I had some high hopes for the garden this year, but it has not been all that I hoped it would be. Due to an early wet season and our dog, much of our labors were in vain. I was so looking forward to an abundance of squash and carrots. I always like when our corn does well.
Our small harvest of corn. Photo by Faithful Homesteader
This year I actually put in a lot more labor than I had in previous years. My husband is the gardener with a green thumb. I planted seeds and plants. I added compost and mulch to the garden. This was the first year that I actually planted some flowers for my enjoyment.
My garden Petunias Photo by Faithful Homesteader
Squash has become a real staple of my diet and in previous years we enjoyed quite the harvest. I wanted that this year too, but our dog decided on a different plan. We actually did block off the squash bed with some chicken wire, but our dog still managed to get in there and dig it up better than a tiller. I hoped some of it would be salvageable, but so far that is not the case. I am so not happy with the dog concerning this. He also ate a pear tree. He destroyed and went after the area with the beans, but my husband was able to salvage them.
Another thing that I was looking forward to eating was some artichoke, but our dog Nuddie destroyed the seedlings. My husband was looking forward to growing the cucumber, but hurricane Nuddie trashed that crop as well. I guess we have to do a better job at doggie proofing the garden.
Our carrots under water. Photo by Faithful Homesteader
We were also not prepared for just how wet it would be so early in the growing season this year. The ground just became so saturated that it ponded for weeks at a time and certain crops just couldn’t handle it well. Our garden bed that we were growing the carrots in became a pond for several days. Some of our corn did not fare well either. Fortunately we did grow some corn in another area and it survived. Just in time to be off of doing a six week keto diet, I was able to enjoy some of the sweet corn for dinner.
We always grow peppers and tomatoes. I have enjoyed some peppers, but not the tomatoes so far. Something is getting the tomatoes too. Before that, we did give away some to friends. I always love it when we have enough to do that.
We had one of our peach trees that produced very well this year. Since I was doing a keto diet, I did not enjoy many of them. I did have one small peach just so that I could say that I had a peach from my own tree. Last year somebody stole all our peaches and we did not get to enjoy even one peach.
I guess I have to move on from the disappointment of what we lost in the garden. Hopefully what is left will be good. I have really come to love home grown fruit and vegetables from my own garden. There is nothing quite like it.
