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It was kind of interesting to do the planting this year, since I was over 7 months pregnant at the time, and bending and reaching wasn't what I really wanted to do. But, I did it. In early June, I planted tomatoes, squash, green peppers, broccoli, watermelon, and a few other things.... Not all of it grew, so I'm honestly not sure what else was originally there!
Something you should know is that we've been composting for a couple years, too. For awhile we threw everything in a big plastic bin outside, but last winter we got lazy and started throwing everything directly into the garden, which we turned into the soil in the spring. It worked fine, but one thing that got turned into the soil a lot was partially rotten tomatoes. The garden was also pretty well covered by this compost material through the winter, and tomato plants are actually perennials...so this led to a bit of an interesting gardening situation!
First -- I shouldn't have planted broccoli in June. It's the wrong season for it. The plant grew, but didn't produce. It's still out there and I'm sort of hoping it'll produce this fall, since it also works now. It just needs cooler weather.
The rest of it -- well! So many of our "weeds" out there were really extra tomato plants! All those extra seeds in the soil grew on their own and we had DOZENS of tomato plants all tangled together. We had many, many different varieties, including a few heirloom plants. We actually have two different plots, and I didn't even plant any tomatoes in one of them -- but they grew there, too. The plants grew and were too heavy, and we didn't have enough cages for all of them (and they actually knocked a couple of the cages over), so a harvesting from the garden was difficult. We had to climb through it and lift up plants to get at the tomatoes.
Next year I think we'll try to keep the garden a bit more organized, although I did enjoy having all those "wild" tomatoes. I also didn't spend a whole lot of time out there weeding. But with a baby born in mid-July, I wasn't up for much most of the summer. Next year should be easier since I won't have any newborns (I hope!!). It was really nice to take my daughter out, though, and have her help me pick tomatoes. We worked on colors ("Pick only the red ones!") and I enjoy that she knows where food really comes from.
The rest of my plants didn't do so well. We ended up with one, tiny green pepper and two squashes. The squashes really puzzled me. The plants grew very large and flowered beautifully, but almost none of the flowers turned into squashes! I've always been told how the plants usually overproduce, and that was not my experience! Does anyone have any ideas on that one? Next summer I'd love to grow zucchini, as I enjoy adding it to pasta (brown rice pasta these days), frying it (in coconut oil), etc. Next summer I'll also be feeding Daniel his early solids, and I'd love him to have only fresh, local, organic food whenever possible.
As a side note, I plan to breastfeed Daniel exclusively for 8 - 12 months. So he really won't be eating anything until the early produce is coming out next spring, at the earliest.
Gardens honestly require more attention and planning than I gave mine. My husband thinks the best solution is hydroponics and grow lights indoors. I'm not opposed to this idea, as I'd love it if my garden produced year around! I've tried to grow herbs indoors -- most failed miserably. I had a nice basil plant for several months. It's still there but not growing as well now. I hope to grow more herbs soon, when I figure out why my others died.
All in all, it was an interesting year gardening! But I enjoyed it, and with my small "helpers" growing bigger and more helpful every year, I'm sure it will be even better!
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Have you considered buying worms? My parents use a rubbermaid container for compost, but they buy worms yearly and put them in it. It requires little to no extra effort (they were buying the worms from a gardening catalog, but the order never came one year so they've since just bought 'bait' worms from grocery stores/pharmacies that carry them in the summer) as long as you have it set up by the time you get them. They reproduce like crazy in a compost bin too...my parents would constantly be finding baby worms when turning over the compost in the bin (surprisingly, they love coffee grounds, corn meal, and eggshells, but you can't put onions/garlic or citrus in there - burns their skin). Just a thought - it helps prevent the seeds from growing when you put it in the garden at the end of the season, plus then you have billions of worms to help with your drainage.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you did great, starting your garden pregnant and all. I did the same thing, and I was glad that I did it anyways!
ReplyDeleteYour wild tomato patch sounds crazy but fun. I had a few extra tomato plants pop up too from cherry tomatoes that burst, I think. Reminds me that I need to go clear all the dead tomatoes off of my garden before winter, or I'll have wild tomatoes, too!
Your squash issue sounds like a pollination problem. I had the same thing happen. Not every flower should become a squash, because some are male and some are female (only females become a vegatables). But next year you could try hand pollinating (I linked to a good tutorial in my own gardening post). That should make a big difference for you. We love squash, too!
Thanks so much for sharing your experience and joining in the carnival! :)
Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home