Back Where I Belong

Confession is supposed to be good for the soul, so here goes: I have neglected my garden terribly this year. And it shows. 

Oh, sure...I have excuses. First, I was nursing a stress fracture and then a ganglion cyst in my foot (3 weeks, no walking...or gardening allowed). Next I spent a couple of weeks dog-sitting my grand dogs in GA (2 weeks, no gardening). Then I had another flare up of the DeQuervain's tendinitis in my wrist, followed by DeQuervain's Release surgery (6 weeks, no gardening); and wedged in amongst the health issues were some trips that gobbled up a good part of September: one week to Disney World to celebrate Mr. T's milestone birthday; a week to Iowa to attend and present at the International Master Gardener Conference; and finally another week at Dear Darling Daughter's in Georgia (3 weeks, no gardening).

  

You neglect your garden for 14 weeks and what happens? Yes, things began to look wild, and weeds do indeed take over where there is no mulch. The caged Block Garden, that had hosted our sweet corn, is so overgrown that it is heart-breaking to look at it. And even well-mulched but moisture-sensitive plants succumb to lack of rain. The beans (lima as well as garden beans), purple hull peas, melons, squashes, cukes, and pumpkins are all history. The tomatoes are on their last legs, although I did get a few tiny Juliets today and may be able to harvest a few more before frost, as there are green tomatoes on several of the survivors.

But, remarkably, some veggies just keep on growing...and growing...and growing...

When I checked the garden after the torrential rains of last weekend, I was immediately drawn to the first row in the Kitchen Row Garden, where bright colors were calling to me. The peppers, as usual, are finally coming into their own. I harvested green (bell), gold, purple, and red sweet peppers...they may be small in size but they are lovely to look at. I'll bet that if I dice all those up, it will look like "confetti!" 

Further along the same row, I saw them. Reds and golds and greens...all jumbled on tall, healthy, lush-looking plants. The two hot pepper varieties I planted last April (Dragon Cayenne and Tabasco) are groaning under the weight of all their fruit! "Prolific" does not begin to describe it! More hot peppers than we could use in years. These will make fabulous Seasonal gifts...Patricia's Pickled Peppers!

And then I did a double-take when I came upon the eggplants. These are the two plants I babied from the moment they went into the ground on April 13, putting tomato cages around them, and covering the whole thing with row covers to protect them from the wide variety of pests that seem to love eggplants. I removed the row cover in early July, but had imagined that the neglect of August and September would have done them in. Amazingly,  they are healthy...and the fruit on the Black Beauty is gigantic! Probably not edible, but enormous nonetheless. 

Turning to Row 2, I tripped over the sweet potato vines. They have reached out to Rows 1 & 3, even! What a mass! And I could see some pretty large sweet potatoes pushing each other out of the planting holes which were cut into the landscape fabric that serves to keep the weeds at bay. 

I had planted 15 slips of Beauregard Sweet Potatoes in the 35' row, along with trialing 3 slips in the center square raised bed, last May 8. This row had been the recipient of a good addition of composted leaves last year, which Mr. T had tilled in well. He again tilled this row to a depth of 8-10" to allow the roots to reach down deep. If you go by the plant tag and the calendar, Beauregards require 90-110 days from transplant, so I should have been able to begin harvesting mid-August or so...during the height of my neglectful period. Didn't happen. 

But, after the recent excessive rains and ahead of frost (which is an enemy of this warm-season plant) and Mr. T's upcoming knee replacement surgery and 4-6 week recovery period (which will probably be another good excuse to neglect the garden), I decided to tackle the chore of digging sweet potatoes today. If not now, when?

Oh. My. Goodness. I didn't realize what I was getting myself into! I first pulled back the vines. Then I gently wedged the garden fork down the outside edges of the holes...trying to avoid stabbing the tender roots. Then I loaded up my small trug, since I really shouldn't be carrying much more weight than it will hold, and carried the harvest to the deck, where they could dry out in the sun. All-in-all, I loaded up my trug 5 times! 

I weighed each haul, recording a total of 130 pounds of sweet potatoes. You read that right. One. Hundred. Thirty. Pounds. The largest weighed in at 11 pounds (no, not even close to the record, which was over 89 pounds!). And the funniest looks a lot like a duck!

Oh, and my trial of growing sweet potatoes in a raised bed vs. a (raised) row? Of the three slips that I planted in the center square/raised bed...I harvested one usable root. One. So, growing in the the row wins hands down!

Elsewhere in the Way Back, the signs of neglect are evident. It appears that some of the roses lost all of their leaves and have weakened canes, due to lack of moisture. Still I am hopeful that the recent rains can save most bushes from death. Of note, I see that several are putting on buds for a final show of the year. We shall see.

Both the Berry Patch and the Orchard are showing signs of the approach of Fall, with the pear trees having lost most of their leaves in the strong winds of the weekend. I need to give the strawberries a good trim, but will wait until it's time to cover them with straw for the Winter.

Yes, I'm glad to report that I'm home again, playing in the dirt. Back where I belong...

Happy hoeing!