Adventures in vegetable gardening (pt 3 of 3)

The garden is still producing, namely cantaloupe and bell peppers. Here's a recap of the bounty we received and some plans for the future.

Week 4 (04/16/12)

Week 6 (05/01/12)

My little garden helper picks our first two mature squash of the season!

Week 9 (05/18/12)

Harvested most of the lettuce. The leaves were becoming bitter, so I pulled up 2/3 of it to make more room for the encroaching cantaloupe.

Cantaloupe runners are spilling over into the yard. Do your thing, melons. Do your thing!

The bell pepper plants are budding.

And the squash will be goners soon. I didn't treat them for powdery mildew in time. I was unsure on what kind of spray to use, especially since I wanted to avoid chemicals. Someone told me baking soda and water would help, but I never tried it. Still, we harvested nearly 30 squash and zucchini before we lost the plants; not bad!

Short carrots could've been left in the ground a week longer, but my daughter and I were anxious to pick them.

Fruit tree: Mr. Mac Satsuma
Just in the nick of time, we planted a citrus tree before the summer heat hit.

The tree is pretty small right now, but will eventually have a canopy of 10 ft, which may eventually cause problems with adequate sunlight over the raised bed. But, that's several years from now, so I may change things by then anyway!

Future plans for our "backyard farm"

See the random places I planted squash and cantaloupe? I just couldn't bear to just compost them when I thinned the plants, so I gave the seedlings a shot in unamended soil alongside the house and in bare patches in the lawn. They didn't really produce, but at least I gave them a chance. In the future, I'd like to amend the soil along the house to plant lettuce (I think they were overexposed in the full sun.)

Next season, I'd love to remove the dead tree in the corner and make room for two more raised beds to plant some veggies on rotation. Maybe add another fruit tree and invest in some blueberry shrubs along the fence. A girl can dream!

My more short-term goal is to replace the failing squash plants with tomatoes for the remainder of the summer.

Read the archives:
Part 1
Part 2

Harvest Garland

This craft project couldn't be simpler. Not the most beautiful decor you could dream up, but it was a great activity for me and my toddler--not to mention, it's a great lesson in learning letters.

Supplies:

- 2 scrapbook sheets in autumnal colors (12x12in)

- marker or pen

- hole punch

- scissors

- yarn

- glue

Directions:

1. Take two sheets of scrapbook paper, fold into quarters and cut along folds. You should have eight (6x6in) squares.
2. Using marker or pen, write one letter per square to spell out h-a-r-v-e-s-t.
3. Punch hole in top center of each square.
4. Trace letters with glue and have your "little helper" run yarn along the glue lines. Trim yarn with scissors to fit each letter.
5. Cut a long piece of yarn and tie from one end to another to create the garland. (I used the two window latches/locks to tie the yarn to. You could do this on a wall using thumbtacks or the like.)
6. Attach each letter using a small piece of yarn and tying to the garland.
7. FYI, the pumpkin sitting above the garland is a craft from Paint - Cut - Paste.

Harvest Wreath

A few years back, my friend Amanda and I threw our own wreath-making party, just the two of us. Martha Stewart's crew should have come to the house and filmed these two amateurs cracking up over our projects, glue guns and floral wire in hand.

I still hang my wreath every year, and I think of Amanda who lives many miles away now. Crafting with a friend is twice the fun--and the end product bears memories of time spent together.

I hope you're inspired to grab a friend and make your own wreath this year. All the supplies can be picked up from your local craft store. For this project, I embellished a simple twig wreath with silk flowers, berries, gourds and feathers, all attached with floral wire. Raffia tied widely at the top serves as a holder and adds to the country harvest look. Since autumn is nearly over, you might try a winter-themed wreath, substituting ornament balls, berries, bells and ribbons on an evergreen wreath instead.