The giant garden post (part 1)

Not that the garden is giant; it's not. I live in an apartment, but this year my uncle graciously allowed me access to his former garden, and I spent the summer learning how to garden The Hard Way. The 12 mile commute to the garden was less than practical every day, but the nice thing about taking over my uncle's yard is that he had fruit trees and bushes that were already prolific, so even if my vegetables failed I could pretend the fruit success was my doing. My uncle did help me keep on top of weeds and watering, and while Bella and I were away for two weeks, he and Dave made sure things happened. I truly thought it would be gone when I got back, but it was going stronger than ever!

I totally planned before and after photos, but alas, my computer is a bit miserly when it comes to photos and I don't have access to them at the moment. So this post has photos from July only. (I took some last week! Yay for procrastination!)

(We'll do this geographically, since I had a garden in the wood pile (go figure, crappy soil, but it had the best sun), in the Formerly Sunny garden, and in the herb bed.)

My big decision this year was to take over part of my uncle's vast wood pile. At first, nothing would grow. I tried transplanting things and they'd turn yellow and die. And of course a few times my uncle sprayed them with weed killer, but what's gardening without a few set backs?

Since I had read that beans and peas would make the soil better for other plants, I started a number of them there. I also transplanted sugar pumpkin, yellow squash, butternut squash, hubbard squash, and zucchinis. Over and over and over again. I also worked in some top soil into the ground and added some bunny beans and some manure tea from ducks. After about two months of failures, finally a few stuck, and when I was sure that the soil didn't kill everything it touched, I added two tomato plants.

So surviving in the side yard are:
One pea: pretty happy, but it was slow to grow and the soil here dries out very fast.
One bean: nowhere to climb, and no actual beans growing.
Zucchinis: after about 10 failed transplants, this one took and HOLY COW did it take! I'm so proud of my zucchinis. We've had probably 30 from this one plant, and it's still going strong. I had no idea that they grow in bushes, not trailing vines. The one downside is that this variety is VERY prickly and smells a bit. We're being very careful not to let them grow longer than a foot so the plant doesn't turn off production.

Cucumbers: there are two plants that are stunted from being under the zukes and tomatoes, so they are flowering but no cukes on the horizon.
Squash: of the hubbard variety, I believe. I didn't label the plants so it was a crap shoot. There are two and they are trailing EVERYWHERE. My uncle thinks it's ridiculous that I have trained them vertically, but we're in slug land, so what's a girl to do? Currently a few of the squashes get ping pong ball sized and then turn yellow and rot, but the majority of them survive and a few are already 8-10 inches around.
Tomatoes: Early girl and roma. A few are starting to get some color. I beheaded the early girl, but it came back strong, though now the tomatoes are a bit late. Out here tomatoes barely get a chance to turn before the cold rainy weather hits. Fall is our rainy season.



And in the Formerly Sunny garden you'll find:
(things i didn't plant)

Rhubarb: it just comes up on its own, and it's about 30 years old but has never been split. It's still red, and my uncle claims it's a fall plant despite its history as a spring plant. I'll have to harvest some again and compare. And perhaps split it this year, though I don't know how.
Blueberries: had a bumper year. They've been around for ages and are all types of shapes and sizes

Raspberries: a bit spindly this year, but yummy.

Apples: not a single apple. Well, a few. We have 5 trees and only got one bushel. The weather and bees did not get together at the same time this year, apparently. Last year was a bumper crop.
Plums: after a crappy plum year last year, this year we're rolling in them!

Purslane: okay so it's a weed. But it's yummy and can be used to thicken soup, and it's so good for you, so I can't discount it.

So then, things I planted:
Peas: did great, even in the shade! I had to plant about 30 to get 7 plants since someone kept eating them right off once they got to 5" tall. Next year I want to plant about 10 more plants so I get tons and tons. I used to hate them, but mannnn they're good straight off the vine! I planted a few more last week in hopes of a fall harvest, we'll see. (AND no one is eating them now, what's with that?)

Beans: a few plants here or there, but only one has a few beans.
Garlic: volunteers that I spaced out. These haven't died off but haven't grown either.
Green onions: pretty content here, but not as big as the ones in the sun.
Kale and lettuce: we fought the good fight, but someone always ate them up. Four or five survived in total. The lettuce bolted last week and got bitter but the kale is going strong. It's also frost hardy, so we'll have it into the winter. Good thing I love it so!
Radishes: so i haven't yet figured out how to make a consistently great radish. Some were perfect and all are nice and hot, but mostly they just got all spindly on the surface and never balled out. I think they weren't deep enough, but I don't have the ability to tend to them as quickly as they grow since I'm not near by. I'll have to try some more soon though since they're quick and rewarding when they grow properly.

Beets: tried a few just for fun. They never burrowed into the ground.
Carrots: Holy deliciousness, Batman! I think next year I'll just grow kale, strawberries, peas, and carrots in this garden since they can survive the shade. And I'll plant 500 more carrots. The best thing is that you can just pick them when you want them, there's no harvest day as long as the soil stays dry.

*let me just add a disclaimer here* The soil on this garden is pretty much deliciously rich clay. And to make matters worse, I didn't know any better this spring and tromped all over it to make it level. Thus all the root plants had to fight their way into the soil. Next year I'll break it up a bit more.


So, stay tuned for the Herb garden, flowers, and what I hope for next year!