Already thinking about next years garden...

So, with the exception of a few plants, this years garden has been a real failure for me. I need to start thinking about next years garden and what I will (and won't) plant in it. I'll start out with a list of what grew and what didn't.

Grew Well:

Snap Peas
Cucumber
Onion
Strawberries
Rhubarb

Didn't Work Out:

Beans
Zucchini
Broccoli
Carrots
Radishes
Spinach
Kale
Cabbage
Eggplant
Peppers
Tomato
Beets



I have to start by asking myself how much of the failure could have been prevented? I need much better soil in the raised beds, that would make a difference all the way around. I neglected my garden for 2 weeks during the beginning of the hottest part of the summer. This was due to Lily being born, but it was neglect all the same.


So, what am I definitely NOT growing again next year? Eggplant, Peppers and Beets for sure.

What am I definitely GROWING again next year? Snap Peas, Cucumber, Onion, Strawberries and Rhubarb, for sure, obviously. But what am I not willing to give up on quite yet? Cabbage, for one. I love cabbage, I cook with it all the time, and Alaska is know for its ability to grow prize winning cabbages, which tells me that I am just doing something wrong. I also know that even if I say I am not going to, I will end up with at least 2 tomato plants again next year. I think I will try Zucchini again as well, as this is just something I really want to have an abundance of in the fall. I think that next year I just need to scale it down a bit, and try to focus on a few so-far-unaccessable-to-me vegetables, and a few tried and true favorites. I will not give up, and sooner or later I will have an amazing vegetable garden every year to feed my family!

Is it time to re-define our priorities?

All you seem to hear in the news is the (still) tanking economy and other public discomforts. It makes me wonder when more people are going to realize that sometimes, simpler is better. The American People as a whole are working themselves to death, just to keep up appearances within a superficial, materialistic society. Families are living together, co-existing, without ever getting to know one another. How are parents supposed to lead by example and instill morals and values into their children, when their children never see them because they are always at work? If society placed a higher value on being at home than traveling, multi-tasking, and spending money, we would have a greener earth, happier families, better LOCAL economies, and have (possibly) poorer, yet much better off and contented, people.

There is nothing better to me than being at home, watching my children grow, learn and play, while my husband works on whatever project he has dreamed up in the back yard. We aren't spending money, we're using hardly any electricity because we are outside in the yard instead of in the living room watching TV (we don't even HAVE TV), and the children are learning that home is a good thing, to be enjoyed every day. Sitting on the front porch in the covered swing with a cold drink on a hot, sunny day, is, to me, better than being in a mall, or a car, or just about anywhere else.

Happy Birthday to me!

This was my birthday gift from Rob this year. Adding a deck is like adding a whole new room to the house!

Time flys...

Hard to believe that Lily is almost a month old already! I've severely neglected my blog! Here is a quick garden update...

The broccoli and spinach bolted, due to the 85F+ temperatures. The cabbage hasn't grown at all in the last month. The peas are blooming and the beans are doing well, as are the carrots. The radishes have met a similar fate as the cabbages. Cucumbers and zucchini are looking good, and I have 1 tomato. The peppers are covered in aphids and the eggplant seems to be a wasted effort. The onions, beets and strawberries are looking good, and the rhubarb is ready to harvest again! This crazy weather has just messed with the garden too much this year, but next year will hopefully be more productive! I'll post some more pictures next time!