Now that winter is on its way and the gardening season is over for this year I thought I'd follow up on my spring gardening post. I honestly wish the season was a bit longer, but I'll take what I can get. The winter break is nice as well. Over all our garden did well this year. Some things worked better for us than others. Below are some pictures that were taken throughout the season.
Our beans and snow peas were a huge success! We will be planting those again.
We had a number of squash, although the squirrels broke in and stole a couple. I did not know they liked squash, but we witnessed them break a butter nut squash and carry it away. This acorn squash grew its way through the fence.
We had one decent size watermelon it wasn't ready until the very end of the season, mostly we just had tiny watermelons starting and they did not get the chance to grow very big. I don't think the season is long enough here.
Our blueberry plants are still fairly young, we have a family of four and I think we each got two, I'm hoping in the future they will produce a lot more. They turn a very pretty red in the fall though.
Our lettuce, spinach, and kale did well. Have you tried kale chips? They are a family favourite over here!
Our peppers were a failure, I don't think we will bother with them again next year. We had the tiniest peppers starting right before frost hit.
Our tomatoes did well and we will likely do that again.
I may have over planted cucumbers! We had a gazillion! Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but we were able to turn them into pickles, (in this case what I mean by "we" is my awesome husband) They are so good, and I'm not even a fan of pickles!
This is the first year that I planted Sunflowers and they grew! I've tried in the past and I don't know what happened something came and ate the seeds is my guess. The squirrels were quick to attack these as well.
In the spring we planted two apple trees and two cherry trees, I call this our mini orchard. Unfortunately they do not have a fence around them and we cannot keep the deer away. These trees have had a rough summer, so far they are still alive and we are trying to protect them. Anyone have any tips (besides adding a massive fence?) I'm pretty sure apple trees (and Hosta plants) are a deer's absolute favourite thing to eat.
We also had a fight with some kind of weird beetle, that lasted a couple weeks in the middle of the summer. We've had our ups and downs this gardening season. In the end it's been well worth it. We're eating healthy, the boys love growing, picking and eating their own food.
Growing up I never really thought I'd be a gardener, it seemed like a lot of work and not something I'd really want to take on as a hobby. It's really not that bad once you have everything planted. Now I've realized how amazing it is to plant a seed and watch it grow and produce food. There's nothing better than going to your garden to pick a salad for lunch or supper. When the only thing you need to add is homemade dressing it feels pretty awesome, plus tastes amazing.
If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen this picture. Proof that the deer fence is worth the investment.