Let's talk gardening. For just a bit.
I know I've been uncharacteristically quiet about my poor little garden. The fact that I just used the word "poor" should clue you in on why I've been so quiet.
We've had a strange year here in Mandyland. While the temperatures have been refreshingly cool, they've wrecked havoc with a budding gardener who is accustomed to battling triple digits from the end of June on. As a result, watering took on a whole new level of complication. See...when you're used to your plants roasting without twice daily waterings, it takes a bit of getting used to when they only need watered four times a week. It took me almost a month to keep from causing blossom end rot on my tomatoes and killing off my squash. On top of that, we've had fog. Fog!! Cue confusion.
Then the ants decided to move their herds of aphids to my carrots and paddy pans, resulting in a battle between the farmer and the rancher the likes of which has not been seen since the great range wars of 1876. I appear to be winning, but as I write this, the ants are staging a military coup against my pest control and are trying to wrest control of the wine barrel.
So other than that...and the slugs, snails and earwigs...things are going just swimmingly.
In other words...only somewhat dismally failing. Here are the stats:
Tomatoes: I lost two plants. Of the remaining 21, only six are actually producing fruit, but only enough for daily use. Nine haven't produced a single thing. Five just started to flower.
Cucumbers: I planted six, lost six, then planted two more. At the moment, they're not doing anything. I don't have much hope.
Beans: Let's not even talk about the bean situation. It's far too depressing. Between bugs and watering issues, out of the nearly 100 plants I put in this year, only 16 are producing. And they're only giving me a bean a day. If that.
Peas: I had to tear out my winter peas and re-plant. For some reason they didn't grow - even though the temperatures were right.
Onions: Small. Very, very small.
Garlic: Small. Very, very small.
Strawberries: Dead. Very, very dead.
Blueberries: We'll see next year.
Raspberry: Produced one raspberry.
Blackberry: Produced a handful.
Grapes: Growing like crazy but not a single grape in sight. But it looks pretty.
Orange Tree: Dead.
Lemon Tree: Can't find it.
Eggplant: FINALLY starting to produce.
Squash: Ah. Here were are. I'm producing enough paddy pans and zucchini for every day use and some left over to share. It makes me very happy to go outside and pick one or three a day.
Basil: All four of my basil plants are doing wonderfully. I'm so happy that they're thriving and surviving.
Bell Peppers: Out of twelve plants, I've got peppers on seven. They're almost to the point that I can pick them which, again, makes me very happy.
I'm still far from being able to feed my family from the garden. I think I'm going to need to re-work my plans next year to take the sunlight into more consideration. The problem is, when I set up my garden, the sun is in one place. Then, during summer...somewhere else entirely.
My kingdom for an acre of open land!
I also may need to stick with hybrids that can withstand my gardening attempts and leave the heirlooms to those with a greener thumb.
And is it bad that I'm already drawing up plans for next year's garden? And that they include turning a chunk of our lawn into raised beds?
Yeah..I didn't think so.
5 comments:
I hear the dismal garden. Thankfully I was able to keep Russ from ripping up the entire front yard to put in raised beds, and only the side of the front yard. Even with that, I've lost all my pea plants and two tomatoes (sadly one was the only one giving real fruit right now) to powdery mildew. My cilantro shot out and went to seed - so I think I just need to stop trying each year on that particular plant. My strawberry gave us about 8 berries, my rogue blackberry vines/bushes are getting bigger each day, but no fruit yet. Who knows if they'll ever give any since I didn't plant them, they just showed up one day. And the rest of the tomatoes are STILL green since it has been even cooler in SLO than it has been up the Grade at your place.
We had a year like that last year - thank goodness for the zuchinni plants which seem to grow despite everything! And you are certainly not the only one already drawing up plans for next year's garden...and contemplating removing a chunk of lawn to make room for it! Wouldn't an acre of land be lovely? :)
We have had a bizarro gardening year, too. All sorts of slugs and cabbage worms, and other issues we've never had before.
And, I have to say ... it's not bad that you're already planning next year's garden. It's probably the smartest time to do it.
okay ladies... i think it is the "bizarre" summer weather.
I didn't plant a garden (gone for three weeks)... now, we have this incredibly hot weather! this would have been the undoing of any garden still standing....
our roses are covered in powdery mildew! urrghhh!
I tell Chad that I'm not greedy - an acre isn't THAT much to ask. Shoot! I'd be willing to take a half an acre!
On the plus side, I know where there are gardens to be raided. Wait. Did I just admit to that? Don't mind the lady in the crazy hat and the big basket wandering through your yard...
Post a Comment