It's A Learning Experience

I had A LOT of garden fails this year. I recently posted about how my Mortgage Lifter tomatoes never grew, my corn stalks were either yanked out by garden pests as small shoots or gnawed down when they were almost ready to harvest, and I was only able to grow one sunflower.  We had so many issues with squash too. We ha a combination of cucumber beetles, squash bugs, and squash vine borers. Gross! This is another fail--watermelon. I love watermelon and would love to grow my own. We tried a couple of years ago, but with our crappy clay soil, the watermelon didn't grow well. So this year, with the raised bed, we thought with the deeper, better quality soil, the watermelon might do better. Nope. We harvested two tiny melons, and they tasted and smelled gross. Boo.

I also tried an experiment with two different varieties of bush beans in containers, Ferry Morse Bush Contender and Burpee Bush Lake. Sadly, they didn't do well either. When I first posted this in July, the Bush Contender plant had produced some beans already; the other one had not. I liked that plant better, too, because of the pretty light purple flowers. By the end of September the Bush Contender had caught up in terms of bean production, but the beans that both plants produced were small and hard. And total bean production was so small that I don't even think I recorded it. Another fail. I'm not sure if it was the small container, the weather, or other issues, but beans just didn't grow for us. Every time something goes wrong, one of my friends says "Chalk it up to experience!" She says it in an affected voice, and it's a bit of a running joke between us (not just about the garden, but general life stuff too, because that's what your parents always tell you when something goes wrong), but it's true. Now I know--don't grow bush beans in containers.

 Here's something positive. Our pepper plants seem invincible. We weren't able to grow corn, beans, melon, certain tomatoes, or squash, but we have plenty of garden-fresh peppers! Here's the most recent harvest of some Golden Bells. They're small--all 3 can fit in one hand, but we get a nice harvest every week and can add peppers to sauces and soups. I'm not even that big of a pepper fan, but I'll take what I can get at this point. Despite the cold temperatures, the pepper plants are still producing, and we're slicing up and freezing peppers to use throughout the winter.

How's your edible garden doing? What are you harvesting?

Starting Over

{On the left you can see the corn stalks. In the middle are the huge squash plant leaves, and the watermelon vine is in front. We left the back part open for some flowers or other companion plants, but the ^%$& squirrels keep ripping them out.}

Last month I posted about the end of my potato dream. To re-open the wound refresh your memory, the potato seeds we planted in a raised bed were ravaged by beetles.  We had to yank all the plants out, and this raised bed sat empty for a few days while we decided what to plant instead. Since almost all of my vegetables have to grow in containers, this nice deep bed would be perfect for trying corn and watermelon -- two foods I've always wanted to try to grow and that need more than just a 3-gallon pot to thrive.

The icebox watermelon has really taken off! Since I took this picture, several flowers have sprouted and I've seen one itsy bitsy little watermelon fruit forming. Watermelon is my favorite summer food (besides tomatoes) and I really hope we get at least one nice melon from this plant. My husband bought 8 corn transplants to include. Unfortunately, we only have 2 corn plants left. The asshole squirrels in my neighborhood ripped out the rest when they were smaller. But the two corns that are left have started tasseling in the last few days.Can't wait to harvest my own corn!!

We also planted marigolds and squash in the bed. It's amazing how much bigger these squash leaves are compared to the ones in containers. I can't wait to do a comparison of how much bigger the actual squash will be. Despite some issues with cucumber beetles, squash vine borers, and squash bugs, the crops in the raised bed are doing all right, and hope to be able to show off my harvests by the end of summer, especially the watermelon.

If you grow vegetables, have you ever grown corn or watermelon? I'd love any tips!

Update: I posted too soon. Last Friday we found one of the corn stalks on the ground, it had been chewed at the base. I think I know exactly who did it. Grrrr......

First Watermelon Fruit

There are a few blooms on the same vine but this is the first fruit to pop out.