Garden experiment, Summer 2005

We started our plantings in April & May – we had some decent success and some very tragic endings…

1. Tomatoes were so-so
– the patios did great until the ugly green horn worms feasted on the blooms
– the romas were plentiful, but had little taste
– yellow heirlooms went NUTS – we couldn’t eat enough, there are still some on the vine
– big boy or whatever they were called only produced 2, one rotted, it was sad
– mr. stripey – it put out a few blooms, but seemed really stunted, no mature fruit
2. Peppers
- banana peppers did fairly well, we didn’t eat many
- the green pepper plant put out a couple, but apparently we didn’t water it enough, they never matured, ended up turning red and drying out
- jalapeño peppers produced well, not all were hot
3. Broccoli – most did really well, the first head was delicious, but then the little tiny green worms showed up (and some ended up on our plate – we had enough fresh broccoli after that)
4. Spinach – barely came up, died a horrible death
5. Lettuce- did really well, ate it a couple of times, too bitter
6. Carrots – mutated, planted too close together in rocky soil, not cool (see picture) many are still in the ground
7. Squash – several mature veggies, were delicious, but leaves were attached by scary alien looking bugs apparently resistant to sevin-dust
8. Cucumbers – barely made it a day, sad
9. Unexpected pumpkin plants – we had about ½ a dozen pumpkin plants come up (thanks for our rotting pumpkin from last fall that we deposited into the garden). We were able to get one small pumpkin off the largest plant just before it was attacked by scary alien looking bugs. We’ve still got one plant that is hanging in there and has blooms!
10. Blueberries – both bushes produced fruit in their first year – very very tasty – thankfully the birds didn’t discover them (very few hit the ground) and we distracted the birds with lots and lots of seed!
11. Basil – AMAZING, harvested some seeds
12. Rosemary – great for cooking, but the severely hot and dry weather has dried out the plants
13. Parsley – took forever to come up, only prospered in the pot, not in the ground
14. Lemon grass, oregano, and cinnamon basil did VERY well, but we rarely used them
15. Key limes - we had a lot, but not enough at once to make a pie :) the plant has new blooms, so once it gets cooler, I'll move it inside and we'll have limes almost year-round!

I think that’s about it. I planted zinnas from seed and they did quite well, I wish I had more. They are past their peak, but still blooming, I will plant them again next year.