(Oh, Hi Husband! You're sure lookin' good out there fixing all that fence. What? You want ME to come out and stretch barbed wire? I'm sorry, I'm sure I didn't hear you right. Clearly I am much too busy snapping photos to be any help to you right now. Okay, come in for dinner soon. Love you, bye!)
Here, let's hearken back to friendlier days. Our late spring/early summer garden was a beautiful vision of neat rows and colorful plants. We dined on fresh spinach, new lettuce and sweet onions while we waited for the tomatoes and peppers to join the party.
After thinking about what did and did not work well last year, I've come up with a list of ways to improve our vegetable garden this year. (Oh, because he does most of the work, Dan has total veto power. But he's a smart husband and knows to use his vetos wisely.)
1. Less Corn. I don't know why but we kind of suck at growing corn. It stands there, teasing us and looking delicious, but somewhere in the developmental process, It gets stunted and fails to gain the required sweetness. Corn also takes up a lot of space for very little reward.
2. More in-the-ground veggies. With our early frost, we lost a LOT. So to guard our hearts, this year I propose we grow more onions (multiple varieties), garlic, carrots, radishes, and give potatoes a try. An added benefit to this plan is that the wee one loves to dig, so come harvest time, she'll have to opportunity to earn her keep.
3. Stay away from the super awesome Mom's Weekend Plant Sale. I'm a sucker for this plant sale held on the WSU campus every spring (it's this Sunday if you're interested). Every year I buy plants too early at this sale and then they die. As much as I'd love to support those hard working horticulture students, I'm passing this year to save my dollars and my sanity.
4. Fewer cherry tomatoes. I {heart} these little sweeties, but Dan detests them and I can only eat so many. Last year we were flooded in them, so we should probably grow fewer.
5. Build a tent. No, not for camping, but for saving our tender veggies. An early cold snap got us last year, but this year we plan on putting up a fight (or a tent) to save the fruits of our labor.
Please share. What are you putting in your garden this year? What challenges are you working through?
On Saturday, Dan put in onions, garlic and early lettuce. We seem to have pretty good luck with early-season vegetables, as well as veggies that primarily grow underground.
Last year, we lost all of our vines, including squash, pumpkins and zucchini in an early frost. It was more than a little bit heartbreaking.
Last year, we lost all of our vines, including squash, pumpkins and zucchini in an early frost. It was more than a little bit heartbreaking.
Here, let's hearken back to friendlier days. Our late spring/early summer garden was a beautiful vision of neat rows and colorful plants. We dined on fresh spinach, new lettuce and sweet onions while we waited for the tomatoes and peppers to join the party.
After thinking about what did and did not work well last year, I've come up with a list of ways to improve our vegetable garden this year. (Oh, because he does most of the work, Dan has total veto power. But he's a smart husband and knows to use his vetos wisely.)
1. Less Corn. I don't know why but we kind of suck at growing corn. It stands there, teasing us and looking delicious, but somewhere in the developmental process, It gets stunted and fails to gain the required sweetness. Corn also takes up a lot of space for very little reward.
2. More in-the-ground veggies. With our early frost, we lost a LOT. So to guard our hearts, this year I propose we grow more onions (multiple varieties), garlic, carrots, radishes, and give potatoes a try. An added benefit to this plan is that the wee one loves to dig, so come harvest time, she'll have to opportunity to earn her keep.
3. Stay away from the super awesome Mom's Weekend Plant Sale. I'm a sucker for this plant sale held on the WSU campus every spring (it's this Sunday if you're interested). Every year I buy plants too early at this sale and then they die. As much as I'd love to support those hard working horticulture students, I'm passing this year to save my dollars and my sanity.
4. Fewer cherry tomatoes. I {heart} these little sweeties, but Dan detests them and I can only eat so many. Last year we were flooded in them, so we should probably grow fewer.
5. Build a tent. No, not for camping, but for saving our tender veggies. An early cold snap got us last year, but this year we plan on putting up a fight (or a tent) to save the fruits of our labor.
Please share. What are you putting in your garden this year? What challenges are you working through?
1 comment:
Just put our spinach in the ground last weekend. I'm very curious to hear how your onions grow--our hard, clay like soil was too hard and clay like for them to develop much. Our first year we had no idea what we were doing and planted corn, which grew like gangbusters and was amazing! Thus leading me to believe I would have success year after year. Well,not so much. It has to get HOT for corn and the last couple years have been too yucky--so we aren't even bothering with it this year either. Can't wait to hear/see more garden updates!
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