My garden last year. Part II: the joy of harvest

[m31]

_{My Spanish lavender. Gorgeously deep purple! I love it!}

I could be walking with a storm cloud over my head, and it vanishes as soon as I step into my tiny corner of pure magic. That is probably one of the biggest reasons gardening is tugging on my heartstrings as much. The garden becomes a place of healing. The plants bring me happiness, and I thank them often as they not only bring me nourishment at some point or are beautiful to look at but also, the work with them sets my mind straight. Last summer, the garden was a blessing when I needed the escape, the reset.

Some people prefer to listen to music, podcasts, or audiobooks while working, and there is nothing wrong with it. I, however, prefer the sounds of nature while working in the garden. And it contributes to being more present with my thoughts. While my hands do the work, my mind is untangling and processing the situations and feelings mostly without interference or interruptions. I deeply value the time to be alone and to reconnect with my sense of self. In my view, it is essential for well-being.

_{The top two images are of the same herbal bed a few weeks apart. Here we have chamomile, milk thistle, calendula, common tansy, yarrow, and marigolds. The third image is of a chamomile blooming.}

I did not set my expectations too high for my garden last year. The first year in a new place should be reserved for observation, and figuring out the environment, what the soil is like, and what potential problems or pests can be identified. I learned from neighbors that the two years before no one had done anything on the plot apart from mowing. It meant that the soil had rested. Rested? I am not entirely sure if it has some scientific meaning behind it, but people the age of my grandparents or thereabout believe that fields that have been left untouched for at least a year produce better. These days with how fast-paced the turnaround is and with limited farmable soil, I am sure there are other more effective ways of getting the same effect.

That said, viss auga griezdamies (everything grew turning, meaning everything grew wonderfully)! I had my fair share of doubts and kept reminding myself to trust the process. Soon enough, the plants and flowers claimed their space to fullness, and I could not be happier!

Any issues? Well. There is a bit of a slug problem. They especially favored my greenhouse for some reason. And there is a bit of a weed problem. The ground elders love this plot! While they are not useless and were in folk medicine here, they are still considered weeds. Their root systems take over everything. It is nearly impossible to get rid of them.

Other than that, no other issues that I could identify this year. I was and am impressed!

_{Again the top images are taken a few weeks apart of the same flower bed. Here we have four coral-colored dahlias (the short variety), sweet pea flowers, zinnias, and two types of osteospermums. The last image is of zinnias in full bloom. The butterflies loved them!}

It was the first year I grew so many different flowers. I did not have the luxury of time for better planning. What goes where? I began so late and started from nothing. Some things worked out better than others. For example, this bed (in the photos above) had many wonderful plants. As zinnias progressed and grew quite tall, they overtook the bed and overshadowed the short coral dahlias and osteospermums. Also, I did not want to go with an overly formal look, and in some places, I tossed the seeds instead for a more chaotic and wild effect.

As I plan to extend my flower garden in the future, I will take the spacing and height differences of each flower into account more.

_{Another flower bed a few weeks apart. The leaves of dahlias exploded, and they became proper bushes with blooms popping up one after another. I pruned the blooms that turned old, and new ones kept growing. In this bed, we also have snapdragons. Oh my! I love snapdragons. They come in many color variations. So pretty and vibrant! There is also a rose (I don’t know the variety, unfortunately), white gladioli, and a row of white asters.}

Here, asters and dahlias eventually began overshadowing the roses. I also experienced an aphid invasion on my dahlias for a short while. Luckily, I caught it early and addressed it by spraying 70% alcohol on them. The aphids were no longer, and while dahlias did react to the spray for a bit by forming tiny, yellow bumps on the leaves, it was better than other solutions I could think of at the time.

_{The round sunflower bed. Sunflowers grew taller than me! Strangely, I could not find any edible varieties at the time of the sowing. I could only find decorative ones. Maybe it was due to people sowing sunflowers as a sign of support for Ukraine everywhere.}

_{The narrow-leaf mint.}

I picked up two types of mint from Depo and later learned interesting features when drying them. The narrow-leaf mint preserves the scent much more than the other variety. At the same time, while fresh, I prefer the other variety's scent more. It almost has slight citrus undertones, which take the backseat once dry. However, when pulverized the scent breaks out again, the same when infused. But the narrow-leaf one is still more potent and rich.

_{The wide-leaf mint.}

_{Of two raspberry plants, only one survived. The berries did not mature last year, but I am sure this year will be a different story.}

_{Tomatoes. How did it start? How did it go?}

As I mentioned in the previous gardening post, the tomato seedlings had a bit of a slow start. Perhaps, a bit of a shock to their system while transplanting when they still were tiny. They pulled through in the end.

I was concerned about pollination, so as soon as blooms popped up, I shook the plants now and then. At first, I thought it was not working, but then there were so many fruits all over. I had one variety which was called Pineapple tomatoes, and another one was medium-sized round fruit tomatoes. Both produced amazingly. I used the natural biofertilizer mix on them maybe twice and watered them as often as I could.

Soon enough, the greenhouse turned into a tomato and cucumber jungle. I harvested likely the most amount so far! And there is something about how homegrown tomatoes taste, unlike store-bought ones. So much more flavor!

_{Besides cucumbers and tomatoes, we also grew jalapenos! They did better than expected. I harvested a five-liter bucket at the end of the growing season. I froze most of them and attempted to dehydrate the rest in the oven. The dehydration did not go so well. I guess a dehydrator would be a great future investment. Oh, and the spice of these tiny devils! Impressive!}

_{The pumpkin patch was a great success! The photos above were taken weeks apart. I had a few white Moon pumpkins and a bunch of yellow, striped ones.}

The pumpkins did not grow too big, but I still call it a success because I didn't even manage to sprout them before by directly sowing the seeds in beds. This time I had the process down. I pre-soaked the seeds, sprouted them for a few days, then potted them. The first batch I planted too early, the temperatures were too harsh at nighttime (the seedlings wilted away). The next batch was transplanted in the patch when it was much warmer outside. The rest is history.

This year I will get it right quickly, and I also plan to feed them more (pumpkins love nutrient-rich soil), and they, hopefully, grow huge.

_{The vegetable row progress.}

In the rows, everything grew extremely well. The only hiccup was the beans that never sprouted, and later when I transplanted strawberries and raspberries there. Strawberries were struggling due to the heat of the crazy summer we had. The other thing I learned was that, unlike pole beans, green peas will not attach themselves to corn stalks for support. So they just lay on the ground around them. Next time, I will create the support system they need.

_{And so slowly, I found myself harvesting more and more things. The cherries and gooseberries ripened. I harvested some mint leaves and chamomile for tea and other uses.}

_{Despite the gooseberry bushes in the garden showing their age, the berries were still very sweet and tasty. I collected a bunch and made jam later.}

_{Cucumber and leafy green forest progress! ^^}

_{I grew two varieties of cucumbers: Japanese long cucumbers (sweet and super crunchy, perfect for fresh salads, but also conserving, making winter cucumber salad) and short ones (they have more seeds inside, perfect for making pickles).}

_{I harvested a few buckets of cucumbers of both varieties. And for the first time attempted making pickled cucumber salad that I filled in mason jars. I need better canning equipment as I don’t feel confident about getting by with the older methods of canning in a safe way. But the salad itself turned out tasty.}

_{Yup! I also had a bunch of zucchini and squashes beside cucumbers! It was a great year for these types of plants!}

_{In the greenhouse, I also grew green basil (the scent of the basil leaves is divine) and bell peppers (they were the black color bell peppers called ‘’Andromeda’’).}

_{The view of the front of the greenhouse.}

_{Finally, as days began to shorten and nights kept getting colder and colder. I harvested my carrots and beetroots. The harvest was way beyond my expectations. That is just one, not as big a row of carrots and beetroots! And not to mention, that I barely rushed this garden together and sowed these late spring! I can’t wait to see what can be achieved in my new garden, especially when I don’t have to rush so much!}

This was part II of three of my gardening adventures. What’s left? You are in for the treat with the third and final part because I wish to share just how gorgeous my flower garden was!

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you will not miss out on the vibrant color spectacle that will arrive soon in the next post!

_{Song of the day: Afro Celt Sound System - Release}

Comments

[gabrielatravels]

As hard as it is to maintain a garden as relaxing I've always found this activity :) my biggest dream is to live on a house that has county yard for this purpose only, haha

[m31]

Same, same! About both. Gardening is so soothing for my soul and I also hope to have the home base with a garden that I would turn into something magical.

I hope your dream comes true and you build your safe haven to come home to after wandering our lovely planet! Cheers!

[diyhub]

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[m31]

Thank you diyhub team for all you do on Hive! Thank you for appreciating and supporting my work. And especially, thank you @priyanarc! You are very kind and lovely soul!

[priyanarc]

Thanks to you dear for showing us your lovely garden :)... One day hopefully I will have my own garden...

[momins]

A very important garden, where vegetables are grown. If the flowers go to a very beautiful garden, anyone's heart will be happy. Many people dream of having a garden like yours

[m31]

Something tells me that soon it will be very important skill to have. Growing your own food I mean. Of course, I hope that I am wrong about it, and it will remain something I just do because I love it instead of a survival skill.

I love flowers. They make me very happy indeed! :)

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[reard]

Wow!, what a great crop, I remember seeing your post in January of last year (how fast time goes by) and I am in awe, gosh, look at those beets, I could certainly wait another year to see your next post about your crop.

Although I think I'm 20 days late to comment I still say that I love this kind of post even though I'm not into gardening because of space issues.

Excellent post :D!

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