I love to see that all my dirt digging work has paid off. My vegetable garden is doing really well. And working in it has actually become somewhat therapeutic. The image below are pickings within a two-day period! My cucumbers and yellow squash are thriving like crazy. I’m giving some way because I can’t eat them quick enough. Most of my tomatoes are still green but a few are turning. My zucchinis are growing, but I wish I grew more since I could use them in baking and grilling. I’ve learned a few things being a first-time gardener and have done a few mistakes:
- I divided my garden bed into two sections for my early summer seeds and later summer seeds. The first section was for all my leafy vegetables. I didn’t put any black garden tarp underneath for weed control. For me, that was a bad thing and I really should have gotten some pre emergent weed control Phoenix. The weeds are out of control in that section and a daily chore. But I did put the black garden tarp in my second section and it make a huge differences in the number of weeds I get. Anyone have weed-control suggestions?
- When I left to go on my west coast vacation the first part of summer, I hired the neighbor boy to water my garden. That was kind of a bad thing. I should have hired someone who knew how to care for a garden. Good thing I didn’t put something like arum water lilies into the pond, as I have a feeling that they wouldn’t look the same as they did before I left. Not that he didn’t water because he did, but he didn’t do any weeding and ALL my leafy vegetables (lettuce, spring mix, green onions, and spinach) went to seed. So, what does going to seed mean? Well, for leafy vegetables it means that it hasn’t been cut down, but instead grown so large that it develops seeds. It declines in looks and status and most importantly TASTE. All my sweet mouth-watering lettuce now tastes bitter. And no–extra salad dressing does not cover the taste. Anyone have a solution for this? I’ve cut them down but they still taste bitter. I’m tempted to just pull it all up and try again next year.
- There’s a skunk that’s been hanging around the garden. I’ve spotted him a few times. I’m assuming there’s something in the garden he wants, but he hasn’t eaten any of the vegetables. Anyone have this problem?
I have looked into pet friendly weed control services as I have my beloved pets to think about, so whatever I choose it needs to be pet friendly, but I thought I’d check to see if anyone had any helpful tips before I go down the route of hiring someone. Any suggestions anyone can give? I’m thinking of planting some flowers in the sections that are done producing vegetables. Good idea?
{taken with iPhone. Camera STILL in shop}
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