Update on the Garden

(Basil, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, yellow tomato, bell pepper, and cubanelle pepper)

I have been very pleased with how the garden turned out this summer. It was a positive experience and I can't wait to do it again next year. The above is a sampling of some of the produce we have picked from the garden. Lots of lettuce, tons of peppers (bell and cubanelle) and my hot peppers are still maturing. TONS of cherry tomatoes, a good amount of yellow tomatoes (so sweet), some squash, 3 pumpkins, some cucumbers, basil.

And 2 okra. Not exactly enough for a meal. The plants are still growing so maybe we will get some more. I only have 2 plants and I didn't realize you have to grow a lot of okra to get enough for a meal. Oops!

Items I will definitely be planting again:

• Pumpkins
• Tomatoes
• Basil
• Bell Peppers
• Hot peppers (not sure on variety yet)
• Cucumbers
• Lettuce
• Squash or Zucchini
• Chives
  

Items I will NOT be planting again:

• Peas
• Radishes
• Okra
• Corn

These took up too much room and/or didn't produce. Our corn plants grew but never produced any edible corn. I don't know what happened. The peas never took off and I couldn't get them to crawl up the sticks for them. Radishes were fun but no one likes them except for me and I'd rather use the room for something else. I apparently don't have enough room for okra.

Items I WANT to grow next year:

• Broccoli
• Blue, White, or Mini pumpkins
• Tomatillos
• Cantaloupe
• Watermelon
• Sunflowers
• Cilantro

I don't think it is possible to grow everything I want to grow! But I really want to grow some blue pumpkins--how cool would that be?

Things to remember for next year:

• I learned about powdery mildew and how it can kill plants. My cucumber plants started out great and then died. I figured out that the powdery white stuff that seemed to be killing the plant was mildew and had also spread to my pumpkin and squash plant. I also learned of a natural preventative spray you can make for the plants to keep that mildew away.
• I will do one tomato plant and one cherry tomato plant. And I will use large wooden stakes to tie the tomato plant to instead of the cage. The cages collapsed and damaged some of the stalks.
• I want to plant MORE basil for making pesto and freezing.
• Plant earlier in the season and start seeding plants indoors in April.
• I only need 1 cubanelle plant, not 3.
  

After the plants stop producing I have 3 bags of cow manure to turn into the ground. Hopefully this will make the soil healthy and more productive next summer.

By the way, the bell pepper plant where I buried the placenta is HUGE and so healthy.