I had just turned 30 in April when I decided I wanted to plant a garden.
The news was all about COVID and those doomsday-preppers started to seem smarter and smarter everyday. I started to get paranoid about the future of my 3 children. Long story short I made some changes, started to think more about the future. One of my decisions was to practice growing food. I have fallen in love.
I started out with a plan to have a 2' x 8' x 18" raised bed.
I dug a 2' x8' hole about 1' deep. Buried a bunch of large and small branches and leaves. Built the raised bed frame on top and filled with raised bed soil. I used the "nature care?" brand miracle gro sells. Green bag. Can't remember the name exactly.
I planted tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, red and white onions, jalapeno, fresno chili, okra, broccoli, basil, parsley, and cucumbers.
I have since planted Tabasco and Habenero in bag-pots and an old dresser.
Most I planted most May 3rd but some peppers and onions were a couple weeks later.
I've dealt with early blight (i think) and bugs quite a bit. I tried baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and Neem Oil. I found the best that worked for me was Sevin Dust/Spray and Ortho 3 in 1 Spray. I think it was the Ortho the took care of the blight.
I have had a bunch of delish cherry tomatoes already. I have had a couple decent sized cucumbers that were good too. I have quite a few better boy tomatoes growing but none harvested yet. My first one was getting Blossom-end rot(BER) something fierce. Went to youtube....The Rusted Garden.... I bought Garden Lime, took a bowlful, added a dash of distilled vinegar. Mixed/diluted it with 3 gal water. Filled a spray bottle and sprayed foliage. Later I ordered Calcium Nitrate from The Rusted Garden. After a week of spraying every other day, the BER had stopped progressing and something like a scar started to form on the bottom of the fruit.
It was getting mid June and it already felt like >100deg so I placed a tarp above the plants to provide shade for part of the day. I don't know if this has helped or hindered as I've nothing to compare it too. I am happy with how things are progressing though.
I only used Vigoro Vegetable granule plant food with added calcium at first. I have started using Miracle-Gro Liquafeed and noticed rapid growth after. All my pepper plants exploded with foliage after using the liquafeed with the hose attachment 2 times. I water deep 1-2 times per week.
I will post updated pics as I go. The Okra flowers are pretty, only one so far. My onions don't seen to be getting big. I keep pulling out the marble to ping pong ball sized ones and eating them. They delish. The cucumber vines are getting out-of-hand. The tomato plants are getting too tall. I am going to try to limit their height by training them to make like an arch and be suspended from above with twine. If I let them grow tall enough to touch the tarp it will probably burn them during the heat of the day.
Anyway I'm tired of typing for now here are some pics. Wish me luck.
My favorite part of this is when my youngest runs out to the garden and she yells "Daddy they're turning red!"
The BER scar
So far only 1 Fresno Chili - It was pretty hot.
My 3 yrd old asked to harvest it and I didn't realize what she asked and I mumbled an affirmative response. She walked up to me with it in her hand. I looked at it confused then realized what she had been asking me and couldn't get mad cause I had said yeah. It was frustrating and funny.
