Reflections on my first season of gardening

My garden is wilting, but I suppose it's time for that. Summer never fails to leave too soon. I was out in my garden today, picking the last of my beans and wondering if my green tomatoes are going to turn red soon (don't they know I'm ready??), reflecting on how much I've learned this summer. I definitely feel a sense of pride, knowing that I nurtured those tiny little seeds until they grew into big fruit and vegetable producing plants. Growing stuff = much satisfaction.

But I will admit, in the ratio of "success!" to "oh whoops- probably shouldn't have done that..." the "oh whoops" won out this year. Thankfully, I told myself at the beginning of the season that this was my year to learn and make mistakes in the garden. Next year my goal will be actual food. ;-)

First, the successes:

1. Stuff grew from little to big! Even though the goal was vegetables, just the fact that most of my plants didn't die in their infancy was a pretty big success for me.
   
   
   A few weeks old.
   
   
   Getting bigger!
   
   
   Finally starting to fill out.
   
   
   Last picture I took in the summer- almost at it's peak.
   
   
2. Even more exciting: vegetables grew! And we ate them. Most successful were my green bean plants- not surprising since I've heard a three year old could grow these things. After that I got a lot of zucchini and way more basil than I knew what to do with. My cucumber vines grew a couple cucumbers, but I ended up having to pull them out b/c they got too big and overtook my garden. My banana pepper plant only gave me three peppers and same with my bell pepper plant.
   
   
   First zucchini!
   
   
   
   
   
   

Second, my "whoops" list- or "things I won't do next year:"

1. Don't over-water. Everything I read online stressed the importance of watering a vegetable garden. So I watered. Every.day. When my tomato plants started wilting I talked to someone at our local farmer's market "help" booth and she suggested I had "wilt disease." A few weeks later I talked to a friend and she told me to stop watering. Low and behold! My plants came back to life. Well, except one zucchini plant that had been over-watered to the point of rotting. Yikes. I guess my area gets enough rain to sustain a garden on it's own!

2. Don't plant too close together! When I planted my little baby seedlings they seemed so tiny, so I planted closer than the packet instructed. Big mistake. I ended up pulling 2 zucchini plants and a cucumber vine because I didn't have enough space.

3. Label your plants! For the first 3-4 weeks after planting I did not know what was growing where because I failed to label properly. Those little white plastic things do not hold up to rain and critters. I went to a craft store to see if I could find little signs to use, but came back empty handed. I ended up buying wooden spoons (50 cents each) and then spray painting and labeling to use as signs.





4. Open the little seed starters better. I planted my seeds in little soil filled mesh pods, but failed to open the pods sufficiently. As a result, my radishes and carrots grew in very strange shapes!



Other than that, I think I did pretty good! I also had a problem with Japanese beetles eating my plants, but the only want to solve that is 1) use a pesticide (which I won't do for the sake of the earth) and 2) go out in the evening and flick the pests into a glass of soapy water and kill them. I don't have any desire to spend my evenings flicking bugs. My plants all survived the beetles this year so hopefully they will again next year.

I know many a writer has drawn comparisons between gardening and life or weeds and death/sin, so I won't repeat all those lessons other than to say: I get it now. Life is amazing, in both human and plant form. Growth seems miraculous. Disease and death are always frustrating and, at times, devastating. If you want to spend a summer not only enjoying fresh vegetables, but reflecting on the mystery of life, grow a garden. You'll be amazed, perplexed, frustrated, joyful, hungry, and satisfied, all within the boundaries of a few square feet of land.