Emily here! Today is the first day of fall so it felt fitting to finally warp up my summer of gardening.
Stunted Growth. Almost all my plants didn’t really produce. My romaine produced a lot but with generally small leaves (need better spacing next summer) and everything else seemed to be growing well and would even get flowers on them but then would hardly give any fruit and I mean it. I got 2 edible zucchinis, no edible cucumbers, and 4 edible cherry tomatoes. I got a handful of good carrots but they were still very small. I love miniatures but it felt a little ridiculous. The plants I added in June are still working on growing and the pumpkins aren’t producing any pumpkins yet. I know our first frost is coming too so I doubt that any of these will make it.
Started Late. I think the biggest reason for not having the bounty I thought I would is because I started late. A lot of my plants kept getting damaged from late frost and then we also had a heatwave in June that I’m sure didn’t help a whole lot.
Next Steps. My plan in the next month is to clear the garden bed of everything except the dahlias (holding out hope these will do something next year?). And get some kind of cover for it so the cats of the neighborhood don’t use it as a litter box. I plan to just leave my chamomile, carnations, and pumpkins to do their thing and hope the two flowers come back next year.
Plan for Next Summer. Next summer I plan to used starters instead of seeds. I’m going to have a baby in January and I’m going to be realistic…there is no way I’m going to start seeds indoors this winter. Just not a high priority. I think with the starters and planting things in the middle of May I should have more success. I plan to plant the following: Carrots, Cucumber, Strawberries, More Herbs, Thyme, Bush Beans, Cosmos (not in the garden bed), and, Pumpkins.
Overall the garden was so fun this summer. It gave me something to do while Pal played outside and it was so fun seeing him pick carrots out of the garden and eat them for a snack. Can’t wait to see what kind of garden we have next year and to have even more tiny hands digging in the dirt.
Sister Hack 