Dear Readers,

[WARNING! Vegetables were unintentionally harmed in the making of this blog. Images may be disturbing to some…]

I wanted to wait to write to you with another gardening update until I had begun some sort of fruitful harvest. But with this year’s intense heat, some crazy cabbage consuming bugs, our poor spatial planning, and my inability to actually water my plants…a truly fruitful harvest will never come. 

Instead, I can write (and show…) to you what we learned from our initial endeavor in self-sustainability! 

1. Most obvious…Onions need a lot of water, and potentially less rocky soil.

2. The tomato plants need to have more support, and more space between one another. 

4. Blueberries need a net to keep birds and our free ranging chickens at bay.

5. Carrot seeds need to be better spaced from one another.

6. Green beans and cucumbers need much more water in such extreme heat.

7. Squash. It squashes and sucks the life out of all life forms surrounding it. The tomato plants that were doing well in that garden bed had the water and nutrients drained from them by our greedy, thirsty, vampire squash. Again, I definitely did not water our veggies near as often as I should have, especially with such a crazy hot summer. So, being desperate, the squash preyed on the weak to survive. And they have! Well..did. We have actually already harvested, and consumed, some of our sasquatching squash. The predator has become the prey. 

Annnddd…that’s about it! Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Shelby Aldrich