MY POT FARM

 

          Something else that’s making me happy is my pot farm…no, not that kind of pot (although that kind of pot would probably make me very happy as well), but vegetables in pots. They are all doing quite well and I’m a happy harvester and hope to keep doing so for a few more months.

          Last year was a horrible year for my pot farming. My tomatoes did not do well for the first time in a very long time. I usually had way more than enough to give to family and friends, but not last year. I was lucky to have enough for myself. The same for the zucchini (and who can’t grow zucchini???), but the delicata squash did provide me with a few succulent fruits.

          I wasn’t sure I would actually farm this year, but I went ahead and bought the dirt at Costco since I’d had Haley and her guy empty out all the pots last fall. They sat dormant over the winter and I cleaned them and sprayed with a 50/50 combination of water and bleach to kill off any fungi or other bacteria that might have been responsible for my poor return last year.

          Apparently, my decision to do that has paid off. So far, I’ve harvested enough snow peas to have two servings as well as cut up a handful in my salad. I also have another huge serving waiting in the fridge. I’ve harvested enough zucchini to give one away, make a loaf of chocolate zucchini bread, put some in my salad and make zucchini fritters twice. Tomatoes are now beginning to get ready to harvest, but I’ve been able to eat all that’s been produced so far. There’s lots more on the way though.

          I’ve one small delicata squash I could probably harvest now, but I’m going to wait. There appear to be several others growing. Unfortunately, with both the delicata and the zucchini, the fruit begins to form and then it turns yellow and falls off. I may be watering them too much, but I’ve cut back so will have to wait and see if that was the problem.

          Finally, the raspberry bushes gave me almost a gallon bag of berries.  I’m planning to cut them way back this fall and restring the wire. Part of the problem this year was the lack of wire support. It is also trying to spread elsewhere and I’m ignoring those vines. I’ll dig them up in the fall and put them back in the bed where they belong.

          The Karlberg Memorial Apple Tree even produced one (1) apple this year after not producing anything for years. I had the tree pruned, but that wasn’t the first time I did so during its dormant period so I have no idea why it gave me one apple…maybe to tease me by reminding me how good they are. I did pick it too soon so it wasn’t quite as juicy as I would have liked, but Kuma and I ate the whole thing. Perhaps the bees were out and about when the tree blossomed this year, although it didn’t have a lot of blossoms either.

          As for other plantings in the garden and not in pots, I found out the beautiful yellow bush I like is actually loosestrife. Loosestrife has a reputation for spreading like wildfire and is hard to eliminate. I have white loosestrife I dug up and eliminated years ago, but I noticed it’s back this year. I’m going to dig up the yellow one, divide and replant it in in a couple of places where it can spread if it likes. My peonies were lovely for about a day and then the rain pretty much did them in. The cala lilies continue to spread all over the place even though I keep trying to dig them up…they must be talking to the loosestrife. They are done blooming as are almost all the other lilies. The dahlias are getting ready to blossom…two opened just this week and I’m hoping they do well this year. The bee balm is blooming, my Auntie’s fuchsia and the various hydrangea are blooming away as well.

          If you were a true gardener or a professional, you’d look around my garden and find lots of things you would have done differently. It’s definitely not going to appear as one of the gardens in the Lake Forest Park Garden Tour. But, that’s just fine with me. I enjoy sitting on my deck with coffee, ice tea, a drink or glass of wine and looking at what my efforts have produced. I pat me, myself and I on the back and tell me, myself and I that eventually, sooner or later, whenever, we’ll get out there and work to make it look even better. Meanwhile, we’re all happy with our results.