The Highs and Lows of Our Garden Journey This Season
My blog post, “Benefits of an Artist’s Garden,” on May 20 excited us about our new space and how we began our journey. Four months later, as of Sunday, the season of Autumn is officially here.
How did we do this season? We are still waiting to pick our first watermelon, a smaller variety. I was so thrilled to see it growing on the vine that I cut one too early. It wasn’t even red inside, but the flavor had potential for sweetness! Recently, I took a picture of it and sent it to my uncle, who has grown fields of watermelons and said to give it a week to ten days. Patience.
What worked and what did not? Let’s start with salad greens. Growing them is usually a sure thing, but there was not much of a harvest this year. I can not explain what happened to the lettuce, but it turned bitter quickly. The kale did tremendous and is still producing. However, the chard did not, which was a low point because we love to eat sauteed chard with garlic.
We had a good yield of wax yellow beans and pole beans, which are still producing. Some I blanched and froze; the rest we ate. Surprisingly, the zucchini plant produced only five, and then the plant died, but it was in an area with more sand. The yellow squash has been used in salad, bread, and stir-fried.
I’m happy with how well the conch “cream” peas have done. Sometimes, I pick them too early, which makes them harder to shell. Unlike in my parents ' garden, where we shelled them by the bushel, I am freezing smaller quantities, hoping to have enough for Christmas dinner.
The Kohlarbi did not yield one bulb, so we pulled it up this week. In our rush to install our raised beds, we failed to pull up a stone slab, preventing the roots from growing deeper. We will have to correct that area for next year before planting.
We were not overrun with cucumbers but enjoyed a few in salad or sandwiches. Not enough for canning.
It was our first time growing cabbage and broccoli, and we got two nice heads of cabbage. The broccoli crowns were small, but the flavor was unbelievable. I sprayed the leaves with a solution of peppermint Castille soap and water to prevent any nibblers.
I have replanted spinach and salads, and we are hoping to extend the season under a polytunnel in cooler weather,
Roma tomatoes did well enough to freeze, and for the Early Girl variety, we had fresh sliced tomatoes to eat; I never cared for tomatoes until we grew our own.
I will make pesto from the basil, which I freeze in ice cube trays, to add to sauces and soups.
Green peppers were poor yielders this year, but we were proud of our red onions, although small. I am waiting to see what the leeks are going to do.
There were plenty of failures, but we learned from them, as in art and writing or anything else we do. We would like to increase our raised bed space, as there was unused space, which surprised us. We need to improve the ground with more compost and good soil because we have lots of sand. Next year, we are planning our space better and add more companion planting.
We have an 80% chance of frost by the end of the week, so it is probable that our garden will be put to bed for winter very soon. Except for a few things undercover, we can extend our season a little longer.
Wherever you may garden, I would love to hear about your highs and lows. What did you learn from your gardening journey? Please leave your comments below.
