So, it was my first ever garden. I won't claim it as a roaring success, but I did get to sample a little of nearly everything I planted.

Swiss chard and spinach: Both were attacked by leaf miners (didn't know about those...) and flea beetles and virtually destroyed before I got to eat much at all. But I did get to sample a few leaves. The "bright lights" variety of chard was so very beautiful (when it wasn't decimated). Will try the chard again, if I can find row covers. Will try spinach again as a fall crop, with row covers.

Lettuce: I planted a 'mesclun mix' and mini-romaine lettuces and all were very successful. Virtually ignored by pests, winter-sowed well, juicy, flavourful and the mesclun gave up a delicious variety of green-leaf, red-leaf, oak-leaf, ruby and frisee lettuces, plus chicory, rocket (arugula, the stuff Emeril keeps going on about) and some herbs. Had some nice salads in spring until bolt. Mini-romaines were fabulous. Will definitely do again as a spring crop, and will try as an autumn crop as well. This was the only crop that gave us more than just a taste, this year.

Peas: Only one germinated but it chugged along alright. Didn't flower heavily, so only a couple of pods. Not enough to cook, so we just shelled them and ate them straight off the vine. Very sweet and tasty though, will try again.

Brocolli and cauliflower: The only crop I didnt' even get to sample. Though I was able to keep the butterflies under control, the flea beetles were another matter. Started to flower while the weather was really hot, so the heads were horribly bitter. Drat. Perhaps try again next year, with row covers and as an autumn crop.

Carrots: Sowed these in spring, they're now almost ready to harvest, for fall. Just as tasty and sweet as I'd hoped though, well worth the wait. The ones planted near the tomatoes did much better than those on the side of the coles. Will definitely try again, next to tomatoes. Apparently they really *do* love tomatoes ^_^

Herbs: Thyme, parsley, oregano, purple opal basil, sage - all coming along alright. All are small save the oregano (figures the one I use the least would become a small bush...) All tasty and much appreciated.

Nasturtiums: TOO SUCCESSFUL! :LOLOL: Well I can certainly grow nasturtiums. If you want ginormous hemispheres of sunlight-blocking nasturtiums, I'm your gardener. HUGE plants, lots of flowers.

Marigolds: Success here too. Pretty.

Scarlet runner beans and summer squash: Y'know, I figured these'd be guaranteed, but they never got to be more than seedlings. But from what I understand, they really need warm weather and that is something we were in short supply of, this year. I guess its a poetic trade-off though: Scarlet runners were the ONLY thing that succeeded in my mother's garden where everything else failed; everything else in my garden succeeded, and the scarlet runners failed XD

Tomatoes: These are a special landmark for me: My mother never had any kind of success with tomatoes. She tried to grow them from seed and they all keeled over. She tried growing them from transplant, and though they fruited and ripened, they were all catfaced and scarred and cracked and sunburned and tough and flavourless and horrible. I grew three varieties from seed and all have at least two little green tomatoes on them. The Manitobas are still green, but are almost large enough and developed enough to be pulled and ripened if need be. The Sub-Arctic Plenties really live up to their name, being covered in bunches of little green fruits. Some are reaching the right stage to be pulled and ripened. I have a feeling that the Purple Princes will not be able to mature a fruit sufficiently, before the cold hits. They do have fruit, but they're still small greenlings, no where near ready to pull off and ripen. But they are fruiting, so I consider this to be a near-miss. However! - I did pull a Sub-Arctic Plenty the other day and put it aside to ripen. Ripen it did, and yesterday we had it in our lunches. It was juicy and tangy, acidic, bright scarlet flesh with emerald green gel, not too many seeds. So I have successfully grown a tomato and I grew it from seed. Yay! Needless to say, I will be trying tomatoes again next year.

You are all wonderfully supportive people and I have learned a lot from you. In fact, I learned so much, so many innovative techniques, I've apparently fooled my neighbor, an experienced gardener, into thinking I'm some sort of expert (she'd never heard of winter-sowing, intensive gardening, cloching with milk jugs and pop bottles or no-dig bed prepping)

Is mise le meas

-==- Katzedecimal