As I started to respond to comments, I realized I was writing an entire post, so I decided to move it here.
Thus far, I would not consider my garden a success by any stretch of the imagination.
I water daily, sometimes twice, at the base of the plants. Never overhead. I water by hand with a long handled sprayer that can reach down under the canopy of the plants.
We have combated much….Round-Up being sprayed within 20 feet of all of my plants on a windy day…grasshoppers ~of all sizes~ have taken over my entire yard and garden. My huge tansy plants were destroyed, as well as some of my ornamentals. I think wind and pollination issues are responsible for the lack of cucumbers…two pathetic deformed specimens…but both were eaten. My zuchini has only produced 4 zukes. I had 4 watermelon on the vine, but I am now down to only one.
None of my beans have produces more than 3 pods.
We use a combination of compost for fertilizer… worm castings, chicken manure compost (small amts) and cow compost.
We have loads of toads and birds, but yet the army of grasshoppers seem to grow exponentially. As I was checking for cukes or blossoms yesterday, I found about 50 HUGE hoppers chomping away. They had no fear factor either….I had to practically “beat” them off of the vines…not really, but they were difficult to budge. Even my lovely sweet potato vines are lacy from their wrath. In my ornamental pots surrounding our front porch, everything but the geraniums are being eaten away.
The bell peppers have been prolific, however, on most there are “bad spots” that have to be cut away.
The few cherry tomatoes and romas that are now coming in now are very tasty, however, I have a few plants that have yet to produce even one bloom…much less any fruit.
I had thought about a fall garden, but am almost out of time.
At the moment, there are many other “pressing” matters at hand here at our place…each that takes precedence over gardening.
Okay…here it comes…a pity party….and know that my ego is fragile at the moment….but I am feeling a bit as though nothing I do is successful. It feels as though I have to do twice the work, no matter what it is (ie.-attempting the Seal-A-Mealed corn over and over and over again) and yet, I still have terrible failures.
One decision that I have made is that until my kitchen is in order nothing good is going to happen. My kitchen is unmanageable. Little storage space…almost non-existent counter space, a stove/oven that needs to be leveled, linoleum flooring with holes worn through to the sub-flooring, kitchen cabinets that will not stay shut, poor lighting, and a layout that does nothing for productivity. I had said that the kitchen would be the last room we would rennovate in this %*#@ 100 year old house, but I think I am fed up and at the ropes end.
Goodness, so I started out grinching about the garden and I have moved indoors to my kitchen. Like I said, it is a pity party..for “one”. Tomorrow will be a better day and after my “projects” are completed, maybe that will improve my attitude.
