Saturday, January 7, 2012

2011 Garden Review

2011 started off with a snowy and icy winter. Out of nowhere we had a week of non-stop below freezing temps and a thick sheet of ice everywhere. Snow is a rare treat in Fort Worth, and a week of it is just bizarre!



Although not long after Ice Week things began to look up and grow warmer. The Lasagna Garden I had created last fall was ready to be planted.



I planted my usual favorites: Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Bell Peppers, Yellow Squash and Watermelon. I also tried Eggplant and Okra this year for the first time.







We had a successful year...in comparison to the 2010 season when nothing grew.

Close to memorial day we had tomatoes growing, peppers coming in and the okra plant appeared to be growing without producing any okra. Then the 100+ temps hit North Texas and things changed quickly!

The tomatoes that were on the vine ripened, but stop producing more fruit. The peppers appeared stunted as well, however the Okra really began to take off in the new heat.







Then there was the accidental Potato Harvest....



Apparently using thinly diced potato scraps in your compost can create a potato harvest the following year !?! I do need to mention that my husband did warn me of this, but I insisted that was not possible (He was right).

There was also the watermelon I had given up on. Early in the spring I attempted to grow watermelon from seed. After about ten peat pods refused to produce watermelon plants I through them out into a unused garden bed. I ended up purchasing a watermelon plant that did not produce fruit, but sure enough one of the seeds I gave up on grew a large watermelon.




The tomatoes barely survived the summer and drought, barely. I kept them watered and covered to protect them from the melting sun.



I had read about other gardeners pruning and fertilizer their tomatoes late in the season to produce a fall harvest. I waited until the temps dropped down to 95 degrees consistently (mid September) and began applying a mixture of Johns Recipe and Liquid Seaweed. It took several applications and another month before I began to see results. By Thanksgiving day I had 35 tomatoes growing, a nice late season harvest.





I learned a lot this year and look forward to applying this new found knowledge to 2012's Garden. I'm already planning!

What are you planning for your 2012 Garden?

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