pom zinnias along the back of the sidewalk bed with naked ladies, tulips, daffodils, chives, miniature roses, and mums in the center of the beds and the front of the bed filled with Plume Celosia, Portulaca, Miniature Tropical Strawflowers, and crocuses. I'm working on creating a 4 season garden. I haven't gotten all of the layering right yet but it's getting better every year.

I moved the irises out of the foundation bed and plan on replacing them with Bushy Sunflowers, Red Columbine, Red Mums, Peruvian Daffodils, Red Gladiolus, Ditch Lilies, Bronze Mums, Orange Blackberry Lilies, and Yellow Mums. I'm using chocolate mint as a groundcover in the foundation beds as a rodent repellent.

The driveway bed I'm still cutting down select trees from. But I do have the Irises in it where I have already cleared it. I also have a red crepe myrtle and birds nest spruce and a mature cypress and one deep purple lily in the bed. I plan to add California Bluebells, Centearea Montana, Pom Pom Burgandy Zinnia, and purple crocuses. I may put a center group of purple mums in it to add fall color.

Most of the potage is in the tree bed. The moonglo pear, sage, rosemary, french tarragon, basil, thyme, and oregano share space with my peonies, primroses, lilies of the valley, columbines, Double Mock Orange, Red Hydrangeas, and Japanese Forest Grass. Other than moving the primroses to the edge of the shady side of the bed I don't have a lot of plans for this bed.

The fruit trees along the driveway may get two dwarf peach trees added to the line to finish the drive. I'm not sure yet. I'm not all that fond of peaches but my friend is and I do need to add two more to complete the drive.

And those are my plans for the new growing season.