Garden Journal Entry #10: A Very Quick Review of 2015

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What a year.

If I've learned anything in public writing, it is that pretending, in writing, that real life doesn't exist on the other side, is a never ending pursuit of futility. I realize my last garden journal ended with mulching my raised beds in May, and I never updated again after that.

I did take pictures.

I'd love to go back and retroactively publish a few more entries to prove that I was still around all summer and my garden wasn't completely forgotten.

But I'm not going to do that. Instead, I'll do my best to give a brief summary of everything that went undocumented last summer, and make a pledge to do better this summer. Thanks for sticking with me!

• It was a very hot and very dry summer and I didn't water the garden nearly enough.
• I need a better watering system, in general, and it might in fact be too sunny in the back yard for many of my plants.
• Need to finish landscaping the entire garden area.
• Would like a strawberry bed at some point with a mesh cover.
• Compost pile is big, probably cooking nicely, and a horrible eye-sore.

• Most of them died mid-July, for lack of water.
• Cherry tomatoes (Jess's transplants) were the most abundant and were still producing well into November.
• Bird netting worked well over cherry tomatoes with a round tomato cage.
• Future plans: all tomatoes and basil in small raised bed.

• Obviously easy and completely out of control.
• Never did figure out how to train it up the trellis (research that more).
• Spiralizing worked especially well for yummy main dishes and freezer prep.
• Pick small, or use large zucchini for baking only.

• Success!
• 2 plants choked out initially by squash - replant to other bed made for slow growth.
• All 4 plants produced well into November.
• Pick while fruit is small.
• Chop the tops for wider growth - plants got much too tall to reach.

• Broccoli worms. Gross.
• Needed to plant earlier. Bolted very early.
• Don't bother with this again.

• Try again!
• Need more water!
• New location...

• Move all herbs to front.
• Basil - easy, over productive, fresh and good all summer.
• Peppermint - dried a bunch and stored in a jar.
• Lemon Verbena - killed it; if I find another one, keep indoors (bathroom) to stay alive.
• Need more oregano - slow and not much growth for 2nd year in a row.
• Rosemary - totally still alive but I never use it. Rosemary bread? Rosemary infused kombucha? Rosemary infused olive oil?

• Mint? I say this every year, but it should be easy and I could probably add it to kombucha, tea, and cucumber water, in addition to my once a season mojito.
• Try cucumbers up the trellis.
• SIP system in small raised bed.