soaphouse's Blog

An aggressive weekend in the garden...
Aug 4, 2008 | 3:25 PM PST
Tags: veggies , corn , companion planting , flower seeds

Well, most of our summer trips and parties have past and I was able to spend some much overdue time in the garden this weekend! I so enjoyed it, despite the heat. Because of the lack of recent attention, some extreme measures needed to be taken, so I spent most of my time using loud and aggressive power tools.

I first started out to mow the back by the veggies, but it was so long that the mower just wasn't holding up its end of the bargain...so after a few adjustment by my helpful hubby, I got to mowing...just in time to be chased indoors by a ginormous thunder storm. So, the next day it was back to it and i got most of the back yard done when the mower quit again, so I opted to do some weedeating. After 3 tanks of gas, I had done the entire creek area, around all the veggie beds, edged the lawn and cut the front yard using the weedeater (since I still couldn't get the mower started.) Somehow EVERYTHING gets harder when you go from one child to two HAH!

While I was back by the creek I did some more investigating as to why there is still no growth from the great gunnera....the bulb was as mushy as can be, so I called the company and they issued me a credit. so, i just have to decide if i am going to try another gunnera or something else...

Then, hubby came home, got the lawnmower fixed, and finished up the back yard for me :)

The other thing i worked on this weekend was some veggie bed clean up. We harvested some corn and had some for dinner, but it was not the least bit tasty....I don't know if maybe I left it on the stalk to long, and what was left was so buggy, so I just pulled the remainder of it out and took it to the curb for yard pickup. I don't think i will do corn again...

I also pulled out the spent bush bean plants and okra. This left a lot of room to add more compost and get ready for fall plantings...HOORAY!
The veggie garden has taught me quite a bit this year. I tried my hand at companion planting this season and have been very pleased for the most part. i do think that next year i will plant a smaller variety of things, but more of each thing that i plant.
I have also learned what i don't want to grow again:
corn-takes too much space and is a bit messy and buggy, plus i can buy it pretty cheap at the store
carrots-hubby doesn't like them and i never seem to get them thinned out quite right
okra- i have trouble picking them before they get tough
broccoli-i just never have luck with this :(
Here is what i am for sure going to grow lots of:
Cherry tomatoes
Beefsteak Tomatoes
Asian eggplants
Beans
Zuchinni
Squash
And, here is what i want to try that i didn't this year:
garlic, onions and artichokes

I will continue with the companion planting focusing on the use of marigolds, sunflowers, and nastursuims. these are what seemed to germinate and perform the best. I really had trouble getting a lot of my flower seeds to germinate this year. it is so hard to keep them evenly moist when you have watering restrictions. The whole bed I had planned around the back porch was a total flop. nothing germinated :(. I was going to have 3 kinds of sunflowers, bells of ireland, sweet pea vines and sweet alyssum. But, nothing....oh well, thats the best way to learn as a gardener :) Trial and error...sometimes LOTS of error LOL!