Today we’re visiting with Keegan Clifford, who is a vegetable gardener extraordinaire, producing huge amounts of beautiful produce. Keegan lives in Middletown, Maryland (Zone 7), a small town with just 4,500 residents, and he grows all of his vegetables in raised beds: twelve 6-foot by 3-foot beds and one 2-foot by 17-foot bed.
A huge harvest of beets for roasting and piles of fresh basil for making pesto
Just look at Keegan’s sweet potatoes and other goodies from the summer garden! Behind him, it is clear to see that the plants are absolutely thriving.
As beautiful as it is delicious, ‘Flashy Trout Back’ lettuce has crisp, delicious leaves liberally dusted with red speckles.
Keegan and friend are getting ready for spring with a load of fresh mulch to keep the soil moist, suppress weeds, and help all the vegetables thrive.
Here’s how the twelve 6-foot by 3-foot garden beds look from above. This is not a large area, but with careful management, Keegan produces a huge amount of food.
Case in point: check out this harvest of potatoes!
A harvest in the snow? Broccoli is a fairly cold-tolerant crop, and by using heavy-duty row covers and 8 inches of shredded dry leaves as insulation, Keegan was able to harvest fresh vegetables on a snowy day in January.
Broccoli in the garden in November. Even the most cold-tolerant vegetables won’t grow much during the short days of winter, so getting a January harvest is mostly about getting them nearly to the harvestable stage before it turns cold and then protecting them until you are ready to have them for dinner.
In the summer, a harvest of peppers and cherry tomatoes is as pretty as a painting.
And here’s one last image of an abundant fall harvest.
If you want to see more of Keegan’s gardening, check out his Instagram here!
Comments
Hi, Keegan. I enjoyed reading your gardening story and looking at all of the photos! Thank you for sharing.
A wonderful way to start my day. Absolutely loved this post. What an impressive harvest. Beautiful 🌶️🍠🥦🍅.
Gorgeous produce, Keegan! The peppers and cherry tomatoes make for an amazing photo!
Incredible!!! What an amazing harvest…very impressive,I’ll keep trying! You prove it can be done…I can grow eggplant, and this will be my first cutting of my asparagus crop, but some things have been a dud for me….thank you for sharing, you give us all hope.
Wow! What a harvest!
Way to go, Keegan. Very inspirational. I am more of an ornamental gardener but just started a 4 x 8 raised bed for veggies. You have inspired me to do more.
Magnificent! Your veggies are beautiful and inspiring.
Gracious! I hope some of those sweet potatoes make it into a pie! YUM
Congrats and best wishes for continued gardening success!
Your vegetables are absolutely beautiful. Can almost taste them. Great job.
Wow! Beautiful and amazing! Thanks for sharing your garden with us.
Amazing vegetables! Your smile is wonderful! They do say that plants respond to being talked to, but I bet your smile has a lot to do with how magnificently your vegetables grow.
Oh Keegan, you take the prize in my book as THE Gardener of the Year - fabulous smile, gorgeous vegetables and a tremendously good vibe coming from you. Thank You, you made my day!
What a great group of photos to start off a new week. You really have put the spark of inspiration into our hearts this morning, Keegan! Thanks for such encouraging photos!
Loved your story and all the beautiful pictures of the bountiful produce. I am inspired to do better next year with our little raised bed. Thanks for sharing!
You've got this vegie gardening thing down, Keegan! The volume and beauty of your produce is amazing. Wow!
Hi, Keegan! Everything looks so healthy and delicious! Flashy Trout Back is my favorite lettuce. Thanks for sharing your beautiful garden with us!
Seriously? I have two grow boxes, good soil and perfect weather but some years I’m lucky to get 50 tomatoes. My carrots chose not to even make an appearance this year. You’re amazing!
You have a very inspiring vegetable garden! I'm a vegetarian and I'm embarrassed to admit I don't remember ever even seeing what a broccoli plant looks like until now LOL!
I would love having enough land and sun to grow my own vegetables and you make it looks so easy and rewarding!
Seeing this post really makes me wonder why small home vegetable gardens seemed more common in the past and faded away-- but at least seem to be making a big comeback in the past few years.
Imagine having vegetables grown on your own land- not relying on stores or trucks driving on highways from somewhere else...just walking out your door and there are your vegetables. It makes so much sense.
Keegan, these photos had me smiling from the very first one to the last. The photo of the peppers and tomatoes needs to become a large framed print. I second SimpleSue's comments about home gardens and getting meals from one's back (or in my case, front) yard. Yes, it's work but the quality of the food is worth it!
Keegan - your beautiful harvest has inspired me to work harder on my 4 raised beds... I have had limited success so far but seeing what you've done has given me a kick in the pants! Thanks for brightening my Monday!
Amazing garden! I’m planning to try growing sweet potatoes next year. How many did you begin with? And any special instructions? I plan to grow them in a very large pot.
OMG! WOW! You need to start classes on how you accomplished all of this in that garden of yours. Everything looks fantastic....I think they're going to run out of room for the comments on your success!
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