Deck Garden, End of the Year Assessment

 

Summer has nearly come to an end, and it is time to recap how well things went in my deck garden this year. For the most part, I consider this year to be a bit on the mediocre side. After all of my efforts, loving care, not to mention expense, I was underwhelmed by the lack of production.

My inability to grow peppers, other than jalapeños, has become quite frustrating. Year after year I plant pepper seeds, all kinds, all colors, they will reach a height of between 3 and 4 inches, and stop right there and never do a thing.

On the plus side, I got loads of tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, so much so that I was giving them away. That’s a good thing because there’s nothing more delicious than a summer tomato warm from the vine. On the downside, despite vines crawling all over the deck, I didn’t get a single cucumber. That puzzles me because generally, as with cherry tomatoes, I am giving those away.

  Another plus (and I am thrilled beyond words at this) is that the seeds I had harvested from a black heirloom tomato that Melissa’s Produce had sent me, germinated and produced! I planted this late, so I wasn’t really expecting anything, even though I got a couple of blossoms. There are two tomatoes here; one is small and obviously pecked by a bird, unfortunately. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the other one makes it to the ripening stage. It should. Generally, I don’t have a need to pull up tomatoes until mid October, although the shorter days do impede their growth. I’m going to keep a careful watch on this, and photograph it weekly, so that I can capture the point when it begins to turn black. I’m so excited! 

The charentais melon seeds that I planted did quite well. I got 100% germination from all six of the seeds that I had harvested from an organic melon that I got from Melissa's Produce, and, like the cucumbers, those vines crawled all over the deck. Also, like the cucumbers, I didn’t get any melons… or so I thought. When I went out to pull up the vines, I got three of them pulled up, but when I pulled up the fourth, I heard a clunking sound. Upon examination, I noticed that there were six tiny melons on that vine. I cursed myself for having not been more patient. I did find another melon on one of the remaining vines, and I have been babying it ever since. I doubt, at this late stage, that it will be big enough to use, but I have been encouraged by this, and will certainly plant melons again next year.When I went out to water this morning, I saw yet another one on the way. It’s probably too late to actually turn into anything edible, but it’s exciting nonetheless. Clearly, I can grow melons. Noted for next year.Speaking of melons, this little mystery melon started growing in one of my window boxes. It’s not the same as the charentais melon because each striation is actually an indentation. This may just be a pumpkin! I have no idea where this came from. The only thing I can figure is that the neighbors have pumpkin seeds in the mixture they use to feed the birds, and one of the birds dropped it in my window box.

The scallions did well, my cash crop was jalapeños (I couldn’t give those away), the basil bolted way too soon, and I didn’t get one batch of pesto out of it. The Alstroemeria did quite well, and I am very pleased with the result of that bit of experimentation. I am going to dig it up, bring it into the house, and attempt to overwinter it. The petunias put on a very colorful fuchsia show, I’m also going to try to overwinter them; the zinnias were their usual beautiful self.

They attracted loads of hummingbirds that are always a delight to watch, as well as goldfinches that love to hang onto the branches, and painstakingly pull out the pedals, in order to get to those delicious fresh seeds. They’re so cute that I just let them. I’m already in the planning stages for next year.

What were your successes and failures this year?

I’ll see you in the spring for more garden talk.

Deck Gardening 2024

 

What I have learned from decades of talking to gardeners is that whether you have acreage, or a single pot, every spring brings with it hope for a great harvest. Last year was one of my absolute worst. I decided that it would be a good idea to install a drip irrigation system in the container garden that I keep on my deck. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the water pressure to cover all of the pots equally, so some overflowed, and the plants rotted, others didn’t get enough water and they dried out. I won’t do that again. Having now removed all of that tubing, and gleefully tossed into the trash, I’m ready to start anew.

  One thing I’m doing differently this year than I did last is to try raised bed gardening. You don’t have to garden on the ground in order to have a raised bed, you can get a trough planter like this one to raise things up, making it much easier to deal with when it comes to watering, weeding, and harvesting. I’m quite excited about this. I’ve really just starting planting in zone 6B where I live, but I will say that I did plant potatoes on March 17 as I used to do with my dad when I was a little girl, and they are doing well, although in very early stages.Shortly after I planted the potatoes, I decided to not waste a garlic bulb that had sprouted, so I separated the cloves and planted them in my trough garden that will end up being a salsa garden if things go well this year. Take a look at them! Can you believe it?  I feared for their safety when we had two cold nights where temperature zipped into the 30s. I had to very carefully cover them up to avoid damage, but I couldn’t be happier with how well they’re growing. Yes, I know that garlic generally needs to be planted in the fall; I don’t know if this is going to be successful or not, but I love the experimentation, and so far so good.

Another thing that I decided to do is to harvest, dry, and plant seeds from organic fruits and vegetables that I buy just to see what happens.  The other day I was enjoying a Charentais melon from Melissa‘s produce, and decided to save and dry some seeds for planting. I’ve never grown melons before, so I’m very eager to see how this works out. Within a week of planting the seeds, a couple of little seedlings poked up their heads, and I couldn’t have been more excited. You wouldn’t believe how fast my heart was beating. I was reluctant to give over too much space to growing melons when I could use it for a guaranteed success like tomatoes, but a little experimentation is good for the soul.

I’m going to try to provide you with an update every month, perhaps twice a month, so you can see how things are growing.

Interestingly enough, petunias self-seeded into one of the house plants that I had moved outside, and I currently have them blooming in a pot along with a kangaroo paw fern, and a Zinnia blossoming in a dracaena pot. Considering that I did not move the dracaena outdoors during the summer, I’m wondering how the heck that zinnia seed managed to get into that pot, but isn’t that half the fun of gardening? 

See you next month with an update.

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