Garden at a Glance 2019
2019 was another year of growth. Plants and production. We doubled our growing space and scorched two more plots. So many days of hard work are now chiseled down to just one page. It’s easy to forget how much trudging, and digging, and lifting had to be done for this to be successful. So easy, that we do it every year, forgetting just how much work it is to haul about 200 buckets full of compost, and the set up is almost HALFWAY done.
JUNE
We jumped on June like we were Junebugs jumping on grape vines. We hit the ground running and had the garden ready in a week. This required many naps, several showers, and a few days of not moving at all to recover.
JULY
July was an especially hot month. We didn’t water our plants enough and they suffered. Most of the early flowers fell off and didn’t get pollinated. Other than that, we were harvesting herbs and kale like there was no tomorrow.
AUGUST
August was a cooler month and the plants recovered, but pepper production was hampered. Wildlife was thriving with wasps laying eggs on hornworms and Sir Hops a Lot with his Toad Services (best in the tri-state area) was a regular visitor to our gardens.
SEPTEMBER
This month was as warm as June or August which allowed the peppers to ripen so we could start our harvestings. There were some strong winds and rains that broke off branches of our super hots and destroyed some all together. One of our rain catchers was a victim of the gales as well.
OCTOBER
Warm days, with very cool nights made us nervous. This was our last month to grow. Shortly after Halloween, there was a frost that killed all the plants. We were able to harvest a good amount despite the couple of hiccups we had. The peanuts we threw under the cardboard in June grew and we’ll be planting them again next year.
SHUTDOWN
Those sweltering hot days under the blazing sun with cool breezes being the only relieve are gone. Long shadows and cuttingly frigid winds have taken over and the garden will slumber for a season. To prepare our plots, we clear out the big stuff and tuck the beds in for their winter’s sleep with a blanket of manure from a local stable. This is also when we plant our garlic and spread leftover herb seeds that may or may not sprout next year.
