After a week of rain in Southern California I decided it was time to do a recap of the summer garden.
In June I finally decided it was time to get rid of the pumpkin that has been sitting on our doorstep since last Halloween. Instead of throwing it away I decided to bury it in the ground with hopes that we might get a new pumpkin this year. Well, the pumpkin invaded the entire front, but we received three small but beautiful white pumpkins.
We did have a successful batch of onions(that grew in a row next to the front step), potato's(grown in a whiskey barrel), and pea's which never made it into the house they were so good. We grew peanuts for the first time after receiving a plant from my mother-in-law for Mother's Day. I was quite impressed and will definitely be planting these again.
I did have some failures this year. The strawberries(growing in one Topsy Turvey, one horse trough, and three hanging baskets) did not produce a very large crop. Ethan and the neighbor girl constantly hunted down the ripe ones in the horse trough and devoured them on the front doorstep. After having a successful crop with artichokes last year I put two more in. Unfortunately only one of the plants produced fruit. The corn crop was a complete failure, but I blame myself for starting it so late.
As I get ready for fall I am going to need to transition into a container Gardener. We are currently preparing to sell our house so that we can try and make our dreams of living in Oregon a reality. I do not know how fast the house will sell, but there are two things I am sure of: the new buyer's probably won't appreciate artichokes, onions and spinach growing in the yard, they will want flowers; and the second is that whatever I start growing now I want to be able to take it with us so I can enjoy the harvest.
Last week I sowed fall potatoes, onions, garlic, and spinach. This year's crop is small, but it should be bountiful enough to make me feel closer to my dream.
