My goal was to get my garden going as early as possible by starting my onions indoors. My first attempt with onions outdoors was not a success story and I don’t think my second attempt is going to be any better. I’ve only managed to get one onion to grow. Behold!
However, it turns out I am a master at growing this moss-like organism. It has completely taken over where the onions should have been.
I may need to suck it up and buy onion sets this year.
There is a small gap of time between garden season and busy season that allows me to catch up on other projects. I’ve used the time this year to finally get all of my sorority t-shirts cut and the interfacing attached. Now they are officially ready to be sewed together to make the long awaited t-shirt quilt.
I make no promises to myself that anything more will happen during this last week of freedom, but at least it is moving forward!
Surprisingly, the beginning of the next garden season is almost upon us. I just checked my garden calendar and I am scheduled to start onions indoors at the end of this month. In celebration, I’ve updated the look of the blog. Hey, it’s much cheaper than redecorating our house!
Things are quiet now and it seems like a good time to evaluate our first year garden. I’ve compiled all of my notes below to help me plan for next year.
Tomatoes: These grew very well. Struggled a little with blossom-end rot and with rodents eating them before they could ripen. We had to bring them all in while still green and ripen them in paper bags.
Lettuce: The spring crop was great. Next year I want to plant in succession so that it isn’t all mature at the same time. The summer lettuce never grew. It must be too hot.
Onions: Did not do well. Next year try planting them deeper.
Bell Peppers: Also did not do well. Next year do not plant them next to the tomato plants as they are too shaded. Also try planting more.
Cucumbers: A great producer! We did have the cucumber beetle come a give the plants bacterial wilt. I’ve heard to cover the cucumbers until they bloom to keep the beetles away.
Tomatillos: We did not give them a trellis and it fell over and broke. Definitely want to try again with support.
Jalapenos: Did way too well. We had to pull them up before they were even done producing because we had a ton of jalapenos. Next year only plant 2 jalapeno plants.
Beans: They grew well. We want to plant more beans next year. We also need to start them earlier so that they have time to dry on the vine before frost comes so we can get fresh and dried beans.
Patty-pan Squash: Horrible. We only got one. Next year we should try planting in deeper mounds and maybe get a different kind.
Spaghetti squash: We got one, but it may have been affected by the bacterial wilt because we never got another. We would like to try more of these.
Corn: Was all eaten by something. Next year start indoors.
Kale: It’s growing well in the raised bed, but not the pots. Try to plant earlier next year and plant more.
Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower: All of these were planted too late and are either dead or barely hanging on now that it is winter.
Raspberries: Red are doing great, black are planted in too shaded of a spot.
The other plants all did well but we don’t plan on planting eggplant, okra, and all the different kinds of tomatoes again. Some new items we want for next year are:
-Carrots, beets, strawberries, blueberries, sunflowers and peas.
I’d say overall it was a success!
Time to use all those habaneros! Okay, let me warn you, this is a hazardous exercise. I was coughing, my eyes watering, and my nose burning all while using rubber gloves. The combination of the habanero and vinegar fumes is a killer. Thankfully, I have successfully made a few bottles of hot sauce.
This recipe has carrots in it, so the sauce is a little chunkier than I’m used to. We will have to see if I can get it out of the hot sauce bottles without too much trouble.
Tonight I made our first dish using our tomato sauce. It was spaghetti squash and meatballs in the crock pot.
It was very easy to make. Just throw in the sauce, a little oil, balls of Italian sausage, and a spaghetti squash cut in half with the seeds removed. After it cooks for a few hours in the crock pot, you remove the squash and the flesh can be scooped right out. We are pleased with our sauce!
We did it! We used the rest of our tomatoes to make 8 jars of salsa. 4 hot, 4 mild. We’ve had a tiny taste but won’t know for sure until we pick up some chips.
This weekend we thawed out all of the processed tomatoes that we froze over the summer. It ended up being around 20-something jars. Our first project was to make tomato sauce with 7 lbs. of tomatoes. We even had some basil we had frozen from the garden to use as seasoning.
Some of the jars
Cooking down the tomatoes
Final sauce jars
We didn’t use a recipe specifically for canning, so we poured the sauce into old pasta jars and froze them for later. The remaining 10 lbs. of tomatoes will be made into salsa! Good activity for a cold Sunday.
We harvested our first bunch of kale today. Most of the other kale plants aren’t doing very well, especially the ones in pots. I’m making a note to plant more kale and only put them in the raised beds.
I used the kale to make a spicy chicken sausage soup. The kale actually gave it a really nice crunch.
It has been awhile since my last post. This is partly due to the garden being an uneventful place while the fall plants slowly grow (or get eaten), but it is also because I’ve spent the last 3 months making this baby blanket for my fabulous friend Christina!
Now I can turn my attention back to the garden. Some of our beans have dried enough to bring them inside. I can’t wait to try cooking them. The kale is big enough to be used, but I’m waiting on the cabbage and cauliflower to do anything worth while. My biggest worry is the Brussels sprouts that are wilting. Not sure if they will make it.
