Reflections on the Garden, Summer 2009

I apologize for going so long without an update. Life has been keeping me busy. And on the days I'm not busy, I've been too exhausted, mentally, to post anything here.
I still feel worn out, but I am contemplative about the yard right now, and where better to share those thoughts than here.
I'm about halfway through the growing season and here's a list of successes, and non-successes, and items that fall in between.

Success:
Beets
Arugula
Cabbage
Sugar Snap Peas
Sweet Peas
Lettuce

Semi-Success:
Broccoli (They aren't producing a whole lot.)
Tomatoes (I lost a lot of the seedlings, and the ones I grew from seed aren't doing well.)
Frisee (I think I just waited too long to harvest it.)
Spinach (I think I just waited too long to harvest it.)

Non-Success:
Starting a bunch of plants from seed in January
My marigold border
Asparagus from seed
Strawberries from seed
Artichokes (I got one bloom, one tiny bloom that isn't doing anything, 2 plants not producing, and that is out of about 100 artichoke seeds that were started)

Still Waiting to See:
Peppers (Still too small, but a few are flowering)
Eggplant (Look like seedlings)
Brussels Sprouts (Looking Good)
Watermelon (Looking Good)
Winter Squash (Looking Good)
Summer Squash (Looking Good)

So, what I've learned from this:

1. Make a better effort harvesting my produce
2. Do a planting rotation on peas, beets, salad greens
3. Start most seeds later
4. Start artichokes earlier, transplant them sooner, and keep them in the basement longer
5. Harden off my plants
6. Don't bother with seed starts for: squash/melons, peas, salad greens, strawberries, or asparagus
   
7. Don't inter-crop broccoli or cabbage with peppers or tomatoes (broccoli and cabbage are way too big)
8. Do inter-crop beets with tomatoes and peppers. It helps keep weeds back, and they are a good size.
   

And here are some pictures:

My first spinach harvest. This was from "thinning" the plants. It was honestly my best spinach harvest, because I slacked off on all the rest, until the plants bolted and it was too late.

The peas as they were growing. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of them at their prime. Now they are turning brown and falling off the trellis. But just imagine the green plants growing all the way to the top of the trellis, and you can imagine what they were like at their peak.

This is my artichoke plant when I first realized I had an actual flower (the part you eat).

My artichoke flower was still really small, but since it was starting to open, I realized I had to pick it. I wish I could say it was the best artichoke ever, but it wasn't. It was on the tough side. Maybe I just needed to cook it longer, maybe it was because I picked it too late....


Here's a picture of my garden taken recently with my phone. I noticed a bunch of yellow birds sitting on top of the tomato cages and I was trying to get a picture of them. You can see the compost bin Nick made for me on the right.