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| We eat bugs. Lots of them. Do you? |
I finally ripped out almost everything that was just "stinking" and making me angry. (Dying garden plants are like someone screaming in your face, "Hey you, look at you, you're a big failure!" Okay, maybe not that bad, but still, it was ugly out there.) Here's my notes to self on what was going on mid-season for me:
1. There are no greens in the world that would've sprouted for me after basically March. I tried succession planting Black Seeded Simpson, Spinach, Mesculun Mix, and Rouge de Grenblouse, all with no luck. My chard did come up, but the heat made it bitter. I should've harvested it as babies and not let it get full size in the heat, maybe?
2. Bush beans were totally destroyed by something that made holes in the leaves. Wilted and ugly, but did manage a decent harvest of the green beans.
3. Tomatoes = horrible. I am so so so so disappointed in the varieties I picked this year, with the exception of the Sungolds. Tons of beautiful green tomatoes, but as soon as the ripening process started, my Tigerellas got covered in a weird bumpy brown leprosy. The Zapotecs were misshapen across the bottom (so pleated) that bugs were easily able to crawl into the cracks and they got infested. The Bloody Butcher basically came in rotted. All of them split. Then the bugs happened. Then the birds happened. I can see why "heirloom" varieties have gone extinct. Perhaps other gardeners like myself got sick of their crops failing and needed a more reliable variety? I can admit that I should've done something more about the birds and the bugs, but I don't get how hard it is to ripen properly or what I could've done to manage this problem better. I imagine it had something to do with the watering. More on that later. I am so thankful for Sam (shout out!) who brought me a ton of beautiful heirloom tomatoes. I turned them into a wonderful sauce today. I even had my first canning experience, which hopefully means I can remember that batch of tomatoes at least into the fall.
4. Cucumbers just needed time to come up. They stored horribly though. Took the first couple out of the garden and put them in the fridge. I love a cold cucumber salad. When I went to eat them they were totally soft and wrinkled. Do they not like the fridge? Does the store put wax or something on them so this doesn't happen to them there? Not sure I will grow them next year if they are so finicky. Too many to eat right after picking...
5. Yes, it was a squmpkin. HOWEVER, this year, our squmpkin was edible. Think of a cross between a pumpkin and a spaghetti squash. But mostly spaghetti squash. Cooked it up, tossed it with tomatoes, feta, basil and olives. Plain goodness. They might be ugly, but if I can eat them, I don't consider them a waste of all the space they took up.
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| A Squmpkin. |
6. Celery did horribly. That stuff was bitter, hard, and a waste of space. This is year two of failed celery. Either I need to research growing it properly or give up.
7. Lemon basil is amazing. Plant more of it next year.
8. According to my gals at Roots Farm, for my broccoli/cauliflower cabbage moth caterpillars, I should dip the heads in vinegar water and the caterpillars will fall right off.
9. Honeydew and Cantaloupe didn't really work. In fact, our honeydew went completely missing. What? The cantaloupe is about the size of a baseball.
10. Flowers needed serious thinning. I hate thinning. It breaks my heart to select some poor little plant that has to die. So I leave them all. And then I learn why they tell you to thin. Ooops.
11. Peppers in the side box are doing wonderfully. I consider this my biggest victory of the Garden 2011.
12. Zucchini did mediocre. Maybe got 5 huge ones. Crookneck squash did a little better, but both got sabotaged by the squash bugs.
Another note of interest: I've said this for three years now. But I mean it this time. I HAVE to consider some sort of drip irrigation system, either a bucket system or one tied into our hose. I can't keep up with watering, especially not in the kind of drought conditions we had this summer. That will be my huge spring project. Another thing I will research over the winter.
Anyway, the garden is horribly sparse right now. I cut all the rotten, nasty tomatoes off the vines and do see some new flowers and growth. I'm giving them a chance to make it up to me. I ripped out or harvested pretty much everything else except the pumpkin, herbs, marigolds, and the peppers. As sad as it is, I am excited to think about a fall garden. Here's a list of what I hope to plant next weekend or into September: carrots, turnips, parsnips, maybe brussels sprouts (but I think I'm too late), greens like kale, chard, and spinach, lettuce, beets, green onions and garlic. I'm really thankful for my friends Jen and Jessie who recommended Cherry Gal and Fedco seeds to me, as I have had trouble logging into my Seeds of Change account and they can't seem to fix my problem even after three phone calls. I just ordered my garlic from Fedco and most of the seeds I will need for fall from Cherry Gal. (I realize she is "heirloom" varieties, but she has a great seed sale going on right now and I have to give it a chance!) I also have some seeds left over in the fridge from last year.
My biggest plan for the fall/winter is to create a mini-hoophouse over one of my beds. I found the idea online after looking up ways to extend the growing season. I will take the version that this guy did and build to our specs. (Okay, perhaps Ken will do it, or maybe I can hire one of my favorite teenage boys to do it, but either way, I'd like to have it done so that I will be able to grow greens well into the winter with careful planning and gallon jugs of warm water.) The first two years that I gardened, I petered out in August and didn't want to even consider a fall garden (except the garlic), so this will be my first foray into really trying to get the most out of my raised beds. I'd love have green stuff to eat for as long as possible, and maybe even get a jump start on the spring crops by overwintering things. We'll see...
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