Things I have Learned From My Garden

This is the first year I have done a "real" garden. Last year I grew a few carrots and green beans, but this year I planted pumpkins, purple string beans, broccoli, cucumbers,radishes, tomatoes, peas, squash, lettuce, basil, lavender, cantaloupe, as well as carrots and green beans again.

To my great surprise the cantaloupes were a success. I was able to grow both small and large delicious cantaloupes. But once ripe I had to pick the small ones right away because if they were not picked promptly they would be half-eaten overnight. by some hungry critter. I did not find this with the huge cantaloupes as I guess they were harder to bite-lol. Ripe cantaloupes will literally fall off the vine or you can tug on them just a bit and they will come right off. It's important not to pick them too early as they will not be good and ripe. One way also to tell if they are ready is they will feel a bit soft when you squeeze on them.

As for tomatoes, I still have some on the vine due to unseasonably warm weather. I planted Roma, Cherry and regular sized tomatoes. I've had much luck with the tomatoes although the regular tomatoes haven't gotten very big. There has been the occasional bug attack and recently I saw two huge green caterpillars munching on some green cherry tomatoes. I reminded myself that the two caterpillars were going to become butterflies so I didn't feel too upset about it.

There were only a few radishes and cucumbers to pick in my garden but finding the first cucumber was a surprise as it was under one of the big leaves. I learned to look under the big-leaf plants like cantaloupes and cucumbers because they can hide under there. One kind of radish I planted did not grow well but there were shoots coming from them you could eat. I didn't know that was a thing with some kinds of radishes.

The lavender, lettuce and broccoli did not come up at all. And I planted many kinds of pumpkin seeds, but only one pumpkin plant had a bud on it. This excited me though because even though it did not get bigger it was the first time I ever had a pumpkin plant that had a bud on it. This is the 4th time I've tried to grow pumpkins and this is the first time that happened.

I planted some yellow squash with seeds I had saved from a grocery store squash. They never got past the flowering stage though. And after planting some purple string bean plants and then being able to pick some, I found out they did not agree with me. Disappointing, but that is one of the lessons of gardening. Sometimes you have to cut your losses. Some plants have to be pulled out to make room for healthier ones. I am glad the regular green string beans turned out well-although you have to be careful not to drop when picking because they can be hard to find once on the ground.

Next year, I plan on being more adventurous with my garden, as I plan on trying to grow pineapples and pineapple tomatoes. Also I am going to try again to grow pumpkins, and do a lot of research on how to do it right. And I plan on researching how to best grow wildflowers, as I planted those as well and was unsuccessful in getting them to sprout.

Having a garden teaches you patience because despite your best efforts sometimes a garden will do what it wants. It will also give you unexpected surprises and magic. Not to mention the feeling of accomplishment of growing your own food.