The challenge of this garden was how to make it fit the needs of the family. It was designed by another talented gardener, but in my opinion was way too big for the family of 2, who were often away for periods of time in the summer, and therefore could not keep up with the maintenance or harvest. When I was called in to consult in July 2009, the cucumbers were in full swing-enough to feed a family of 10! I could see the majority of them turning into giant blimps, and the sight of all that wasted food told me something wasn’t working. So, that year I worked with the owner to harvest and preserve what they could not immediately use (a dozen bags of shredded cukes went to live in the freezer for future cucumber soup) and I taught her how to recognize when the crops were ready to harvest. We dug 15 pounds of potatoes, harvested a dozen or so winter squash and made enough basil pesto to last thru the winter. In the years that followed, I made sure to plant only those things the family wanted and would use, and in proportion to their family’s size. There was still plenty to harvest and lots of goodies went into the freezer for fall-winter meals.