lessons learned from the field

as i watched the final (sunny) sunset of this week while listening to the chatter of the kingfisher, i contemplated this past season's garden and the lessons i have learned...

1. smaller is better for me...at least when it comes to gardening...i dont have time (apparently) to deal with my city garden and a fairly large (for me) vegetable patch in a community garden: square foot gardens are the answer.
2. containers also appear to be my forte´ when it comes to edibles and i got a fair amount of food out of my pots...some died in the drought, though.


3. self watering containers are good.
4. self watering containers are good, but other contraptions didnt work that well for me. my fancy upside down tomato planters were weak...

i dumped my spring potato bag after there was nothing in it at the end ( i have since replanted for a possible fall crop)
...my weed blockers didn't work.

5. figure out the edibles you really need and grow them prolifically. work edibles into every possible nook and cranny, because fresh foods rock.

6. get vertical.

7. compost rules...bottom line: it rules!

today's haul

i quietly abandonded my garden in the field a few months ago...the drought killed most everything, and what didnt die was neatly trimmed of all fruits by the deer or infested with one kind of insect or another. i hate giving up on anything, but the fact that i am the only gardener up there not using multiple pesticides and chemicals combined with only once-a-week maintanence of the plot makes for no food: thank god for farmer o'bier's or we would have starved! luckily, my little square foot garden rocked the earth and has provided me with a little something every day. today, i got the last of the ripe pear tomatoes, some of the gazillion green beans planted, a few more mini banana peppers and an eggplant to roast. smaller is indeed better, in this case!

weekend chores: done

this weekend was super hot, but i still managed to log about 8 hours either gardening and/or doing random yardwork. i have big time weeds, so i spent a couple hours filling two trash cans and a small recycling container with weed tree cuttings, bermuda grass clumps and out of control morning glory and porcelain berry vines. i also took the pansies off of the front porch and put them into the composter...i refilled the self-watering planters with chartreuse and black sweet potato vines, and anticipate adding fuschia mini petunias in the very near future. all the potted plants were mulched with the shredded remains of the old red oak. the front door mattes were cleaned as was the porch, with a broom, dustpan and finally a hose. i split the grasses between two pots on the front porch and two on the shed steps...they also were mulched, as were the blueberry plants up there. 

four eggplants and 4 basil were planted in the newly turned west side bed,and all of the volunteer mini yellow pear tomatoes were tied up.

garden center

 went  to home depot this morning to get vermiculite and peat, and one soaker hose for the square foot garden...ended up spending $300+...got two flats of sweet potato vines for the porch planter boxes as well as black elephant ears for the front garden ...surprisingly, everything is in the ground.

container gardening

this year i tried something different in the garden: i planted every seed i owned! yeah: i am a hoarder of seeds because i buy a pack of 1000 seeds and plant six..then i have leftovers...lots of leftover seeds. so this year i decided to plant everything: every last seed. i now have (50) feet each of 12 types of pumpkins sprouting...9 varieties of winter squash ready to plant... italian parsley, sweet basil, swiss chard, arugula, radishes, chives, leeks, mixed greens, sweet, snap and snow peas , zucchini, fennel and dill in the square foot garden: all erect...eggplants (what?), multiple sweet, hot and decorative peppers growing rampantly...seven varieties of heirloom tomatoes including yellow pear minis...and sweet potatoes. speaking of potatoes: in the potato bags i have russet and fingerlings ready to bear babies, plus random blues and yukon golds ready to go. the strawberry and blueberry pots are doing their thing...and, oh: the onions...i have lots of spring onions. it truly is better to have a successful small garden than an unsuccessful large garden. no need for salad  greens for months...if not years, if i get it together. i just hope i can maintain this fantastic supply chain!!! note to self: buy deep freezer asap.

fall harvest from my 'square foot' garden

whereas my large vegetable garden which i worked so hard on was a complete failure (again), my august-planted square foot garden seems to be something of a success! i have been harvesting arugula for small salads and sandwiches for a couple of weeks, but today i plucked out radishes, a little sunburst squash and some pear tomatoes (volunteers: the ones i planted are red and covered in worm holes). also, the swiss chard looks great, and i have onion sprouts! this is very encouraging: i think i will be thinking small again next year.

square foot gardening

inspired by my post below and discouraged by the state of my large vegetable garden, i started a square foot garden last friday with twenty spaces: arugula, beets, some peppers and swiss chard have already popped up! maybe this will work!

what vegetables should i plant in july?

my vegetable garden is in shambles...again. it has been the second driest july since records have been kept. i missed two weekends of maintanance: the bugs ate the potatoes to skeletal form; i guess the actual potatoes dried up due to lack of water; the deer ate the 'bright lights' swiss chard; the onions and leeks look ok, but they are ensconced in weeds; i had mulched the tomatoes, so no weeds, but the deer trimmed all their new growth; i cant find my sweet potatoes. one surprise, though: i have two very large 'moon and stars' heirloom watermelons! the mister wants to abandon the whole project. i have done this too long, however, and am unwilling to give up! so...i am going to try and salvage this growing season by planting some fall crops right now: i have a whole box of unused seeds. i need some help and inspiration, though. found some on youtube (of course!) via gardengirltv. she has some great ideas and makes it sound do-able. back to the field!