A quick and long-overdue update on my garden. My spring plantings have already be harvested and pulled out for the most part. Carrots and peas were super successful – probably my favourite crops that I planted. All five of my tomato plants were slow to ripen, but are now producing like crazy. My spring-planted garlic got a pretty bad case of rust and, though they did send up scapes, they failed to produce bulbs. I have them hanging in my basement and will try to replant in October to see if they will grow over the winter. I also had a beet mishap – I planted what I thought were 6 beet starts but when I inspected them a month later I realized that there were more like 20. I thinned and replanted some and now they’re growing like gangbusters. Perhaps most excitingly, my pumpkin plants have taken over the back of my yard and are growing quite rapidly. The vine has been growing a foot a day!
The lease on our rental house has been extended to February so I have planted a fall garden! I seeded kohlrabi along with more peas and carrots a while ago, and have also put in cauliflower, broccoli, purple cabbage, and Brussel sprouts. The slugs and other pests have been really enjoying some of my seedlings (especially kohlrabi – who knew?) so I will see what survives, but hopefully as the weather cools a little bit the plants will become less stressed and therefore less vulnerable to pests and diseases. I’ve been reading about microbes and soil health and hope to enhance my soil by applying some of the concepts I’ve picked up. This warrants a post of its own (I could talk about soil forever!)
