Update: June 2014

Garden is finally in good shape (I think) for the year.

It was a late spring.  There I was, planting a tomato, eggplant, pepper and two basil plants in May simply because it was, well, May.  But the temperatures were still April-ish.  I think the Genovese basil and Early Girl tomato will be fine, despite stunted growth.  The Thai basil, pepper and eggplant look pretty pathetic.  I've got plenty of dried Thai basil, so I'll probably just get another eggplant.  Also a few peppers.

But on the bright side ...

Strawberries were a first this year, and they were successful (and delicious).  Black raspberries are looking awesome, and red are producing, yet have brownish leaves.  Corn is up, beans just planted today, as well as okra and a muskmelon experiment.  As of this hour, the garden is officially weed-free.  Tomorrow that won't be the case, but that's ok.  My little plot is looking pretty nice, neat and fertile.  A neighbor gifted me several tomato varieties I hadn't heard of, and they're now planted and caged.

I made a makeshift deer fence on a small budget.  So far it has worked, even though it looks just as flimsy as it actually is.  I've been eating strawberries and red raspberries, so that's already an improvement over last year.  Wish I'd thought to bring my camera, but today was all about getting caught up!

Process of elimination

The deer are extremely invasive this year, eating almost everything I have.  I'll need to put up a fence this fall for next year.

For now, here's an incomplete list of what deer DON'T eat, based on personal observation:

basil
thyme
kale
hot peppers
dried out garlic/onion stalks
cilantro that's gone to seed
lettuce that's gone to seed
garden hoses
bits of plastic trash & beer cans

I think that's about it.

post-summer solstice update

It's damn hot out there. Here's an update on how things are faring in the fertile food factory:

Spinach has long since shot up to go to seed, so I'm waiting to collect the seeds for a fall and/or spring crop. Lettuce is not far behind. Cilantro is going to seed as well, but it is still keeping plenty of leaves at the base.

I'm still getting a few raspberries. I'm pretty sure we've passed the peak though. Corn and beans are growing well, and my zucchini plants are huge and starting to produce a lot.

Small green tomatoes are forming on my Early Girl variety and a few of my volunteer cherry tomato plants. Thanks to some trading with the neighbors, I have a new plant in my plot: callaloo (apparently a.k.a. amaranth). Many of my neighbors are from the Caribbean islands, and just as I gift my volunteer tomatoes, dill and fennel plants, in return I've received okra, black eyed peas, and now callaloo. I was told I could eat it raw, which would be great since then I'd have something leafy for my salads during the summer. But I'd also like to veganize the famous Calaloo soup.

This spring I learned two important gardening lessons.

1. The "last spring frost" date cannot be trusted. As soon as I put tomatoes, peppers, basil and eggplant out, it turned really cold a couple of nights. While it didn't kill all the plants, they've never quite recovered and are still short, stunted, and for the most part, not producing. I was in a rush to put everything out April 15 because things were quite crowded under my set of indoor grow lights. Next year I either need to start fewer plants indoors or find a better way to prioritize what can go out and what probably should stay in another week or two.

2. The bicycle is the community gardener's best friend. Seriously, that's the case for me, living about a half to 3/4 mile away from the plot. In previous years, I only had time to stop by maybe once a week since I was either walking or driving, which meant not only that weeds quickly got out of hand and I didn't water as much as I needed to, but I missed out on peak times to harvest. Now that I'm regularly biking to work, I'm there 2-3 times a week in the mornings. Raspberries get ripe every couple of days and 1 ft. zucchinis appear out of nowhere. It's good to stop by every two days to keep the machine slowly smoothly. Plus the mosquitos don't seem quite as bad in the mornings.

and we're back ...

Sorry for the absence, folks.

Today is significant in the annals of the 2010 garden since I stopped by this morning and gathered all the ingredients for my lunch salad today (red & green lettuce, spinach, dill, cilantro, parsley and oregano).

But things have been moving along in the meantime. I planted six batches of corn and they're starting to come up. I'll follow with some beans either next week or two weeks from now.

I sounded all smug when I said something like "I don't think it will freeze again after April 15." I was barely right. Last week it got damn cold and nearly had frost at night. The tomatoes and eggplants I had carefully grown indoors the last few months? When I came by on Sunday, it looked like they were all goners. I sheepishly made my way to the farmer's market to buy replacements.

"Don't water them!" my garden neighbor (not the mean one) warned me, when I told him what had happened. He was right. After a warm week, I think two out of the four plants might make it. The other two are barely clinging to life, but perhaps there's a chance.

Anyone out there want any dill or mint plants? They're coming up wild. I can even give you a volunteer raspberry plant since I noticed Ed's not just expanding, but apparently spawning as well.