Dude, my poor garden.
Okay, granted, it's hotter than a furnace outside, and I really wasn't anticipating things lasting that long in the muggy heat, but oh. It's still so sad to see plants I babied from seeds finally succumbing to bugs and heat.
Now, my tomatoes...I'm proud of them. Since the stupid HOME DEPOT BONNIE BELL CRAP TOMATOES (CAN YOU TELL THIS MAKES ME MAD?) gave all my lovely little organic heirloom tomatoes BLIGHT, I'm really surprised at how much they ended up producing. The little sweet 100 tomatoes were delish, and that plant is still making a bunch. But they don't last long because I don't have a good watering system and the first time we get a big rain they all split.
My green beans were champions, I ate my own weight in green beans the last few months and it was really rewarding to get to go out and reap some stuff every day. They were doing awesome until last week, when they all collectively dropped dead.
The carrots were disgusting. They tasted like soap. ??? That was weird.
The pumpkins all ended up being those pointless little decorative white ones. If only this were October, I'd be more into taking care of them. But it's not so I've sort of let the vines do their own thing.
My sweet potatoes are the biggest bummer to me. They took over the whole bed just like I planned. I fertilized them with bone meal to encourage root growth (i.e., so they would make potatoes instead of just vines) and when I fished around in the soil yesterday to get an idea of what was going on down there you know what I found?
NOTHING.
*sigh*
I know this was my first experimental attempt at gardening, and I did anticipate some disasters and failures, but those potatoes really chap my hide. Everything I've read suggests that sweet potatoes thrive here, and yet all I've got are a bunch of lousy vines--bug eaten vines that look like someone shot them with a shotgun.
Oh well. In the next few weeks I'm going to start solarizing my soil, building new beds, and starting some seeds for the fall. The only way you can go is forward, right? Right.
At least my basil and marigolds seem to enjoy the heat.
6 comments:
those marigolds are so pretty!
your garden will be in full bloom next time around...first time is probably always the hardest :)
I hope next time is better. I mean, it was good, but it had the potential to be GREAT...if only i'd known what I was doing. :)
funny how I don't even like marigolds and yet there they are, thriving.
Just found your blog and had to laugh at your gardening. I'm not far from you -- Spring Hill --- and my gardening attempts were similar to yours. LOTS of green beans, yard long beans, some peppers, some eggplant, but NO squash or zuchinni. Tomatoes grew lush and beautiful, then turned a strange color, stayed small and hard. I, too, will try again in the fall!
Hello,
When it comes to sweet potatoes, don't worry with the bonemeal. Often bonemeal will lead to most plants growing nothing other than foilage so the plants/veggies don't put its energy into growing the produce it's meant to.
I don't have a google account so will post this anonymously.
Hope that helps :o)
An English elf x
Thanks for the tip English Elf. The thing that's so aggravating is that I read bone meal was specifically for encouraging tuber growth--ugh!! And Cora, let me know how you fare in the fall, I'm always interested to learn how people are doing it in this garden-forsaken state. :)
I just found you on Flickr today. Love that sunrise quilt! This year was my first garden. I don't know if I'll do it again next year. Thanks for sharing your struggles. Your marigols are great! I'm in the south too. The bugs are eating my tomatoes. My corn fell diseased by some funky fungus. Fortunately, I have got a lot of tomatoes, carrots and onions, but it's just SOOOOO much work, you know? Gosh, I appreciate farmers!
Post a Comment