Modern Daisy Hippee

We don’t really have fall in the desert.  This is one of the times the garden is at it’s best because it’s finally cooled off a little…  even though my garden might not show it.  Some of the pepper plants were huge last year & this year were small…  although I got better results on the bell, poblano, jalapeno & habanero this year.

The zucchini, straightneck & patty pan squash didn’t do well.  Actually, the straightneck did really well & produced alot at the beginning of the summer, then looked diseased & wouldn’t produce anything so I pulled it.  I had a huge ant & aphid issue this year and got it a bit under control for a while.  Oh yeah, I only got one okra…  I mean one PIECE of okra.  I harvested it for seed…  which may not be a good idea since it came from a plant that didn’t really produce.  I think it was because of the aphids (or some environmental issue) though, so hopefully it won’t matter.

I got a decent yield of spaghetti squash very early, then the plant completely died.  The butternut squash went completely wild (as you can see in the video).  The very first squash was ready pretty early, but it’s totally small compared to what came after.  It’s still producing!  Totally cool.

I decided to give corn a shot, although I planted it quite late.  It shot up pretty quick though so I think I’ll get something.  The pumpkins were supposed to be ready for Halloween & I planted it in more than enough time…  It just decided to take longer I guess.  I think we’ll be buying carving pumpkins & maybe have fresh pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.  I’m still hoping at least one will grow supercharged & be ready in two weeks!

One conclusion I came to is that some sort of shade is probably a good idea.  Last year I had a canopy for part of the summer & I didn’t do that this year.  It probably would have helped, so I’m going to come up with something to give at least partial shade in the heat of the desert summers.  I’m sure it would be a good idea not to reinvent the wheel & get a book on desert gardening, lol.

OK, my entire purpose for blogging about organic gardening & living more naturally is to let you know it’s not that difficult, so you might be willing to give it a shot.  I’m also honest (to a fault, according to some) so I am compelled to share the challenges as well as the victories.

I’ve had issues with gnats in houseplants in the past and the only way I was able to get rid of them was to get rid of the affected plants.  Nothing else seemed to work.  I was able to save my larger plants by adding a layer of sand to the top.  Frankly, I don’t think those plants were affected yet and the sand kept the gnats out.  The sand did not work for the plants that already had gnats, hence those plants are now gone.

I had used every trick I read about.  The main thing I read that everyone seemed to agree on was apple cider vinegar in a shallow dish.  It is supposed to attract the gnats, then they drown in the liquid.  Well, it did attract them, however I must have had super smart gnats because they just hung out around the edge, for the most part.  So, I decided to put the vinegar in a small mason jar, hoping they would at least go inside the jar and every once in a while I could put the lid on to catch the ones inside.  That worked a bit better.  Still, some just hang out on the rim or even the outside of the jar.  I finally gave up on saving those plants & took them outside to get the gnats out.  Once I did that, they finally disappeared.

Now, I have these little brown gnats.  I’m pretty sure those originated in the indoor compost bucket.  I don’t actually let it compost inside.  It’s just where I collect scraps to take outside later.  When I first started doing that, I was surprised that I had no issues with odors or any type of bugs and I wasn’t even covering the bucket.  I’ve deduced that the gnat problem originated with banana peels.  I strongly recommend you just take those straight to the outdoor compost bin.  You might want to do that with any fruit scraps.  I also realized that covering the bucket is a very bad idea.  It seals in the moisture too much and causes the problems I didn’t have before, especially odor.  If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.  I believe that may have perpetuated the gnat issue as well.

So, now I cleaned the bucket out and left it outside to eliminate that attracting them.  I also put a jar of vinegar out on the counter in an attempt to trap the remaining gnats.  That’s not working any better than it did in the past and requires manually trapping them inside.  In fact, I think these brown gnats are even more intelligent, staying closer to the outside of the jar and very fast.  I keep thinking I’ve gotten them all, then three or four more come from out of nowhere.  Actually, I think I’ve only seen one today… crossing my fingers.

OK, I’ve never been considered a “tree-hugger”. Still, this is the only planet we have so it really is important to take care of it. We have been pillaging the Earth far too long. It’s time to give something back!

I mean that literally. Instead of dumping food scraps into a landfill, compost those scraps and turn them into fertile soil that supports the growth of natural plants. Many people incorrectly assume that these food scraps will readily biodegrade and turn back into soil, even in a landfill. Sure, that may happen eventually. However, the conditions are not optimal and it happens too slowly. Common sense would clue you in that it isn’t going to be very effective when all these items are trapped inside plastic garbage bags.

You might think composting sounds like too much trouble. Well, first of all, it won’t seem like so much trouble when our world is so full of trash we don’t have room to live anymore. That might seem like an exaggeration, yet the reality is that there is a limit to the amount of space we have. We generate a tremendous amount of trash as it is. If there is one simple thing you can do to cut down on it, while also regenerating fertile earth, why not do it?

Once I started composting my kitchen scraps, I realized how much it cut down on my trash. I was amazed and sad that I hadn’t realized it earlier. So much food had literally gone to waste. Some of it was inedible parts, although a good portion was food that had gone bad because it wasn’t eaten quickly enough.

I also found out that you can include all kinds of non-food items in your compost and they actually help the process. That eliminates other waste that isn’t going to the landfill. The best example is paper. Instead of tossing your shredded paper and egg cartons, you can add it to your compost bin. Just avoid the shiny colored paper.

I happen to live in a dry desert, with clay earth and I like to garden. Composting is essential for gardening here so I don’t have to buy fertile soil. I was determined to figure out how to do it. However, many things I read stated that you can’t compost in the desert because it’s too dry here. After some trial and error, I’ve found that’s simply not true. The trick is to keep the composting materials enclosed enough to maintain moisture. A composting bin with too much ventilation will not work as well here.

I believe my method will work anywhere. It’s simple and it’s super cheap.

First, I’ll give you the “rules” of composting. Some people complicate these way too much. My version is simple and it’s really all you need to know.

1. No meat or fat in your compost. This will make it smell bad and I don’t think it degrades as much.
2. No shiny, colored paper. This has stuff in it you don’t want in your soil. (Don’t burn this stuff either.)
3. Maintain moisture in your outdoor composting container. Keep it “spongy”, not soaked and not dried out.

That’s it for the absolutes. Everything else is pretty flexible.

I have an indoor compost materials collection bucket in the kitchen. I simply use a clean 5 gallon bucket, lined with newspaper to absorb any moisture. If I have shredded paper, I’ll add that in the bottom as well. I just toss my kitchen scraps in. I don’t use a lid, although you could if you want to. I haven’t had any issues with odor. Although I have had issues with gnats. Just make sure you empty the bucket frequently. Dump it, newspaper and all, into the outdoor container.

Here’s the process for the outdoor compost containers.

1. Get a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. I have several. The lid is required in dry areas, maybe not in others.
2. Drill some aeration holes in the lid. Don’t go overboard, especially in a dry area.
3. Put your composting materials into the bucket, mix it up a bit and moisten it with water.
4. Put the lid on.
5. Maybe mix it occasionally & check the moisture once in a while.

Your compost will be ready more quickly if you mix it up every day or every couple days. You can roll the bucket (as long as the lid is tight fitting) or open it up & mix it with a small pitchfork or similar tool. You could even mix it by dumping it out, mixing it with a shovel, then shoveling it back into the bucket. Mixing is not required. it just speeds up the process. As the materials decompose, they will compact and take up less space. You can continue to add materials to the same bucket to fill it up or use a new bucket for each batch.

Some instructions for composting tell you to have proportional amounts of brown and green materials. That really doesn’t matter too much. Use what you have available. It will all break down eventually. If you have a lot of dry materials, you might want to set it aside and use a small portion of it for each bucket of scraps to keep the process from slowing down too much.

Composting is really simple, cheap and great for the planet. It’s great for your garden too!

Actually, it’s been planted for a while now.  I got a pretty good start this year.  Still, I’m realizing I can plant the cool weather plants much earlier here.  It rarely freezes!

I’ve gotten a bunch of radishes already.  I’m letting some of them go to seed, just to see how it works.  I’ll still have to do a little research on that.  I made some radish green pesto, which was delicious.  I also used the radishes to make a modified version of my Grandma’s potato salad for a family get together last weekend.  My modifications did not do it justice.  It was pretty bland.  It was my first attempt though.

Anyway, most everything in the garden is doing fairly well.  The tomatoes and peppers are not doing as well as I’d like, although one tomato plant is starting to get one or two small tomatoes.  All the plants are still very small.  The peas and beans are a bit sparse.  That’s something I probably need to plant earlier.  I’m also not getting much spinach very quickly.  I think that also does not do well in the heat.  So far, those things are doing alright though.  It’s been a little cooler than normal lately though, so I’m sure that’s why.  I’m working out a way to make some shade structures for those plots.  Maybe that will give me a little more time.

It even looks like my potatoes are starting to grow.  I did it the lazy way because I’ve heard it’s worked for other people.  I just buried the seed chunks and let them grow instead of filling in the dirt on top as they grow.  I dug around in there the other day to see if there were any new potatoes to harvest and after that, the sprouts started coming up like crazy.  I’m not sure if it’s related or coincidental.

I definitely need to stagger the plantings more next time.  It seems like all the root crops are about ready now.  Well, except the onions.  Those seem to be taking forever.  I guess they are a bit slower.  So, really it’s just radishes, beets and turnips.  The greens are mad crazy.  I don’t know what I’m going to do with all of them!

At least I’ll be getting a decent harvest this year.  I need to start digging up some recipes to use everything though.  Hopefully it won’t all be ready at the same time.  I might have to do some freezing!

It’s still a learning experience.  This is the best way for me though…  hands on.  Besides it’s more fun that way

Yeah!  My Aerogarden starter tray replacement pods arrived!  That’s sort of my indoor “greenhouse”.  I’m using it to start my tomato and pepper plants.  This year I need to make sure I get them started early enough.  Last year I started a bit late and never got any tomatoes.  Well, essentially anyway.  I did get 2 or 3 tiny tomatoes from one plant (they were so yummy!).  Then it froze & lost them all.  In Vegas, it froze!!!  Well, it was October.  I hadn’t planted the garden until April.  That was mostly because I had to get dirt and needed to recruit some assistance with that.

You see, in Las Vegas, we don’t have growing soil on the ground.  We have clay.  It’s not optimal for growing.  That is, unless of course you want to grow weeds.  So, I had to buy dirt.  I bought it from a bulk place that several people referred me to.  I was told they have the best dirt.  Based on the results of my veggies last year, I’m not sure I totally agree.  I suppose some of that could have been me and not the dirt.  It just seems so much better to blame the dirt.

Granted last year was definitely an experiment.  The biggest reason I’ve ever wanted to start a garden was because the tomatoes taste like TOMATOES!  I was so looking forward to them.  This year will be different.

OK, so back to starting my tomatoes & peppers.  My starter pods are just spongy things that fit into this dense foam starter tray designed to go in my aerogarden.  I paid twenty bucks for what I thought was supposed to be 70 of them, so it seemed like a good deal.  It doesn’t look like there are really that many…

My bad, I just counted & there are 70.  Regardless, next time I may fashion my own starter pods.  I just had no idea how to go about it.  While I’m at it, I may come up with a better tray to put them in.  It works; just not sure I like the idea of foam.  And, actually I could probably make some other improvements.  Again, I digress.  I do that.  My mind is constantly going.

So, the first step seems to be to sanitize the tray.  I pulled out the bowl that holds the water and realized it’s a bit…  crusty?  We have really hard water here, so it’s mineralization.  The bowl is soaking in vinegar as we speak.

Meanwhile, I just looked in the Aerogarden Starter Tray manual to find out how to sanitize the starter tray.  Of course, it tells me to use bleach.  I don’t want to use bleach.  I don’t want to eat bleach.  So, instead, I’m using vinegar.  Because of that I’m soaking it longer than the suggested 2 minutes.  Guess what, foam floats.  It was bit amusing while I attempted to find something to weigh it down with.  I don’t have a brick in my kitchen… which is where I’m doing all this right now.  I filled a heavy jar with water.  It worked.

Let’s see.  While I’m waiting for that, I think I’ll get my seeds out and figure out exactly what I’m going to plant.  I’d like to do herbs also.  I’m not sure if I’ll start them in the Aerogarden though.  I have lots of tomatoes and peppers.  I have five different types of tomatoes, tomatillos and seven types of peppers.  That might fill up the tray pretty well.  These take about six weeks in the Aerogarden.  It probably would have made more sense to start the herbs earlier in the winter, since I leave them in pots inside anyway.  OK, next time I’ll know.

I remember (from seeing the instructions in the book) that last year I had to pluck out some of the spongy material from some of the grow pods to make the dip deeper.  That was a real pain in the booty.  I’m looking for my log from last year.  I did attempt to make some notes, although everything was pretty overwhelming.  I’m not sure I accurately recorded the information I need.  I’m just checking on planting depths with the grow pods and how each plant did.  I think I’ll have to go from memory for the most part.  Actually, the tomato and pepper seeds are relatively small.  I think I’ll just leave the depth on the grow pods the way it is.

Now that I recall, I only needed to make the dip larger for bigger seeds like zucchini and beans.  I’m starting those directly in the garden this time.  The ones I started inside last year died and I started new ones outside anyway.

I suppose it would be a good idea to diagram my planting layout so I know what’s what when I go to transplant.  I’d rather do it on the computer than paper.  I can keep track of it better.  I’ll have to draw something up.

Yippee!!!  I already made up a diagram last year.  I totally forgot I did that.

Now, I just need to decide how many of each thing to plant.

After reviewing last year’s results in my garden log…  and from memory (mostly from memory), I think I have an idea how to go about figuring that out.  First, I need to know what kind of yield I want for each type…

Tomatoes…  I don’t think I could have too many tomatoes.  Since I have several varieties and I still don’t really know what the yield of each plant will be, I’d like to end up with at least one of each variety.  I started two of each variety last year.  Maybe this year I’ll go with three.  If I end up with extras that are doing really well, I’ll give some away (either the plants or the tomatoes, depending on when I decide they’re doing well).

Tomatillo…  This plant got HUGE, even though it never produced.  It also attracted bees, which was actually a good thing.  I needed them so I didn’t have to hand pollinate.  I was thinking of planting this separate somehow, so I’m not right there with all the bees…  Maybe in a separate, smaller bed with asparagus, since asparagus needs three years undisturbed before it really produces.  It looks like I started two plants last year and got one.  I may just do the same.

Anaheim Chiles…  These did well.  I had two plants.  I think I’d like more, even though they did well.  They’re so easy to freeze and use all year.  I wouldn’t mind having four plants.  I guess I better make sure I’ll have room in the garden for all the plants.

I think I’ll need to build another bed.  That was really my plan anyway.  In any case, I’m really only going to have room for one or two of each plant.  So, I guess I’ll just start two inside.

I started my very first garden last year.  From the outside, it might seem like a bit of a fiasco.  At the very lease, it was chaos.  Ok, the truth is, it seemed like that from the inside too.  Oh well.  That’s how I like to learn!  Get my hands dirty.  Pun may be intended.

In any case, over the next few weeks I’ll recap that experience a bit.  Hopefully that experience will lead to much better results this year.

Don’t get me wrong, I had decent results with some things in my gardening experience.  That would be the reason I’m not just throwing in the towel.  Not that I would anyway.  I’m pretty stubborn that way.  I don’t like to give up.  You will not fail, if you don’t quit!

One of the things I learned is that timing really is important.  I started out a bit late with my planting, so some things just didn’t yield at all.  I live in the blazing hot Nevada desert, so mid summer is not ideal for many plants.  By the time my tomato plants started getting any sign of tomatoes, it was so late into the fall it actually froze a few nights in a row.  That was the end of any hope for tomatoes.

I did get lots of peppers though.  The serranos did so well, I gave some away and still didn’t pick them all.  I also had quite a bit of cayenne and green chiles.  I also planted bell, poblano, habanero and jalapeno.  I got one tiny bell pepper, a few jalapenos and none of the other two.

I also planted tomatillo, zucchini, crookneck squash, burgundy beans, cucumbers, radishes, carrots, scallions, spinach, arugula and rainbow chard.  I’ll let you know how those worked out in the next couple weeks.

I’m looking at this gardening experience as an adventure, so however it turns out, I’ll enjoy the journey.  (Besides, I’m certain I’ll get it because I want to be self-sufficient enough to grow my own food.)

This summer (2009) was my first attempt at my own garden. The soil is not optimal here and I wanted to use minimal space so I used raised beds with an intensive gardening method. I used to help my Grandmother in her garden and I remember always thinking that there really was no need to space the plants out so much. In doing some research, I discovered I am not the only one who questions the traditional method. I found some information on “Square Foot Gardening”. I used some of the basic ideas and tweaked them to suit me. Apparently, the French have been using “intensive gardening” for a long time.

One thing I discovered is that gardening is quite a lot of work, at least for the harvest I wound up with. It’s been a little lighter than I expected. I also discovered that timing is very important. Not only the timing of when to plant, also the timing of when to harvest. I’ve had quite alot of okra that I had to throw out because I left it too long and it got too big. Some peppers have dried out from being left too long before picking as well. Greens seem to wilt and die if left too long.

I’m planning to add another bed since I’m assuming it won’t be much more work to double the size of the garden. It will give me more of a crop for my efforts. I was actually thinking of adding two more beds to triple the size. I think I’ll just start with one more for now though. I’ll also be rearranging the plants in a better layout and timing the plantings a bit better for a more productive crop. The first time around was a learning experience, if nothing else.

I’m such a sucker for the “As Seen on TV” stuff. I just don’t seem to be able to help myself. Some of those things seem like such great ideas. Actually, some of them ARE great ideas. Quite often though, the execution of the idea is sub-par and the materials used for mass production of a great idea make the end product not so great.

Enough on my side-note, I’ll just get to the point. I thought the Aerogarden was one of those great ideas. You see, I love to grow herbs. I do seem to have difficulty keeping them alive though. I also love the idea of fresh tomatoes, since the ones in the grocery never seem to have much taste. Fresh lettuce for salads seemed to be a great idea too. So, I was so sold on this idea that I bought two Aerogardens; one for herbs and one for salad greens. I ended up returning one of them because I realized it was a bit over-rated. The salad greens didn’t work out too well. It seemed it was going to take a very long time before I would have enough greens for a salad. It did work out ok for the herbs, especially basil. That actually started to grow a woody stalk and I kept having to cut it back to keep it from burning on the light. Smaller, more delicate herbs still didn’t do great. This was especially true when I forgot to add water, of course.

I decided I like herbs in pots, with dirt, sitting on my window sill. I also found another “as seen on tv” item that actually does work great for me… Aquaglobes! You still have to remember to fill them though. I also water the plants whenever I think of it. They give me the leeway I need to keep my plants alive. I also decided I wanted to have a real veggie garden outside. I have thought about doing it for years and have just been afraid to give it a shot. I have a large yard, so there’s no excuse! (Except maybe that it is very dry here and way over 100 degrees in the summer.)

It turns out the Aerogarden can be fitted with a tray that allows you to start seeds for planting into pots or a garden. I thought that was a better use of it and would give me a greater variety of plants. I started a bunch of herbs, tomato plants, pepper plants and some other veggies for the garden.

In the future, I will not bother starting root veggies, zucchini, beans or lettuces in the Aerogarden. They did not flourish after transplanting. In fact, most of them just died. I planted seeds straight into the garden and most did just fine. The Aerogarden was good for starting herbs, tomatoes and peppers. It does seem to be important to transplant them fairly promptly when they are ready. It’s not the best when the plants get too big in the Aerogarden and the roots start wrapping around each other.

For the outdoor garden, I figured my best bet in this climate and with our not-so-good-for-growing soil was to build raised beds with specially mixed garden soil of some sort. I had also always thought plants could grow closer together than typical gardening dictates. I used to garden with my grandmother when I was VERY young. Even then, I really didn’t understand why all the plants had to be spaced so far apart. Ha! Turns out I was right!

I did some internet research and came across something called Square Foot Gardening. The concept is to grow a garden in raised beds, no wider than 4 feet across and any length you like. Divide the bed into square feet and plant. The 4 foot width allows you to reach the middle without stepping into the garden. That’s kind of a no-brainer there because there won’t be room for you if the bed is packed full of plants. I didn’t use the exact Square Foot Gardening rules. I just read through it to kind of verify what I was planning to do and fill in the blanks on some things I wasn’t sure about. Why reinvent the wheel, right?

This outdoor gardening experience has certainly become a learning experience. It’s almost the end of July and I haven’t harvested much from the garden. I will know better what to do and what not to do next season. At least, I hope so! It is a bit frustrating that I put so much work into this and have reaped very little benefit.

I learned two important lessons about gardening. First, the plants must have enough room to grow and be fruitful. Second, it is important to plant enough of each type of plant to produce what you want to eat. Both of these lessons boil down to one bottom line. Planning is critical. It doesn’t have to be a super detailed plan. It’s just important to make sure you have enough space for everything you want to grow and harvest. My biggest issue with this was that I wasn’t sure how much food each type of plant would end up producing. I didn’t want to end up with way too much food and with creating more work for myself than I could handle. Ultimately, I think that a bigger garden would be about the same amount of work with greater yields.

When I first planted everything, I was watering by hand every day. It seemed the direct sun was too much and that everything was wilting or drying up. I thought the garden needed some shade, so I put my patio umbrella over it to give it some partial relief. It seemed like it was doing better after that. I don’t know if it’s true or coincidence. I decided to add a shade over the entire garden because I had to go out a couple times a day to move the umbrella. I made a temporary cover with 2×4’s and a vinyl tarp. It seemed to help. Now that many plants have grown up, I’m not as concerned with the direct sun. The wind blew one of the 2x4s off the other night, so I just took the tarp down. It seems to be fine after about a week.

Zucchini & Crookneck Squash

These plants were growing like crazy. I over planted by putting 4 seeds into 1 square foot section. When the plants started growing, it was quite obvious that was not going to work! I pulled out all but 2 plants for each square foot. Then I realized that was still not enough room, so I just left 1 plant in each section. Honestly, that’s still pushing it.

In fact, while the plants are growing, I have yet to harvest any squashes. I’ve seen lots of flowers and some very small squashes starting to grow. Some of the flowers open up in the mornings and eventually fall off. I’ve read that you can eat them. They just don’t sound good except battered and fried. That’s not very healthy! The very small squashes wind up shriveling up and dying within a day or two.

Again, I did some internet research on this problem and found that it was most likely because the plants are not getting pollinated. I read that it can be done manually with a paint brush. I used a small paint brush to remove pollen from the male flowers and put it onto the buds forming at the ends of the very small squashes. The male flowers are on a long stem. These are the flowers that are usually opening in the morning. The female flowers that are on the ends of the squashes are not blooming yet so I just brushed the pollen on the bud. It stands to reason that since they aren’t open, they don’t need to be pollinated yet, however none of them have been lasting long enough to bloom so I brushed it on anyway. At this point, I don’t know what else to do. So, we’ll have to see if it works. I sure as heck hope so.

I did notice there are more tiny squashes than before, so if it seems to work, it could also just be a coincidence. Maybe I just wasn’t being patient enough.

I also had been pruning the plants because there were just too many leaves everywhere. The plants were very unruly & difficult to manage. So, now there is a lot of bare vine at the bottom where I had pruned. Nothing is growing back in those areas. I have the zucchini and squash plants trellised. Some people say you “can’t” do that. Others have done it and I’m doing it too. It’s much cleaner as far as I’m concerned. I don’t like bugs! This helps control them. My garden is organic so any natural method of controlling the bugs is good for me.

Beans

I planted two types of bush beans. One was a royal burgundy that is a purple color. They supposedly turn green when they are cooked. I never harvested enough to bother cooking them. I have three plants that survived, however they are not doing too well now. They are on the North side of the garden, so are a bit shaded. They are also quite close together and I’m sure that’s not ideal. Finally, they are near the soaker hose I have installed. I’m not sure if that is an issue or not.

The green beans died upon transplanting. I planted more seeds directly into the soil. They germinated and started growing, then also died.

Obviously, I need to do more research to have success with beans.

Tomatoes

I started at least two plants each of six different types of tomatoes. I wound up with five or six plants in 5 gallon buckets. Only two survived. One was looking very good, and then started losing all its leaves. The second one is still very small, although it is starting to grow finally.

I don’t think the 5 gallon buckets are working out. It’s just too dry here. I used the concept of the Aquaglobes on a larger scale, by filling an empty bottle with water and sticking it into the dirt. It helped a little. They still dried out too much. I recently transplanted the two surviving plants into the raised beds.

The tomatillo plant took a long time to start. However, once I planted it into the garden it took off. It’s probably the biggest plant I have now. It’s South facing, so getting lots of sun.

Peppers

The pepper plants that are South facing are also doing well even though I’ve only seen two peppers on six plants so far. The North facing pepper plants are not doing so well. They are very small. Apparently they need a good deal of sun.

I may need to do some more research on why they are not producing yet. Or perhaps I just need to be more patient. I did plant a bit late in the season.

Radishes, Carrots & Scallions

Apparently it’s important to not plant the seeds too deep. They also probably need lots of water. These didn’t all sprout up when I planted them straight in the ground. The didn’t work out too well starting them in the Aerogarden though either. The grow pods kind of trapped the veggie and they didn’t really grow well. Anyway, I didn’t focus on these too much.

Spinach

This would start to grow, then wilt and die. It may have been lack of sun. They were on the North side of the garden, under one of the giant leaved zucchini plants. They were pretty shaded. I didn’t plant any more. Maybe I’ll put some on the other side of the garden just to see what happens.

Lettuces

The arugula seemed touchy when it was first coming up. I think it got too hot for them. I tried a second batch in a different plot and they did fine. Part of the square wasn’t getting a lot of water, so that part wasn’t doing as well.

The romaine and Tom Thumb lettuces I planted sprouted up on tall stalks when I didn’t cut them soon enough. The stalks still grow leaves on them. It’s a little intrusive though. I only have 1 square foot of each and not too many plants. It’s not really enough, especially since it’s not producing very well.

Chard

I grew this cool Rainbow Chard because it was colorful. I had no idea how to cook it, so once again I turned to the ever helpful internet. Oh my gosh! I love this stuff. I used a super simple recipe of garlic and crushed red peppers in a bit of olive oil, sautéed the greens and added a very small amount of butter at the end. Yummy! The chard is growing quite well now, although it seemed to take quite a while to get going. It gets pretty big, so I only have two plants in one square foot. I could probably fit three or four if I wanted to. I probably will give that a shot next time because I want to have more. Maybe I’ll stagger the planting a little, so they mature at different times.

Cucumbers

I don’t know how long these are supposed to take. I’m finally getting one of two plants to climb a 4 foot bamboo stake. It’s taller than that now. The second plant is still only a few inches tall. I don’t know how big the vine gets, so maybe it is going to need the whole square foot.

Okra

I have two okra plants in 1 square foot. One plant has a fairly big stem. The other is smaller. That one is more shaded by the zucchini. They are on the South side of the garden. I’m guessing they need the direct sun. I could put 2 more plants in the space. I’ve gotten a few okra off the plants. Most of them were too big though and tough. I need to be sure to pick them much more quickly.

Overall, everything is taking much longer than the packages said they would. Lots of stuff died. Other things are just not doing as well as I expected.

I’ll be out of town for a week next month. I sure hope that’s not when everything is ready. I’ll have to see if my mom will come pick everything!

I’d like to plant grapes so I was thinking of building a pergola type cover for permanent shade and for the grapes to climb. I also want to add one or two more beds. I have been debating whether to make all the beds only one foot high or keep the two foot height I have in the existing bed. Either way, I may take out the existing bed and start over to level it out better. I’m sure I’ll regret putting myself through all of that if I decide to go that route.