Finally – on Fourth of July Weekend – I got my summer veggie plants nestled into my Square Foot Garden-style raised planting beds from last year.
I realize I’m totally late to this party. I mean beyond fashionably late. More like guests-are-already-drunk late. But not quite guests-are-already-leaving late, so that’s good, right?
Rewind: Here’s how we got to be such late bloomers.
During the spring, I actually planned ahead. Dozens of seeds were sowed in little seed starting cups that I’d saved. They flourished, and patiently waited for me to put them in the ground . . . until the week of the craft fair. *Cue ominous sounds.* When I totally forgot they existed, they shriveled up and died from dehydration – and maybe the ridiculous 99 degree temps. In the mean time, at least I had spring greens in my garden. Spinach, arugula, microgreens, mesculun were all carefully planted straight into the raised bed gardens right in late April.
Or not.
By the end of May they had totally gone to seed, leaving this hot mess in its’ wake. Flowery, yes. Tasty, no.
I had to rip it all out and start fresh.
But then the strawberries, which majorly disappointed us last year, came back with a vengeance – and gave us some sweet, juicy fruit to enjoy in May and early June. When I remembered to pick them, that is.
After all of this, I thought maybe I should just skip the gardening this year. I mean, a girl can only do so much, right? I’ve got my hands more than full with my shop, this blog, a full-time job, and a few consulting projects. But as the summer heat set in, and the days got longer and longer, I felt myself wanting just a few veggie plants, if not an entire farm. There’s something so great about walking outside and picking fresh tomatoes in your own yard.
So I bought a few plants at Home Depot. Not ideal ,because they’re not organic – and frankly, Home Depot appeared to have stopped watering all their veggie plants -though they were still charging full price for them – lame! I picked the best tommy-toes and pepper plants I could find, and got them planted ASAP. (I have a bad habit of buying plants, then not planting them for days, and then they die. Waste of money!)
Also, taking a page from my Lessons Learned in 2010 Gardening book, I immediately stuck my tomato cages around the young plants. If you’ve ever tried to do this with a more mature plant, you’ll know why this was important. It’s nearly impossible to add the cages after the plants get long and leggy.
Next, I added some basil and marigold plants around the perimeter of the garden box. Supposedly they will deter pests which normally like to munch on tomato plants.
Ahh, basil. I can’t wait to harvest you this weekend! When I’m ready to use some leaves, I like to chop it way down, so it becomes bushier and bushier, instead of just being one or two stems. I gotta get the most bang for my buck!
So that’s the how and why we’re late bloomers this year. Since we’re in good ole’ Virginia, I think we’ll still be able to enjoy a good tomato harvest. They usually go well into September up around here.
What’s the state of your garden? Or lack thereof?
9 Comments
I tried to grow cilantro, basil, rosemary, and oregano…with variable results. My basil is okay. And the other plants turned into weeds! Sad! Wah! Oh well, try, try again, right?
looking gooood! =) I had an “incident” with our basil plant. Apparently beetle mating season was last month? and basil makes a pretty swanky motel?
I’m traumatized! send me some basil? needless to say my plant has been banished. lol!
xoXOxoJenn @ Peas & Crayons
My flower garden is an utter and complete disaster. As in, thistles are taller than me and neighbourhood kids probably think the house is haunted disaster. I didn’t plant veggies this year because we’re moving in mid-July. Otherwise, I’d have parsley, basil, chives, tomato and kale.
Garden is going mostly nuts. I’m not really a gardener and had only done herbs, tomatoes and peppers in the past but we tried a bunch of new stuff this year. I already have an almost orange pumpkin.
Ah yes, I’ve done the ol’ threading the long overgrown branches through the tomato cage that I bought too late, a few years ago. Never again!
I have basil, lemon basil, alpine strawberries and tomatoes. I was going to try lettuce this year, but never got around to it. I highly recommend planting near a sprinkler. Those plants next to my sprinkler look fabulous!
Ok, I laughed over your “late to the party” comments. I haven’t even tried this gardening stuff yet. We have a small balcony on a busy street with lots of shade, but I’ve been thinking that maybe I should try to plant something… anything. I need a dose of your persistence. I hope it pays off with some fabulous tomatoes!
Digging in the dirt is one of those things that, honestly, you sometimes need to make the rest of it all go away. You need some mint for mojitos.
I only have herbs this year. I think keeping my garden simple was key to its success, because I really don’t have time for any fussy fruit and vegetable plants. I still can’t seem to grow parsley! But my chives, rosemary, basil, and mint are doing well. I water them and check on them in the morning before work and then forget about them until I need something to add to dinner when I’m cooking! Maybe doing a scaled-down garden would help you with all the things you have going on?
[…] for the tomatoes that I finally planted in July (or whenever) – well they’re still not ripe. In fact they’re the size of green […]