Looking at our garden on Day 101 it’s rather apparent to see that we don’t have the knack of growing blue-ribbon fruits or vegetables worthy of entry at our own Minnesota State Fair…yet!? Yes, even on Day 101, we’re still in “Gardening 101.” However, the learning continues in (garden) spades!
Craig from Eco Systems visited our garden last week to film a special edition of Thursdays With Mother (watch below!). We talked about what went well and worked, what we would change for next year and most importantly what we can do now to get a bit more productivity from out tomatoes and peppers.
So here’s the “dirt” on how to perk up the garden. Our garden soil can use a little TLC so we’re going to do the following and see what happens:
- Make up a bucket of green tea: place compost materials in a 5 gallon bucket containing water and let it sit (downwind) for several days to release nutrients
- Add coffee grounds to soil around peppers (OK, drink more coffee…)
- Add bone meal to garden (purchase and follow directions on box)
On the success side, we have 3 pumpkins! One is about the size of a deflated soccer ball or volleyball (honoring the preferred sports of the Two Sweet Petunias daughters) and it’s starting to turn orange! The other two are a bit smaller but they still have 64 days until Halloween! Bad news: my husband can’t cut the grass around our garden box because the pumpkin, zucchini and cucumbers have established their “patch” around and under the raised garden! That’s one thing we’re changing for next season.
Unfortunately, our herb garden grew faster than we could harvest and handle. A number of them have gone to seed. I’m going to plant a few of the seeds and see what happens. But the lavender, oregano and lemon thyme are healthy and delicious and aromatic.
Sweet Baby Watermelons! Is There a Category for Them at the Minnesota State Fair?!!
We have been waiting for our “Sweet Baby” watermelon to grow to harvest size but it seems like tennis ball size is it. So during filming we opened one! What a surprise we had! It was sweet and delicious. Literally, like a baby watermelon! It was suggested that baby watermelon slices might make a nice garnish for your favorite summer or adult beverage. Anyone for a WOP? Guess I should have paid more attention to the instructions on the growing tag when we planted them in our garden. But to date this has been one of the best garden surprises!
And the learning continues…Thank you garden!
