My farming skills have grown rusty since I left Tennessee to attend college well over a decade ago. Thankfully, I have trusty Google to help me refresh my memory and have found that the Farmer’s Almanac we used to buy every year at the local Co-Op is now online! Ben (the engineer) brings a whole new perspective to the table and one that is more technology focused. He really embraces the working smarter not harder philosophy. We planted our first garden last month and immediately Ben researched to find what watering systems we can use that are smart tech enabled. For the short term and considering we planted a very small (and very late) garden, we opted for simple soaker hoses. However, we will dedicate a future post to smart garden tech as we grow our garden and our need to be even more efficient with our time.
Because we moved into our new home well after the beginning of traditional planting season, we decided to till a small plot closest to the house and buy a handful of plants from our nearby Lowe’s Home Improvement. We chose some fail safe (heat resistant) tomatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and bell peppers. We also planted some pumpkin seeds and enlisted the help of the kiddos to help us shovel some dirt into mounds for the pumpkins. We opted to hill plant pumpkins versus row planting because we had such a short time to plant until we would like to be able to harvest the pumpkins for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Hill planting allows for faster germination, better soil drainage, and space for the vines to spread out. We planted Big Max, Sugar, Jack Be Littles, and Baby Boos (white) pumpkins. Depending on our success this year, we may grow our patch next year to include a few more varieties. I’m already envisioning the #dukecrew battling it out over who can grow the biggest pumpkin.
While little hands did pick very green tomatoes too early (too early for even fried green tomato standards), it has brought us such joy to witness their delight in watching our garden grow. However, it has been an exercise of patience for all involved. I have battled invisible mites and fungi and very visible tomato hornworms shredding the leaves of our plants. After repeated applications of different non-toxic, organic sprays, I finally found neem oil to be the most successful. We have had a very rainy summer so I have had to be diligent in my reapplication to keep the bugs at bay. I am already researching what preventative measures I can take at the end of the season this year (grub and larvae treatment) to minimize my bug and mite issues for spring season.
The day after we first planted, the kids ran to the garden expecting to see fully grown fruit and veggies. While a little disappointed, they have persisted in their hunt for the first sight of new growth so every day they race down to the garden to check on the plants. Holden takes his gardening very seriously—more seriously than I ever did at the age of 4. Most days I ask him if if he wants to go out and ride his scooter and he is quick to inform me that he NEEDS to go check on the garden. He carefully walks each row bending over to pull the leaves back on each plant looking underneath at baby bell peppers and new blooms on the squash and zucchini plants. Some days, I don’t even need to go to the garden since I get a full report from Holden on how everything is growing.
We’re at the point now where some of our plants are covered in blooms and we’re thinking we may be buried in squash and cucumbers by next month. In all my years gardening in my youth, we only ever had summer gardens and never fall or winter gardens so we’re researching now a few things that we would like to plant for the fall. If you’ve had a fall garden send me a message or comment below your favorite veggies to grow in the colder months!
The cutest little gardener with her color coordinated boots and shovel.