I went small this year simply because I was having a lot of back problems. I'm still having the problems but have a plan for next year. 1) bigger garden 2) plant sugar pumpkins for our use and the chickens, and 3) ignore the back pain as much as possible and when not possible use my prescription medication, go out and dig in the dirt, which I LOVE to do.
I had a lot of trouble with what garden I did plant. Beans didn't do well, carrots didn't do well, radishes were very hot. I think it was the weather in all honesty. We had a very wet spring and early summer. My apple trees got hit with fire blight, the peaches got hit by first the late frost and then what survived the frost got hit by the deer. The only thing I seemed to have an abundance of was blackberries and I think we picked over 50 pounds of them. I've made lots of jelly and jam and we even tried to make some wine which I have to admit came out pretty darned good.
I've got to figure out what caused my beans and root crops to fail. I'm thinking that on top of the wet weather soil quality has something to do with it. DH will be tilling compose from the coop into the soil for me. Hopefully that will help things along.
Low of 11 here tonight. I'm ready for spring already.