One Step Forward, Two Steps Back...

   After my last post, I was feeling pretty good about my garden. I had it cleaned up, fertilized, and started planting new seeds. My garden was beginning to produce vegetables, and I thought the bulk of my hard work was behind me. Boy oh boy, was I wrong!!
   We had a string of hard storms over the past weekend. After waiting a few days to let the garden dry, I was shocked at what I had found. The corn and borage were beaten down. Tomato plants were knocked over. It was a disaster!! Not to mention the weeds were back in full force. My heart was broken. I put so much work into my garden, and to see it in that shape was very discouraging. But after assessing the damage, I decided there was nothing else to do but suck it up and get in recovery mode.

   I drove around the other gardens to see their damage, and went home sad but determined to repair my garden. At least I am getting beautiful cucumbers, and the corn still standing is almost ready to harvest. The tomatoes are close to turning red also. I am so ready for tomatoes and watermelon!!

My beautiful and delicious cucumbers!

  
   In my next blog, I'll talk about the steps I am taking to recovery. I have a lot of work ahead of me.
Here are pictures of the damage done to the surrounding gardens...

The Garden of Forgiveness...

   It has been a week since I fertilized my plants. If you remember from my last post, some of the babies in my garden were sending out an SOS by turning yellow. It's funny how nature has a way of talking to you without speaking. Fortunately, my garden has been very forgiving of my newbie mistakes, and I am excited to say my plants are recovering. The corn is now a beautiful shade of green. The pumpkins, melons, and cucumbers are slowly losing that dry, yellow look. The only plant that hasn't recovered yet is the squash.

   I didn't test the soil today, because I wanted to lightly fertilize it one more time this week. I will test it later in the week after the forecasted rain comes. I am eager to see the results. I can already tell that positive changes are happening, and the work I have been putting in the garden is highly appreciated by my plants and other forms of life (but not the beetles lol). Which brings me to talk about one of the best parts of my garden...the borage. It has brought in bees from all over. They are surrounding the garden. I couldn't be more happy to know that I am feeding one of the most important and highly-needed creatures to our environment, while in turn they are helping my garden flourish.

  

Those aren't my weeds next to the borage!!😮

                                                                   That cucumber beetle can stay on that borage and off of my veggies!! lol

This is what happens when your plants and the bees are happy-- take a look at the photos and then wait for it......wait for it......

Roma Tomatoes!!!                                                          Pumpkin

 Okra  

Pickling Cucumbers

                     
And now for the big reveal....


   I have harvested my first cucumber!! This was the most beautiful pickling cucumber I have ever seen! I immediately took it home, rinsed it off, and sliced a piece. It tasted so fresh. I sliced the rest of the cucumber. After drizzling a little bit (well, maybe more than a little lol) of Ranch dressing (it's the healthy kind, I promise) and a sprinkle of black pepper...I ate the most enjoyable, cool, refreshing summer snack, and it was grown by me. ME!! I did that!! Words cannot express how amazing it feels to participate in helping our environment thrive and to provide myself with fresh, organic food.

   Now that I have enjoyed the fruits (or just one fruit so far lol) of my labor, it's back to weeding. I have almost completely cleared them out, but it's an everyday struggle. My garden will be beautiful and WEED-FREE!!!

Patience is a Virtue...

   My title has never rang more true..."Patience is a Virtue." I didn't understand how truly important good soil is until now. I had only been going by the strips I used a month ago, and hoping that the soil was ready to go. But all of a sudden, I noticed some strange changes in my garden.
   My corn, cucumbers, and zucchini were yellow! I looked around at the surrounding gardens and noticed how their corn and other plants were dark green. What was happening?

   I decided to immediately get online and order a proper soil tester. It was around $10, and I had it shipped priority mail. As soon as it arrived, I made a beeline to the garden. I was very disappointed with the results. The soil was not acidic at all, but rather alkaline. Not good. The fertility meter read "too little." Boy, oh boy, did I mess up! I had been so excited about my garden that I relied on incorrect pH strips and a prayer. I admit...I was overzealous.

   Nothing to do now but raise the acidity and fertility quickly! I made a trip to Lowes and picked up Jobes Organic Fertilizer. I also rounded up as much of my organic coffee grounds that I had been saving and got busy!

   I hoed and cultivated around the corn and sprinkled the fertilizer about 6 inches away. Then I pulled the dirt and fertilizer back over the corn. After I treated the rest of my plants, I went home and waited. Luckily, I didn't have to water because rain was in the forecast. It has rained for 2 days now. I am anxious to see if my plants can quickly recover from my mistake. This has been a great learning lesson for me. Fingers crossed my babies recover!!

                                       

The life of a farmer!! My vehicle shows it all lol

Looking good!!

   I try to go out to the garden everyday, unless it rains. After a few more days of raining, on May 19th I went back to inspect...and of course, weed some more. By now, I have gotten exhausted with weeding. I decided to hit the sale at Lowes and buy a cultivator to help beat up the weeds and loosen the soil. It was on sale for $20. And it worked beautifully. It makes weeding so much easier. That was money well spent.

              

   I was happy to walk through my garden and see everything looking good. I noticed a lot less beetles, so the neem works. I mixed up more of the mixture and sprayed again. I also planted onions, garlic, okra, carrots, peppers and more watermelon. Previously, I planted asparagus. I read that the first couple of years, asparagus cannot be harvested and eaten. So I purchased some 3-year-old crowns from ebay for $12. Not bad, considering how expensive it is to buy asparagus at the grocery store. And boy, do I love asparagus!!!  
                                                                                                   

 

                                   

                            

   I was very happy to see how well my garden was coming along; however, I will be learning a very valuable lesson in the week to come...

Oh, those little buggers!!!

   On May 14th, the corn, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, borage, sunflowers, and pumpkins were coming up beautifully. As I was weeding, I noticed something had started chomping away on my beautiful babies. As I got closer to my cucumber and zucchini, I noticed these little buggers...

Cucumber Beetle

Squash Beetle

   Now, don't let the names fool you. These beetles love a lot more than just squash and cucumbers. I found them on the tomatoes and corn also. Even though my borage was growing a nice barricade around my garden, they were not mature enough yet to flower out and attract those pesky critters. I was not about to let my helpless, young plants get ravaged by those hungry nuisances! So what could I do?
                                                                       

My poor cauliflower!

Nooooo!!! How could they??? 😢

   I got on the internet and researched organic pesticides. I found a product called Neem oil. Neem oil is a naturally occurring pesticide found in seeds from the neem tree. The main active element in neem is azadirachtin, which acts as a repellent and decreases insect feeding. It also interferes with the insects' hormones and hinders them from growing and laying eggs. This oil is also broken down in the soil pretty fast, so it doesn't harm our environment. It's not toxic to birds, plants, or bees either. I purchased a bottle of Garden Safe Neem Oil at Walmart for under $10. A little goes a long way when mixed with water. For the first round of treatment, I decided to use a weak mixture and spray lightly. I did not know what to expect and did not want to burn up my babies. So I sprayed, crossed my fingers, and waited...

April showers bring May...weeds??

   Wow!! What a surprise! Just a few days after planting my garden, it rained nearly the entire rest of the month. On April 30th, when the flooding ceased, I found quite a shocker...WEEDS!!! Oh my goodness, they were everywhere. It looked like I had planted a weed garden!!

 

   There was nothing else to do, but get rid of them the old fashioned way. Time to get down and start pulling!! After hours of plucking and pulling, it barely seemed like I put a dent in the garden. A couple of hours a day for the rest of the week, finally knocked those suckers back a bit. But boy was I tired!! My neighboring gardener has had her plot for 5 years. She was using old magnolia leaves, collected from last year, and newspaper. She laid it down to prevent weeds (pretty smart). I also noticed other surrounding gardeners using cloth tarps for weed prevention. However, I am on a budget and will just have to tough it out for the moment.

   Even though I was exhausted by the weeding, there was an amazing surprise that also came from all of that rain... My babies were growing beautifully!! The zucchini and cucumbers were forming flowers, the tomatoes were taking off, and the corn--the magnificent corn!! I couldn't believe how big the corn was. From seeds!! And the borage was looking gorgeous. I also lined the back of the garden with lavender and sunflowers. I can't wait to see how that turns out.

          

Tomatoes

Zucchini

                                                                            

          

Borage

Corn

              

   More to come!!!!