Recap from an annoying gardening summer:
Last summer's vegetable garden was not a huge success - again - but it was much better than the summer before. Partly this was due to unforseen circumstance. I had made plans to build up the beds and co-garden with a neighbor, but then she had to bail. I had planted some things that she preferred - things like golden beets and tomatillos. Im not crazy about either of those, but of course those were the vegetables that did best. (of course). I have a freezer full of tomatillos and I guess I had better make some verde sauce with them or something.  I also planted fewer of the things I love - like pole beans and eggplants. Oh well. Lesson learned.

I outwitted the cucumber beetles with moderate success by making a raised bed behind my house and growing my winter squashes in there. I got some good Spaghetti and Hubbard squash by training them to grow up my fence. I tried some Cherokee Trail Of Tears Beans which did ok, but there were not really enough of them to do anything but munch on. Not bad though! I saved seeds and will grow more this year. My Kentucky Wonder pole beans did great and I got some good seed from those as well!.

There was more water available this last summer, so my  tomatoes were better and no two legged pests stole anything out of the garden proper, although Bambi found it and ate my Valerian flowers. I did get a decent harvest of Valerian though, and it has been keeping me suitably sedated though the beginning of this new political regime. Not sure what to do about Bambi though as  the two legged pests stole the chain link fence that used to keep the deer out. I am afraid of so many things this year. Did the humans really need to steal my fence as well as my country? I digress............

A few of the heirlooms got buggy and I was always fighting those off with neem oil and soap. I even found a tomato caterpillar for the first time and made a mad dash to drown him. Never saw another one after that. I never gor those beds raised much, but I did continue with the keyhole garden idea and I love, love, love it!

Plans for the new year - and hoping to actualize them this time............

Raise my beds to cover up the compost bins in the middle. (right now, they are exposed)

Plant some things from starts and not from seed. Things like onions. I dont have great luck with onions from seed. They start fine and then they fail. Maybe I will have a chance with bigger starts.

Make more raised beds in the back yard now that I know where the sun hits best back there (there used to be a huge shade tree).

Maybe only plant one tomatillo plant. I think that will do me just fine. Two at best.

The Tweakers Stole My Tomatoes

They did. I literally walked out my front door in a rush to get to the Post Office one day and ran right into two meth heads walking out of my garden with a big bag of the last of my unripe tomatoes.  I was taken by surprise and a little intimidated by the one - who got into a car much nicer than mine, btw - but I did maneage to sternly scold them and told them to ask next time. Right. Thats gonna happen...........

I saw it coming and I was warned. They made off with my biggest pumpkin and the one tweaker was always making comments on the garden when he walked by. He was, in an off-handed way, telling me that he was about to steal from me. Thats how it often works. But in broad daylight. In front of people. Nobody lifted a finger to stop them or tell me.  I know the one guy and see him around a lot. I doubt that I will be able to not say something to him in the future. I called the cops and felt like an idiot for doing so. But when I went to the last police liason meeting, they did express the need to know every little thing that these guys were up to. Its just tomatoes, but they were my tomatoes. And I was so very proud of them. :(

I either have to find another place to grow tomatoes or I have to build a fence that I cant afford. Its always something, isnt it. But I grew some damned fine tomatoes and I can now take that knowledge elsewhere.


On that note, the plants were shutting down and I recently pulled them up, dug in a bit more aged chicken shit, tore down and built back up my bean poles, and planted peas and garlic. Lots of garlic. Im just going to plant things that have worked for me in the past and keep my fingers crossed........