The Most Hilarious + Interesting Garden Update Yet

Tuesday, September 6, 2016




So as you know, I've been vegetable gardening for quite a few months now and I am so impressed with what I've been getting from it.

Zucchini
So I only had a few zucchini come up and unfortunately I there wasn't enough cross pollination because I only had one plant left.  So next year I think I'll be planting TWO zucchini plants in containers since they take up so much damn space in the garden bed.

Cucumbers
My cucumber plants are out of control.  I mean legit out of control. But I have so many and I'm so sick of cucumber salads right now so I'm giving them all away.  I also have an annoying amount of Cucumber Beetles on them so I'm glad to have my toad (you'll see later in this post) to eat them!  Luckily, they aren't really affecting my crop because my plants were doing so well already and are strong.

Bell Peppers
So my bell peppers were on the other side of the backyard and they got the afternoon sun but it was always from an angle, never directly overhead.  Once it got super hot and humid out they stopped producing and I learned from Google that actually that's a normal thing that happens and they'll start producing again when the weather isn't so harsh.  Well, they are on a different side of the house now, the side with the raised garden beds.  So now they get more direct overhead sun and the afternoon shade and they have started producing again. Hooray! I know I'll have lots of peppers for Fall.

Banana Peppers
My banana peppers are kickin' some serious butt and producing like crazy. I'm so excited!

Tomatoes
Next year I probably won't grow tomatoes because I honestly never use them.  I end up just giving them all away and my tomato plant is too big for my raised garden bed.  If I do manage to grow them next year I'll do it in containers but I probably will just get my tomatoes from the local market in the future.

Lettuces
I planted new lettuce in August so I will have a steady supply of lettuce throughout the Fall. Woohoo!



Onions
I've learned something interesting about home grown onions...they don't make my eyes water as much as store bought ones do.  And they have better flavor.  I've planted more onion bulbs so I should have them coming up through the Fall.

Blueberries
My blueberry bushes (2 of them) in containers did great and are producing a pleasant little handful each week.  I'll keep them going here on out.

Raspberries
My raspberry bushes (2 of them) in containers didn't do so well and ended up dying. I don't think I'll have them again in the future.

Butternut Squash
I have so many butternut squash coming in and I'm so ecstatic because it's my favorite fall food!




Potatoes
I planted some baby gold potatoes in a pot this year just to see what happened and it was a success so next year I'm going to grow some in one of those giant plastic storage bins. 


Toad
No really, I grew a toad! Just kidding. It's Fred. You may remember him from my Facebook and my snaps in the Spring when we found him on the other side of the porch.  He went MIA for a bit until I found him in amongst the cucumber plants.  He was outside of the garden in the stones so I picked him up and put him in the one raised bed so he can eat the cucumber beetles.  

I broke a flower pot and put it in there with him for shade and he also digs himself down into the ground when it's really hot out. He even has a water dish.  In the Fall I'll let him out of the bed so he can do his thing and eventually hibernate in deeper soil.  They say toads will come back every year if they have a safe place with food and water. 

But I have a really funny story about Fred. So did you know what toad poop looks like? I didn't.  I assumed it was small and tiny little drops.  So I went out to the garden the other week and I saw what looked like a cat turd.  it was so perfectly formed though that it looked as if it was a plug of dirt from the ground that someone drilled into. I had my gloves on so I picked it up, smelled it, realized it was some sort of poop, and threw it.  Then I couldn't find Fred so I freaked out beacuse I thought a cat jumped into the raised garen bed fencing and killed him.   All of a sudden I saw him.  He was fine.  Then I did it.  I googled "What does toad poop look like."  Do it. Just do it. You'll die laughing.  It's extremely awkward looking because it's about half the size of a toads body.  I suddenly thought of Fred a dirty boy.  And I was ready to kick his ass outta my damn garden but then I realized that it's probably okay because it's basically fertilizer. And I'm sure plenty of animals poop in my garden that I don't know about.  So Fred is still a cool guy.  But I learned an extremely hilarious and interesting facts about toad sh*t.  "The more you know".


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2 comments:

  1. OMG I love this post!! Hey, the more you garden, you will realize that one year your cucumbers are kickin' it, the next year it's the peppers, the next year zucchini - for me, this year it's zucchini, I can't keep up with it! Last year it was cucumbers...the year before, banana peppers. And my raspberry bush died too....not sure why, sad since I love raspberries so much. Love your story about Fred - ha ha, toad poop, who knew? I have a couple of toads I've been seeing around, which is good because apparently they eat slugs...which were a huge issue for me this year! Gardening is always a lesson - welcome, my friend!

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    Replies
    1. Yea im not sure what was up with my raspberry bush but oh well. And yes toads LOVE slugs so hey if you ever see one, dont be afraid to place it in front of one of your toads! I am very excited to start my garden again in the spring because i really want to do things better this time. I'll be so antzy during the winter!

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