Fruit of Our Labors

Our garden has produced some, but more than its fruit, I've learned a lot. The garden looked gorgeous from afar. But when you actually look at what it produced, it was skimpy.

Green beans produced first. The first batch was tough and stringy and I discovered I waited too long to pick them. The second batch was great! I am surprised how long the next batch is taking. Unfortunately, I didn't know there was a bush-type green bean and I planted that by mistake. I will know next time to make sure they are pole-beans.

The lettuce is beautiful. Unfortunately, I've never been a salad-eater. The leaves are a bit bitter, but I think that's how it's supposed to be. I've mostly just picked leaves for tacos and sandwiches.
The first couple ears of corn we picked were super sweet but chewy so I think it was too early. So we waited a little longer and the bugs got them. I think there's some vegetable and garlic mixture or something I need to find again online to try applying to the silks; I could also ask the nursery. We salvaged 3 ears and they were really sweet and crisp. It doesn't look like they will be producing any more, plus I figure we don't stand a chance against the bugs on the same plant. So we pulled them up.

Two carrots and about 7 beets have survived the heat, but I think the ground is too hard and they haven't grown much. I think we need to add sand next time. I think the ground has too much clay and not enough compost mixed in to help it. We'll mix in our pile when it's time to till/replant. I don't know if that will be at the end of summer for our fall garden or if we'll wait till next spring.

Our green bell peppers and jalapeños look cute because they haven't grown nearly as tall as I thought. There is one jalapeño and a few peppers but they look miniature and I don't know if I should pick them now or wait and see if they get bigger. Again, I think it is due to the soil.
We got 5 cantaloupes but I don't know if they will produce any more. They are twice as big as the dinky ones at the store and taste sweet. I was wondering how you know when they are ready to pick when they started getting a tint of tan; I picked it up and it came right off the vine. Unfortunately, they became ripe one day after another; we had to give half of them away.

I thought pumpkins would take all summer to grow, but the vines started turning brown and withering and I thought it was dying. Then the pumpkins turned orange! Apparently, down this far south, you're supposed to plant them around July 4th in order for them to be ready for Halloween. So why do they sell seeds in April? Well, we just picked the rest of them today and I carved one. I baked one into pulp and used it in a pumpkin/carrot cake for Fathers Day. The cat got the first one which was really small. Two rotted on the vine. I have two more that I plan on baking and turning into pumpkin bread or something. So we got 7 in all, although they were all kind of small. Now that they've been picked, we will pull up the vines and add them to our compost pile and then plant some new ones in hope of Halloween.

Other than pumpkins, I didn't plant squash because neither Rex nor I like them. So even though zucchini would have been a sure thing, there wasn't any point to planting them if we weren't going to eat them.

I thought cucumber were supposed to be supported by a tomato cage. But their tendrils did not grab onto anything so I had to prop them up inside. Then I read that they were in the pumpkin/cantaloupe family and usually grow on the ground. I'll try that next time. So far, they've grown big but only produced 2 on one of the 3 plants.

Our watermelon seemed stunted and the pumpkins needed more room, so I transplanted them to the area where we had buried a ton of leaves (which had turned into dirt). They looked like they died, but they actually emerged from their shock and look healthy and are growing beautifully now. Maybe we'll have watermelon for Halloween instead of pumpkins! :)

We have a few green onions scattered around and all the marigolds I planted to repel the bad bugs are big and prolific.

The basil is great, but I forgot prune it before it flowered so I don't know if I'll even use two of the four plants. When it flowers, the taste apparently changes for the worse. Even so, I've used some leaves in place of dried basil for a few dishes -- tasted the same as if I used dried. I learned how to dry it in the oven and crush it for future use, but it smells different than the kind I got from the store. Maybe it's because the store-bought basil is much older? I have yet to try out pesto sauce, but I never liked it when I worked at Round Table Pizza; of course, my tastes have changed since I grew up.
The cilantro is beautiful too, but after I put it in guacamole, Rex and I decided we didn't like the taste. So I just let it flower and look pretty. I won't plant it next time.
None of the other herbs grew past seedling stage. I think they all fried in the sun; next time I'll start them in the shade and transplant when they get bigger.

Our tomato plants look fabulous, although the fruit is half the size I thought it would be. Unfortunately, they get eaten by critters as soon as they start changing color. We thought it was birds, but the netting did nothing. After some computer research, I thought it was squirrels or rats, so we went to the nursery to get some blood meal, but they told us that it wouldn't deter the rats. And rats, they said, are the culprit because everyone is having that problem. The only chance at combating the rats is to build a big metal cage and even then the rats might dig under it. The rat problem happens every summer there is a drought because the rats are looking for something juicy to eat. (I can't remember the last time it rained! 2 months ago? 3?) From what I understand, summers in San Antonio are either droughts or floods, more often droughts. So is it worth it to grow tomatoes? Should I pull up my tomatoes now? Maybe if we let our cats go outside...but rats would probably get the better of our cats. We also have a few grape tomato plants because our kids eat them like their grapes. They haven't produced much yet and the ones that are there are green, but I'm sure they will only feed the rats, not us.

Other than the rats and the poor soil, I think my other problem is fungus. I water them via soaker hoses, but the hoses don't weep, they spray. The leaves on most of the plants turn brown and wither and I assume that it is because the leaves get wet and mildew. I think I could buy something from the nursery to combat the mildew, but I figure it is a lost cause right now. Next time, I will bury the hoses, if I don't install a drip system.

Next time, I want to try peas and not so many tomato plants. I also want to try different colors of bell pepper and much more corn (if I can figure out how to fight off the bugs without pesticide.) I might even try grapes if I feel up to it. It's too bad no one at church gardens. Besides the nurseries, who else can I ask? (It's hard to ask them because they are always so busy.)

Even though we haven't seen much produce from our garden, I am not really disappointed. This year is a learning experience so it is still a success.