I may have been absent these past few months, but I sure haven't been idle. My life is positively chock-a-block with a slew of hobbies and a brand new vocation. My garden is the chief among those hobbies.
In the summer, I feel like a slave to the tiny space I call my yard. It's a worthy slavery, one that gives back every single day of the year in food that I grew and processed myself.
As usual, there have been triumphs and failures. The biggest failure has been in the okra department. For seven years running, I have tried to grow okra. I happen to love the stuff. It makes a fabulous thickening agent in soups with very few pods, the sliced fruit is purty in any kind of stew, and I adore both its not-at-all-slimy texture and its subtle flavor.
Alas, I once again produced fewer than a dozen pods all summer.
"
Each spring, while planning the layout, I underestimate how much room everything will need. By August, the place is an absolute mess. Below are one shot from March 2025 and another, taken from the same angle, in late August.
The peach tree turned into a monster by mid-July. As the peaches appeared, huge branches bent and then cracked down and had to be chopped off. I despaired for all the peaches I lost that day. Then the remaining peaches began swelling. I could see that I would lose more branches if I did nothing, so I started chopping away, trying to relieve the stress as much as I thought I could. More peaches landed in my compost pile. Then I started picking off peaches, both to thin them out and to lighten each branch's load some more. The tree became a straggly mess, loaded with peaches. I needn't have worried about all the fruits I lost - I will still have more than enough to eat, dehydrate, can, freeze and give away. Next year, I will prune that thing back hard in early spring.
With my characteristic last minute resourcefulness, I had to find some way to prop the branches up so that I could walk, stooping instead of crawling, down the walk to the rest of the garden. If you look closely at the rightmost photo below, you can see the contraption I used to effect that.
"My biggest success was in lettuce. I started it indoors in February, and had all I could eat from mid-April until now. I was also very happy with the seating area I put together on my driveway. Asphalt becomes a private oasis for me during the summer months. All of this comes down by November so that I can use the garage during the winter.
"You might remember my saying that I like weeds. I do! One thing my garden is not, is tidy. Discerning gardeners will notice the zucchini in the photo on the left below. As messy as that all looks, I got more zucchini than I have ever had before. The thing is still producing. @sunscape's Mock Pineapple recipe, which actually uses a lot of zucchini, is on my to-do list for today.
The Lemon Jalapeno set a bunch of fruits early in the season, then nothing more. The earlier fruits are starting to ripen.
"There is all the cooking to be done! All those ingredients! I almost never use recipes for my daily cooking. Whatever is ripe and ready from the garden determines what will be on my plate. The soup has all the tiny butterball potatoes, my first few sweet potatoes, red lentils and zucchini. It was really delicious! The summer stew, which I freeze quite a lot of, is composed of onions, peppers, parsley, okra, and, zucchini.
Then there is my pasta salad. "What ever is ripe," remember? This batch had tiny dice red onion, garlic, lemon jalapeno, carrot, and, of course, raw zucchini. The trick for this one is simple - the dressing is mostly a really good white balsamic vinegar, and just a tiny bit of really good olive oil. Salt, pepper. So easy, and a crowd pleaser.
"There is so much more to show, but this post is long enough. My fridge, shelves, and freezer are getting quite full of food set aside for the winter months. I am well-fed, healthy, and happy. If the apocalypse doesn't come this year, I am all set. If it does, I'll still be able to feed myself for some time. At this moment, it's all good.
This is my entry to The Hive Garden community's monthly September challenge to show off your garden. Come join us! And thank you for reading this rather long post.
You've done a marvelous job! It never ceases to amaze me how much food it's possible to produce with a bit of effort, and how tasty it is straight from the ground.
We're having the same problem with our pear tree. The branches are so heavy that several have broken off and we've had to prop up the others.
My neighbor's pear did that last year, and this year there are no peaches. Unexplained. It never bloomed. Or rather bloomed very sparsely. It's kinda nice that they are alternating years.
Thanks for your compliment! I'm definitely learning. Every
year produces a little more in all. Patience patience patience. And no expectations.
We got a sum total of 3 apples last year and this year we're inundated.
I would have felt relief that I didn't have to can any apple products.
I've got my first peach cobbler in the oven right now!
It is very satisfying to eat from your own garden. It takes a lot of job but then you get the reward!
I loved the part where you sit down, I'm a fan of flowers.
Thank you! I don't sit there often or for long. When I look around I see something to do and jump right back up.
It all looks so lush and tender compared to my place which is bordering on desert mode. I'll post what I have been up to soon!
Why thank you! I can't wait to see what you've got going.
Hey I got two succulents. Or maybe cacti. Are they the same thing? lol. Anyway, they are both still alive six weeks later, although one of them clearly needs to be watered more than I thought at first.
All cacti are succulent but not all succulents are cacti 😁 Cacti are native to the Americas. It's a myth that all succulents like to be roasted in the sun all day and never watered. Post pictures and I'll see if I can tell you what you have and what they need
Thanks so much! I love these two.
This one showed definite signs of stress (dead fronds) when I let it go three weeks without water, as a friend suggested I do. I'm doing every 9 or 10 days now. I don't think the "fronds" (don't know what else to call them) are as plump as they were when it was given to me two months ago. I cut the dead fronds off up to green parts.
This guy looked OK after three weeks of no water, but I'm doing this one every 9 or 10 days too now.
I water them both until water comes out the bottom, and let the orange one sit in water for five minutes before putting it back in its place. They both get about three hours of direct sun a day, and bright light the rest of the day.
Thank you so much for any info you can give me!
Your first looks like a Rat Tail cactus, you can read about it here https://www.thespruce.com/aporocactus-flagelliformis-definition-1902538
The second could be a mammillaria elongata cultivar "Copper King", tell me if that looks right https://llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACTI/Family/Cactaceae/11618/Mammillaria_elongata_cv._Kopper_King
It can be quite hard to ID plants if the light is behind them but yours look good, the new watering schedule sounds like you are doing it right. The right word for the fronds would be stems 😁 Cacti mostly don't have leaves
Thank you!
these are both the same link though
Oops, fixing that now
They are both definitely in the same genus of the ones I have, if I remember the science I learned 60 years ago correctly. M copper colored one is copper colored all over, it's very beautiful and I am delighted that it could bloom! Ang my rat tail looks like the first picture in that link, not so much like the second, mine is not so fleshy..
Nice! Copper king is very easy to bloom and the Rat Tail has spectacular flowers
Wow! Your garden is a true labor of love. I can see every vibrant corner and taste the fruits of your labor. Truly a testament to patience, passion and resourcefulness.🥰
Why thank you! What a lovely comment!
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Thank you!
I love all your garden things. It was fun to see the difference in the spring photo and now and your the little area you claimed for yourself is quite nice.
Having a garden will certainly keep you busy, there is no doubt.
My Dad always had a vegetable garden and he and my Mother canned and froze and we ate out of it all winter long. We children did snap peas and hull beans and shuck corn and anything else that we were able to help out. That was definitely some superior eating.
I've spent much of the past two days preserving food. So much work! But come winter, it will be the easy life for me. I'll be dreaming of the next summer's crops. Thanks for stopping in!
Looking back I think about how spoiled we children were in the manner of not realizing how much better the food was than bought or store canned all those winters, until the day we started fending for ourselves in this world and found out the difference. My parents certainly did spend many hours preserving all we had. It was a huge labor of love.
There’s something wonderful about eating food that comes from your own plants, it always feels fresher and more healthy.
It sure does! Thanks for stopping by.
Wow! You sure did make your tiny garden produce! The secret to more fruit set is phosphorus. From AI:
Phosphorus is vital for fruit set because it stimulates flower formation, increases the chances of successful fruit development, and supports the high-energy needs of seed and fruit production in plants. Without sufficient phosphorus, plants may experience delayed flowering, reduced fruit set, and even flower abortion.
My peach tree was like yours last year. I took off hundreds of small fruit to get the branches off the ground. Then we pruned it hard this winter. It still had far too many branches again, so another hard pruning is coming again... But no branches broke.
It's too bad about the okra seeing as you like it. It's one of the very few vegetables I don't like. I'd try a phosphorus rich amendment for the okra area, but not around the peach tree!
Thanks for that info! Do you think bone meal is a good idea? I did put bone meal in all the beds last year. The nightshades have had the hardest time of it. I think part of the problem is that my village's water supply is alkaline, and the soil I bought this year had some lime in it. I just read alkaline interferes with phosphorus. So tricky!
I was just talking with a friend about when to prune, and how. Winter he said, and now you too. Winter it is.
Here's info I saved about bone meal:
As a fertilizer, the N-P-K (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium) ratio of bone meal can vary greatly, depending on the source. From a low of 3-15-0 to as high as 2-22-0., though some steamed bone meals have N-P-Ks of 1-13-0.
Ideally you'd look for the steamed bone meal, as it is mostly P.
The problem with balancing soil is really hard when you don't have a complete soil test. And soil test types vary widely, which is why I stick with Logan Labs. I have a worksheet for them so I won't toxify my soil.
People usually do pruning in February or March or before the tree breaks dormancy in your area.
Thank you so much!!! I need to get more detailed in soil balance. I'll get the soil tested. The eggplants do really struggle, a bit better this year after some feeble pH level work.
I use 12" raised beds. Some of them I dig out in the fall, put brush in the bottom (tiny yard and that seems like a good place to put brush), fill 'em back up very high and amend with 2" of my compost. No manure, no chix allowed in the village. others I do this emptying and brush in the bottom thing in the spring. I assume I test the beds when they have been readied for planting. I'd then be able to adjust each bed according to the needs of the plants I plan to put in it. If I really want to maximise the output of my very small yard, I need planning, testing, and notes! I'm more of a go out there and play kind of gardener. It might be time to grow up.
Last year I paid attention to pH (home test) and things were a tiny bit better.
Actually you test the beds in the fall when the plants have stopped growing. If you change out the soil in the fall that’s when to test, BEFORE adding compost (it skews the results).
Actually you shouldn’t be adjusting to the plant you should be balancing the soil so everything is there in balance and the plant will take what it needs when it needs it.
If the soil is balanced, it will naturally be at the correct pH.
Your photos are spectacular! You dice onions and veggies like a master artist - with the precision of Pyramid builders - and you call your garden messy. You're hilarious!
"Whatever is ripe today" - there's the recipe (or, whatever is leftover, or whatever herbs are in the pantry).
You're busy and productive and inspiring!
My kitchen is tidy. The rest of the house and the garden are not. I strive to keep them all clean, but the only the kitchen gets high marks there.
I really got into dicing those vegetables. Only one person I served it to noticed, but she was very appreciative. The salad was very pretty! I had a small beet that I tiny diced, raw, and sprinkled it on top as a garnish right before serving. If you ever have some chervil needs using, this is the dish you need. Except you can't eat it. I think the same thing would work beautifully on white beans.
I have been busy! I also found a violin teacher! I already told you this via email, didn't I? I think so...
I am impressed by the amount of produce you get from your tiny garden. I absolutely MUST downsize next year, and would like to do more raised beds, but that means investing more money in them, so I probably won't bother.
Small spaces are a challenge. Like a moving, constantly changing puzzle. Tricky! But I really don't spend a lot of time out there, except in the spring and fall. If I keep the number of containers, that need regular watering, even better.
I use the Amish for wood-related tasks around the house. They are less expensive and have the untreated wood needed. My biggest problem seems to be building good soil.