OK - so for two years I had great hopes and expectations for my garden that turned to discouragement and despair....
2008 - The year of the GROUNDHOG - I had the best success ever in 2008 with seed starting...got my plants out, got the direct seeding done and was eating the best salads ever from my garden...the weather was good and the plants were growing strong...and then CHUCKY made an entrance and kept on breaking in all season. The plants were either eaten or stunted from his tunnels and I got next to no harvest of anything once the varmit got started around the begining of July.
2009 - The year of RAIN - I started out container gardening and eventually planted the garden mid-July after securing a 1/4 inch mesh fence at a right angle outward from the garden fence. I did harvest some beans and a squash or two, but because of the wet and lack of real heat most plants suffered. We had NO tomato harvest at home or at our CSA.
2010 was the year of perseverance and superstision. I was supersticious of posting ANYTHING about my garden here this year....but I persevered and did plant.
I started seeds...they did ok...not great...but ok. I planted in some containers.....and got seeds/plants in the garden by June.
I put out the surviving tomato, pepper and tomatillo plants, onion starts, planted beans (yellow, purple and chinese noodle, kholrabi, leaf cabbage, basil, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, broccoli raab and swiss chard. Then I crossed my fingers...
The swiss chard and broccoli raab never came up...
The kholrabi did...and I got some kale out of that row as well ( I guess that seed company doesn't have very good quality control)
I weeded and watered; and weeded and watered; and weeded...which really wasn't great for the onions, but they did OK...not great, but OK.
I replanted radishes when I harvested the onions.
The cucumbers and squash grew...the tomatoes and peppers and tomatillos grew...the cabbage and beans grew...the basil grew (with extremely frequent shavings!!!).
The cucumber plants looked healthy one day and were dead within a week...around mid-late July...I had harvested about 8-10 fruits.
I continuously harvested/thinned kholrabi and kale throughout the summer and fall. The largest were probably a couple of inches in diameter and made tasty sweet pickles.
I got a decent amount of squash both green and yellow, not what I would call an overabundance, but enough.
The tomato plants were ok. I got some from each plant, not a lot, but some. The exception was the Amish Salad tomatoes - largish cherrys - that were abundant and delicious.
The only surviving pepper plants were anchos and they were also fairly abundant. I got a decent harvest of tomatillos, enough for 1 nice sized green sauce.
My regular beans were one of the big successes this year. I planted late enough that they had not yet put out flowers when we got our first hellish heatwave, and they gave me abundant harvests for 6 weeks...until the stink bugs damaged the plants too much for further harvest.
The chinese noodle beans came up - I think I picked 3 beans and then the plants disappeared.
The cabbage leaf....did well, but was unharvestable due to bug dammage.
The radishes did better than I've seen before....I actually got some to grow roots as well as leaves this year...and had a small harvest.
At this point I've got some lessons learned, and some pesto, squash, kale and onions in the freezer (although the bean harvest was great, we managed to eat all of them!!!), and had some delightful fresh dishes from the garden all summer!
This weekend I pulled what remained out of the garden and left the gates open so that my husband can fill it up with the autumn leaves. Next spring I want to re-work the configuration of my very small space. (10X10) so that there is less garden path and more planting space.
The leaves should help renew the ground.
Hope you have had a reasonably good gardening year too!
Showing posts with label onions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label onions. Show all posts
August in the Garden: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
I can't believe that it's been so long since my last post.
The summer living is not slow and easy here in northern New Jersey, it is HOT and WET and it's been moving at a breakneck speed this year. With all of life, and the garden has been sort of neglected.
So I give you this past weekend's asessment:
The Good
The fenced garden with groundhog proofing has successfully keept out the groundhog for 6+ weeks now. YAY! So, hopefully next spring I'll be able to get an earlier start there and keep it going all summer.
The windowbox lettuce has been wonderful as have the windowbox bush beans...the beans that did well were a specific variety for container gardening.
And, The herbs always do well in containers.
The squash, cukes, and beans I planted in the fenced area are doing well and should produce a decent fall crop. (fingers crossed)
Onion sets I shared with my garden buddy, Kim, also did well in the fenced garden(not as good as hers, but she's a more attentive gardner) and the leeks were AWESOME.
The Bad
The topsy turvy hanging tomato things didn't do so well...I'm not completely ready to give up. It was a weird weather kind of year...so, maybe next year they'll do better.
I kept planting what I thought was cilantro in containers, and it turned out that most of it was parsely. Oh well...
I still need to plant some autumn greens. Hope I get the chance before it's too late.
AND, the weeds OMG!!! With all of the rain we got this year, the weeds in the garden beds have been horriffic. It has been impossible to keep up with them.
The Ugly
Tomato blight...there, I've said it...
The same disease that created the Irish Potato Famine is taking out tomato crops in the NE USA. Organic and Biodynamic farms are hit hard.
I couldn't grow tomatoes this year for love or money. My seedlings didn't do well...I begged some from my friend Kim, but the weather stunted them.
Then I purchased some plants from the local Lowes...which died within a week...a dry week.
So I took them back and re-purchased...and those plants have barely hung on. (still trying to figure out if I took blight home.)
But in the back of my head I knew my CSG (Community Supported Garden) would take care of me. That we'd get distributions of tomatoes and there would be some "pick your own" patches.
Alas, that is not to be. We received word this week that the blight hit them hard and they had to destroy the tomato fields. It is an especially hard hit as they usually save seed and will not be able to do that either.
So here it is...the last week in August and NO TOMATOES! I'll probably be able to hunt some down at a farm stand somewhere....eventually....but it is not the same as eating as you pick from your own garden or watching your kids pick and eat...or bringing them home from the farm we've supported for 10 years.
The summer living is not slow and easy here in northern New Jersey, it is HOT and WET and it's been moving at a breakneck speed this year. With all of life, and the garden has been sort of neglected.
So I give you this past weekend's asessment:
The Good
The fenced garden with groundhog proofing has successfully keept out the groundhog for 6+ weeks now. YAY! So, hopefully next spring I'll be able to get an earlier start there and keep it going all summer.
The windowbox lettuce has been wonderful as have the windowbox bush beans...the beans that did well were a specific variety for container gardening.
And, The herbs always do well in containers.
The squash, cukes, and beans I planted in the fenced area are doing well and should produce a decent fall crop. (fingers crossed)
Onion sets I shared with my garden buddy, Kim, also did well in the fenced garden(not as good as hers, but she's a more attentive gardner) and the leeks were AWESOME.
The Bad
The topsy turvy hanging tomato things didn't do so well...I'm not completely ready to give up. It was a weird weather kind of year...so, maybe next year they'll do better.
I kept planting what I thought was cilantro in containers, and it turned out that most of it was parsely. Oh well...
I still need to plant some autumn greens. Hope I get the chance before it's too late.
AND, the weeds OMG!!! With all of the rain we got this year, the weeds in the garden beds have been horriffic. It has been impossible to keep up with them.
The Ugly
Tomato blight...there, I've said it...
The same disease that created the Irish Potato Famine is taking out tomato crops in the NE USA. Organic and Biodynamic farms are hit hard.
I couldn't grow tomatoes this year for love or money. My seedlings didn't do well...I begged some from my friend Kim, but the weather stunted them.
Then I purchased some plants from the local Lowes...which died within a week...a dry week.
So I took them back and re-purchased...and those plants have barely hung on. (still trying to figure out if I took blight home.)
But in the back of my head I knew my CSG (Community Supported Garden) would take care of me. That we'd get distributions of tomatoes and there would be some "pick your own" patches.
Alas, that is not to be. We received word this week that the blight hit them hard and they had to destroy the tomato fields. It is an especially hard hit as they usually save seed and will not be able to do that either.
So here it is...the last week in August and NO TOMATOES! I'll probably be able to hunt some down at a farm stand somewhere....eventually....but it is not the same as eating as you pick from your own garden or watching your kids pick and eat...or bringing them home from the farm we've supported for 10 years.
Growing Challenge & It Doesn't end with the Peas!
So, the peas got et by a critter......
That's not really ok...I am a bit bitter about it, but figured hey...I didn't put down any of my mole be gone (which has seemed to help with groundhogs/woodchucks in the past). And it's a little too early for marigolds...
This weekend I scattered the castor oil infused corn husks (aka Mole-B-Gone) around the garden, planted some marigold seedlings and stared setting out my cruciferous plants which are another first for me. Broccoli and cauliflower I had started from seed and some left-over purple cabbage starts from my friend K.
I also started some chard, arugula and lettuce seeds.
I did this SUNDAY afternoon.
Yesterday I went to water them and EVERYTHING BUT THE PURPLE CABBAGE WAS GONE!
I am SO FRUSTRATED! How could the varmits have found these things so fast?!?!? Now I'm not sure whether it's a groundhog or a bunny that is managing to get past my defenses, and I 'm really afraid of setting out anything else.
I have more green cabbage and kholrabi starts that didn't make it into the garden on Sunday still in the greenhouse....not to mention all of my herb starts, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants ....
On a side note the garlic onions and shallots are doing just fine with no fence or protection whatsoever.
That's not really ok...I am a bit bitter about it, but figured hey...I didn't put down any of my mole be gone (which has seemed to help with groundhogs/woodchucks in the past). And it's a little too early for marigolds...
This weekend I scattered the castor oil infused corn husks (aka Mole-B-Gone) around the garden, planted some marigold seedlings and stared setting out my cruciferous plants which are another first for me. Broccoli and cauliflower I had started from seed and some left-over purple cabbage starts from my friend K.
I also started some chard, arugula and lettuce seeds.
I did this SUNDAY afternoon.
Yesterday I went to water them and EVERYTHING BUT THE PURPLE CABBAGE WAS GONE!
I am SO FRUSTRATED! How could the varmits have found these things so fast?!?!? Now I'm not sure whether it's a groundhog or a bunny that is managing to get past my defenses, and I 'm really afraid of setting out anything else.
I have more green cabbage and kholrabi starts that didn't make it into the garden on Sunday still in the greenhouse....not to mention all of my herb starts, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants ....
On a side note the garlic onions and shallots are doing just fine with no fence or protection whatsoever.
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