Oct. 7 Column: Season Wrap-up
Everyone who is familiar with my writing schedule knows that this day has to come eventually. This is my final column for the 2018 garden season. In it, I do a season wrap-up in which I evaluate how my vegetable garden performed. Here is a link to it in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review. Use lessons from harvest to plow into planning for next year’s garden. (you can also read my column lower in this post)
Just in case you freaked out at the word “final” in the above paragraph, let me give you some assurance. My column-writing season always goes from February to October. So this doesn’t mean I won’t be writing any more columns ever again! Feel better now?
Several years ago, I began the tradition of doing a season wrap-up for my final column. I hadn’t realized many of you are out there (virtually) watching my garden, to see what’s worth growing! Yikes. That’s quite flattering and also very daunting!
You can rest assured that I take this role very seriously. I’m more than happy to share what I’ve learned. So I hope you’ll find this “final” column useful and interesting.
And now for this week’s “Everyone Can Grow a Garden” video. It’s fall and we are experiencing a particularly lovely one this year. I decided to photograph nearly all of the colorful plants in our garden. This should to provide you with some visual enjoyment. But more importantly, it might give you some ideas of plants to add to your own landscape. My goal has always been to grow plants that provide interest year-round. Now now you can see which ones they are:
I hope you enjoyed that! So now my columns are finished for 2018. What does that mean? I still plan to post on my Facebook page daily and to continue to produce videos regularly. I don’t intend to leave you hanging! You wouldn’t think there’d be much to write about in the off-season. Surprisingly enough, there is PLENTY to talk about!
Also, I would love to hear how your vegetable garden performed for you this year. Just drop me a note at Susan@SusansintheGarden.com.
Season Wrap-up garden column:
By Susan Mulvihill
With the end of the garden season rapidly approaching, it’s time to reflect on how this year’s garden performed.
Two challenges were high temperatures and hazardous air quality from regional wildfires. While I feel the latter especially impacted the growth of many of our vegetable crops, there were plenty of high points worth sharing.
Season Wrap-up: Vegetable garden report
It was a hoot starting Green Arrow peas in a rain gutter this spring, which gave us a method for producing a large number of seedlings that were easy to transplant into a garden bed. We ended up with a bountiful harvest. The only challenge was keeping the quail from nibbling on the plants’ leaves.
New vegetable cultivars that I grew for the first time were pleasant surprises. Burpee’s Lunchbox cucumbers were productive, extra crunchy and very flavorful. Their Atlas hybrid tomatoes provided us with huge, tasty beefsteak-type fruits. Ed Hume’s Sweetness Bi-color corn was prolific and so delicious.
Season Wrap-up: Cucamelons
This was my first year of growing Cucamelons, which look like tiny watermelons and have a citrusy taste. The quail thought the seedlings were yummy so the plants didn’t get off to the best start. This means we didn’t have much of a harvest but I’m willing to try again next year and fully intend to protect the seedlings early on.
A friend who grew up in the South inspired me to try Cushaw winter squash. The fruits are white with green stripes and grew quite nicely in our Inland Northwest climate. I’ve heard they make the most delicious pies and am looking forward to verifying that claim soon.
Season Wrap-up: Good year for melons!
Our two raised beds of melons — Tuscan Napoli cantaloupe and Ha Ogen honeydew — outdid themselves by producing a total of 42 delicious melons. What did we do with them all? Aside from indulging in fresh melon daily, we shared some with friends and donated others to the food bank.
The two potato varieties we planted this year — Viking Purple and Blue Belle — gave us our best harvest ever. The foliage stayed green and healthy all season long, in contrast to some years when the plants have struggled.
Season Wrap-up: Onion issues
We had mixed results in our onion beds. While our long-storing Copra onions grew well, the Walla Walla Sweets were a huge disappointment. For some reason, they stopped growing early in the season and did not produce the large bulbs we all know and love. However, Ed Hume’s heirloom Italian Red Torpedo onions were a wonderful discovery; we’ll grow them again next year.
Our Musica pole beans, which we always grow on an arbor, weren’t nearly as productive as in previous years but I have myself to blame for that. I planted them in two raised beds that didn’t get quite as much sunlight as the rest of the garden. Note to self: don’t make that mistake again.
Season Wrap-up: I’m willing to share garden space!
In May, I wrote a column about how my husband, Bill, has been trying to take over the vegetable garden, which simply will not do. However, I am willing to swallow my pride and tell you that he grew the most fantastic crop of sweet and hot peppers in our hoop house. Since I’m benefitting from that bounty, I guess it’s okay to let him have a little space after all.
This is my final column of the 2018 garden season. I will continue to write about all aspects of gardening on my blog (Susansinthegarden.com) and Facebook page (facebook.com/susansinthegarden) so don’t be a stranger.