First Harvest!

Our garden hasn't been the wonderful success I would hope for, but we've had a little bit of success. (Mostly, we are fighting poor soils that have been neglected for so long - plus a short growing season here in the Rockies.)

We have here: a nice head of lettuce, a pair of radishes, some calendula flowers and some eggs from our chickens.

The rest of the garden...

(pictures taken before the main watering, lol.)

The pumpkins haven't grown tremendously, but they are flowering now, and are reasonably happy.

The calendula (interplanted with the strawberries) is doing very well. I have harvested about 8 flowers now to make calendula-infused oil (that will go into another post.) I plan to let several flowers go to seed so that I have something for next year.

The strawberries themselves are doing okay. I think they're suffering from their nearness to the cheatgrass. We lost the only berry we had to whatever bird decided to snatch it.

I have been pleased with how well the cabbages are doing. These were purchased from someone locally (some were free when that's all that was left!) They're being visited by butterflies, but not too badly. Apparently, they can handle this poor soil pretty well.

We only have two surviving lettuce plants. Some of the seed was probably too old (lettuce seed only survives about 12 months.) This one was kicked out of the bed by whatever had been digging in it at one point. (The other is also not where it was supposed to be.) However, this one was very much enjoyed (in the top picture.) I picked it just before it bolted.

That one bed that I built on top of the soil with the hay as foundation still has the happiest corn, but the other seeds didn't do too well there.

Some of the other corn has done okay, but nothing tremendous. Since taking the pictures, some corn has begun blooming.

The two artichoke plants are still struggling, but doing okay. Maybe I'll try potting them when the weather turns cold again - and plant them out again in the spring. They won't produce before frost, that's for sure.

This tomato plant is barely keeping itself above the (I think) wild geraniums which have taken over a large part of the garden. I only spent about half an hour over there every other day, so I prioritize the weeding to what really needs doing. And though the tomatoes are having to compete, they're doing okay.

These two brussels sprouts plants are also doing really well. We'll see whether they produce something before the frosts begin. The little rosemary in front of them may need winter rescuing - or I might try mulching it in place.

Another squash-type plant (don't remember which one without looking it up...) It's pretty happy though.

The watermelons are a bit slow, but growing really well. In the week since I took the pictures, they've doubled in size.

More corn with some sunflowers - which also have sprung up more in the past week.

The radishes. I will let one or two bolt so that I can keep the seeds. Hubby liked the two we harvested already. I'm not super keen on eating radishes, but they are easy and beautiful (and we never want a whole bunch at once.)

In other beds, something is eating my fennel fronds. Hopefully there will be something left for me at the end of the season - even if only some "leaves" to dehydrate.

The potatoes (again, the bed I built on top of the soil) are nearly ready to harvest.

So a variety of results. On the whole, I'm rather pleased. We had some unexpected challenges and started later than I wanted, but we've had some success - and there's more coming.

This was written for @simplymike's community garden challenge.

Photos taken in July 2020 with my Nikon D7200. Crossposted on Uptrennd.

Past issues...

Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
(Buy my work at RedBubble, TeePublic, PicFair and DeviantArt.)
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Garden Journal - July 2020 - Homesteading

First Harvest!

The rest of the garden...

Past issues...

Poultry

Gardening in Wyoming

Indoor Gardening