And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. ~ Kahlil Gibran



Sunday, September 18, 2011

State of the Garden Address

This year, for the second year in a row, was a disaster in the garden.

There. I said it.

There were the seed tapes (carefully pre-sprouted) that got pulled up by birds. The cold, wet spring meant late planting. My trellises weren't big enough for what I needed. Heavy rains repeatedly washed out my onions. The corn... well, it grew. I guess. The weather was too cool most of the year for my peppers, and the tomatoes just started getting red in the last few weeks. Right in time for the first frost. Weeds have been having their merry way with things. Ugh.

Double ugh.

On the other hand, I did manage to can up 10 jars of salsa. The cukes loved the trellises, and Little Sprout has been eating cukes with joyful abandon. We have one gigantic pumpkin that is already beginning to turn orange. That means at least one Jack O Lantern in time for Halloween this year! The potato towers did well, though I learned I need to pack my soil/compost mix down a bit more. It settled quite a bit after every time I "hilled" the taters. I love having the extra 4 beds we built this spring, and am looking forward to trying winter sowing later this fall.

So there ya go, folks. No pictures, as I am too embarrassed to show them, but now ya know what the garden has been like this year.

5 comments:

webb said...

You know, the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

I think the definition of "gardener" is .... trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

The difference is that the gardener DOES get a different result - some years good and some years not so much. It's that joy in the 10 jars of salsa that keeps us coming back. Next year Little Sprout will have cukes and something else.

We all hope for better weather next year, but if we don't get it... we will learn to adapt. Meanwhile, enjoy the pumpkin!

Gorges Smythe said...

I only planted a little Indian corn this year for meal (It didn't make.), and tomatoes. Our weather was horrible and the few tomatoes that set were eaten by the deer except for one delicious one that I beat them to. It was my entire harvest for the year!

Finding Pam said...

It is so nice to finally see a post from you. Our garden was a waste and burned up. We may not have one next year.

We are in a drought season like no one has ever witnessed and on top of that we have had wild fires that have decimated the state of Texas.

Please keep writing and posting.

Heather Jefferies said...

ha! the hurricane and significant overwhelm ate mine! I haven't personally harvested a thing but I have given some away and the chickens are truely enjoying what was one of the best tomato crops I've ever had. I think there are some melons thriving in what has become scary underbrush and maybe I'll drag myself out there and poke about today after I clean up the aftermath of (oh, you really don't want to know but I have worked my way up to a chuckle). My point being, as above, 'stuff' happens and unless your priorities are such that you require that food on your table your focus will shift where it will. This has been the first year I've been able to let the garden go to hell in a hand basket because indeed, so much stuff (a good part of it nature) did indeed occur.

It made you happy, as I recall putting those things in in the spring and I smile thinking about how I felt putting my things in in the spring and nurturing them when I could. Right up until there were other things...

And sweetheart, where you are and have been, is just, if not more as valid.

Love, love,love.

Deb said...

Mine too. Which is why I have decided to undertake the Herculean effort of moving my garden spot for next year.