Way Overdue Update #4

Garden Update that is...

In pondering whether to post this one or not, I decided to say screw it and do it. More for my own reasons then because I know you are at the edge of your seat to find out how my little container garden turned out.

I failed to take a final "ta-da" picture, but here are my thoughts on Year One of Being A Farmer.

So what did I learn in my “I Wanna Make and Grow a Garden” mission last summer?

1. My thumb is greener than I gave it credit for

2. Beets + hail = catastrophe! They survived the first ass-kicking hail storm, the greens were a bit shredded but I thought that they would still have a chance. The second ass-kicking though? No such luck. When I went out to check on my wee beet-lies, if I hadn’t planted them myself, I never would have believed that there was anything there to begin with. They were massacred! It was too early in the season too, so there weren’t even any roots worth digging up… and they were what I was most looking forward to!

3.  Zucchinis can mold…or something… Not too sure what happened with them. They were not happy little plants. I planted 4 “zucchini seeds”…my plants produced one zucchini. It was a great zucchini…very fine…two-toned even! (All those people in my garden buzz told me I was nuts to plant four plants…good thing I did or I woulda been totally skunked!)

4. Thin thin thin!! I researched it. The Internet told me how important it was. But once I saw all my little green specks coming up, the last thing I wanted to do was to start pulling them out! Carrots and onions…ya… lesson learned. They were tiny. Wee wee lil veggies. I definitely didn’t thin them enough to give them enough room to grow.

5. I can grow mushrooms…though not on purpose. I think that it was just a bit too wet this summer…mushrooms, they be sprouting in my garden beds. Just a few, and really small. Mostly the middle bed too.

6. Raspberries…utter fail! But the weeds that took over the planter sure were lush and happy.

7. Tomatoes? I rocked those! I think the key to my success was the size that they were when I first planted them. I went for the “medium” sized plants, already going.

8. Basil outside? I give up. Officially give up. I haven’t managed to keep it going in four years. And it’s my favorite herb! I’ll give it one last attempt indoors, but otherwise I think that I will just stick to my hydroponics to grow the basil.

All in all? My crop yielded potatoes, carrots, and weeeeweee onions, all enough for two meals. LOL.

Only one zucchini, though it was a FINE zucchini.

Strawberries that were muchly enjoyed by hubby (and incidentally, the puppy).

Tonnes of tomatoes to cook with for a while.

My herbs (minus the basil) were pulled out and dried, though there was not much rosemary left, as I hacked it for a pot roast dinner.

Overall? I give myself a 6/10 for Year One of farming.

And I think ( I KNOW! ) that I will only get better each summer!

Cheers!