We went to the local farmers market this year to sell some produce, jewelry and baskets. We originally envisioned our booth overflowing with beautiful, lovingly grown vegetables. Baskets of shiny red tomatoes, bags of crisp, dark, leafy greens, loads of corn and potatoes. Sweet carrots and peas that taste like candy. Well, that didn’t happen. And rather than sound like a whiner and complain about why we didn’t have the bounty we wanted, I’ll just say it’s hard to grow things out here. And yet … we are determined to learn from our mistakes. Next year will be better. The garden will be fenced with hardware cloth to keep out the bigger critters that do the most damage. We are testing our soil to see where our deficiencies (and strengths) lie. We will plant more garlic and potatoes and fewer salad greens. There will be more corn, more peppers, more fresh herbs. So we live and we learn and next year we will be back and better than ever. If you’re wondering what we’ll do with all those tomatoes pictured above, stay tuned. They’ll be a post on canning soon.
On a positive note, the cosmos that we grew from seed finally bloomed in September. It literally took all summer, but here it is. Beautiful, right?
So… a building year… and yet it seems you two have done wonders in a harsh environment. What an accompishment! I’m looking forward to next year’s crop.
GREAT pictures!! Your tomatoes are gorgeous, and the cosmos with the rays of sun on it is amazing. And good lessons too– it was a big learning garden this year for us too. I especially love the fact that you are canning and going to post a how-to. Happy last moments of summer!
We are all of us learning! Flowers are beautiful and tomatoes yummy!