Garden 2024 

Final Update

The gardening season has ended for me.  All the plants have been pulled up except for the marigolds.  I have started burying compost in the garden and then covering that section with cardboard.  Eventually, the whole garden area will have compost buried in it and cardboard covering it.  Why cardboard?  It helps to keep the weeds down.  When fall arrives and the leaves fall, I will have the raked up leaves scattered on top of the cardboard. 

This section has compost buried in it and the cardboard on top helps me to remember where I buried the compost.

So pretty!

Here's how the garden did this year:

Kale – harvested it 4 times

Red Leaf Lettuce – harvested it 9 times

Romaine – harvested it 7 times

Just a sample of the different lettuces that were picked in a single harvest.  Enjoyed quite a few salads!

Onions – 4 small onions plus a few that were more like scallions or leeks

Corn – 5 small deformed ears (but the chickens loved them)

Cucumbers – 1

Eggplant – none

Green beans – 721 – it was a banner year for green beans!

Bell Peppers – 36

Potatoes – 2 very tiny (not edible)

Pumpkins – none

Tomatoes (beefsteak) – 28

Cherry Tomatoes – 706 – a banner year for cherry tomatoes too!

Watermelon – 2 medium sized and 5 small (the chickens didn’t care!)

I have learned some things along the way:

Corn – plant 4 or 5 rows instead of 2 (I had them planted in 2 rows) – this will make for better pollination

Cucumbers – add nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to soil

Eggplant – put mint planters all around the plants to help deter aphids and ants

Onions – find a better quality of bulbs and plant them a little bit deeper

Bug issues:  I did have a problem with the tomato hornworm but I was able to keep it under control.  I also discovered that bugs don’t like mint plants and I plan to get a lot more to put around the garden.  They will be in planters, otherwise the mint will take over the garden.  I will be researching on how to eliminate aphids and ants so that I don’t have that problem again.  I did have stink bugs on the tomato plants but I was able to keep them under control.  Using the jar filled with soapy water and knocking them into it really worked.  I saw less and less stink bugs and eventually did not see any more.  I also kept any eye out for bug eggs and got rid of any leaves that had them on it.  I put those leaves on the burn pile so that none could survive.  Every day, I walked around the garden to inspect for bugs and the only bugs that beat me were the aphids and ants.  I am determined to win against them!

All in all, I am happy with the veggies I got.  My freezer has green beans, bell peppers and cherry tomatoes to use in the future.  

So, now, I am planning next year’s garden.  I might stick with the veggies that do really well  . . . or not . . .😂