The Patchwork Kitchen Garden: The Ninth Week
“A single gentle rain makes the grass many shades greener.” -Henry David Thoreau
Last week the theme seemed to be smoke and this week the theme has been rain. But unlike the smoke, the rain was a welcomed sight. The past few weeks I’ve been struggling with the dry weather. The plants were still thriving but it was a lot of hard work to keep that way, the opposite can be said for this week. I only had to do the minimum this week like weeding and pruning instead of ensuring my precious weren’t dying of thirst.
The rain really helped this week in pumping up the growth in the garden. My peas finally started to flower and they are absolutely stunning. It only makes me wish I grew more peas so I can have an entire trellis covered in these gorgeous blooms. It’s crazy to think that in a few short weeks I’ll have plump little pea pods. I’m sorry I ever doubted you, my precious peas.
The peas aren’t the only ones going into full bloom, my cucumber plants have been blooming like crazy and have so many flowers I stopped counting at twenty. However, with all the flowers I still haven’t seen any cucumbers forming yet. I know I’m being impatient but really I get worried when I don’t see any fruit forming.
I just remember the one year my grandfather had the most beautiful cucumber and zucchini plants with so many blooms. But in the end the plants did not produce a single fruit, it was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen. It’s horrible to put your heart and soul into something only to not receive your desired outcome. As of now, I’m carefully watching my cucumber plants and making sure they’re getting all that they need to produce some beautiful cucumbers. It will be devastating if I don’t get the opportunity to bite into my own garden fresh cucumber. But I’m staying positive and trying to not let my negative memory plague my excitement. I’ll just to think only happy garden thoughts and of course of crunchy, green cucumbers.
However, the cucumbers and peas blooming aren’t the only exciting things happening in the garden. My winter squashes are sprouting and as of now I have a total of six new sprouts. Hopefully when it’s fall I have so many pumpkins and squash I won’t know what to do with them. I feel like having too much is a blessing because that just means more seasonal recipes and delicious home grown food.
But the pumpkins aren’t the only thing that I may have an overabundance of. I finally planted all my tomato plants into their grow bags or into the veggie bed, all twenty of them. Yes, I have a total of twenty tomato plants ranging from heirloom tomatoes to dainty cherry tomatoes. Come August I hope that I have tomatoes coming out of my ears for plenty of homemade sauce and soups. I simply can’t wait! However, when you grow tomatoes at this scale, trellising and tomato cages could become quite expensive. Obviously, I didn’t let this stop me and I found my way around such a hefty expense. Which leads me to my second garden tip!
Garden tip #2:
Have too many tomato plants and not enough tomato cages? Don’t feel like buying plastic or flimsy cages at exorbitant prices? Never fear there is a budget friendly option, make them yourself using wire garden mesh. I bought two rolls of mesh for sixty dollars and was able to make 20 round tomato cages, two large trellises for my peas and cucumbers as well as 3 large round compost containers. Yes, I can safely say that it was definitely worth the money. All that’s really required is a good pair of wire cutters and some measuring. Measure the size you will need and cut it. You can make the enclosure by bending the metal ends together or using zip ties. I chose to bend the metal to make my cages so that way I wouldn’t have the added cost of the zip ties. But either way will work so you can do whatever you prefer.
Well that’s all the garden info and wisdom that I have to impart this week. I hope this budget friendly tip is helpful for your own gardening endeavors. To check out the rest of the garden and see this week’s progress you can check out the gallery below. Until next week, Happy Gardening!
