What we learned from the garden.

I have been trying to figure out how to talk about our beloved garden…. without boring you to death.  I mean really, it is a story about watching plants grow for heavens sake.  Hard to get too stimulated from that… and as I look back on my other posts, I am a bit sad to have to report that thing garden thing… unlike all the other miraculous happenings on the farm that went so swimmingly, did not go so swimmingly.  Now I could wax eloquent for hours on how it really wasn’t our fault.  I mean the weather was totally whacky….. May was blisteringly hot, fueling confidence in another scorching summer.  June was cold and frosty and wet.  Just so wet and cold. July was just schizophrenic…. hot, wet, cold,hot, wet, cold…. you get the picture.

I am so totally setting this up for you to say… Hey Donna, really not your fault, you couldn’t have known it would be so cold and wet, maybe you got a batch of bad seeds…. etc etc.  You innocent city folk would likely believe that, but now that I have made some country friends…. I can hear them tsk’ing me!  Yes, I read up on this stuff, I thought I was so organized…. sigh…. but some of it did go sideways!  Strangely though, I must admit that I really did enjoy the garden work much more than I thought.  I spent a lot of time there, headphones in, weeding, singing away to the p..l..a..n..t…… you don’t suppose?!?!…… no, that’s an old wives tale right?!

So what DID we learn from our garden this year?

1. Four people do not need 2 full 30 foot rows of lettuce – all planted at the same time – therefore all coming ripe at the same time. Not when it completely exploded when we finally got some heat in August. The less is more principle of planting your garden really applies to this one!  It’s a good thing we had rabbits!
2. Believe it or not, but 3 full 30 foot rows of peas is not enough for these 4 people.  Picked them all, measured to make sure that the split between us and the kids was completely fair – and didn’t share with any of the neighbors!!  I am hoping that the small crop was from the weather and that we get a better, bigger crop next year ’cause they really were spectacular!
3. It is possible to grow rows and rows of 4 foot high brussel sprouts…. and have not a brussel sprout to show for it……no idea what happened there – have to look it up.  But the plants look great!!!
4. Plants are sneaky….. truly!  You walk through the garden one day, basking in the greatness of your creation and lamenting that there is nothing on the vines yet.  Then two days later your husband slaps an enormous zucchini on the counter and says, “Look honey, I found this in the garden”!  Things pop out of nowhere!   One day you are in the greenhouse looking at the cherry tomatoes and willing them to grow more as you pinch off the 2 or 3 ripe orange ones that are so good.  In a heartbeat, it is raining tomatoes everywhere.
5. Sweet peppers do not like to be outdoors…. just saying… epic fail!  Totally love the greenhouse tho!  as do the figs!
6. The “helpful” farming websites will drive you insane!  Water the garlic, don’t water the garlic. Pick it when the bottom two leaves are yellow – leave it until the scapes have turned twice. And I can tell you…. all the horse pooey about planting different vegetables together – to help the growing process…. it’s all hogwash.  At least it was for this growing season!  Plant the cucumber with the corn they said (one being a ground plant and one being a tall plant) Right! the cucumber grew faster than the corn – so the corn didn’t get enough sun….. sad… so sad.
7. When things at work are making you just a little bit crazy, weeding is very therapeutic!  Hours can be spent weeding in a garden the size of ours.  Note for next year, even if I have to get a second job…. we will have the black ground cover for next year.  Just sayin’!!!
8. You haven’t lived until you create 90% of your breakfast from stuff you have raised in your own garden, and have taken from that garden that very morning.
9. The jury is still out on the beets.  It is not looking good.
10. I need tons of recipes for rutabagas.
11. Frost kills vegetables overnight! Sob!

I am pretty sure that this was not a typical growing year – I am going to take some comfort in that – and see what next year brings.  Hopefully I review this post before I get started next year!  But I take heart that we fed ourselves to a large degree and have some stuff put away for the winter.  And I have faith, that next year our garden is gonna rock!