Above you see a photo of today's harvest. In talking to other home gardeners, many have report disappointing yields this year, but not sure why. I've had the best luck with the little heirloom tomatoes you see above which are a third generation of plants I bought a few years back. They seed in and pop up all over the place the next spring. If this continues, I'll never have to buy cherry tomato plants again. In the basket you also see lemon cukes, lemon tomatoes, habanero peppers, bell pepper, summer squash, zucchini, chives, lettuce, sage, lemon balm and peppermint. In other parts of the garden, I have some parsley seedlings which I hope to bring indoors after frost, herbs, green tomatoes I hope will ripen, and green grapes. I'm not sure when to harvest the grapes. I also have a pumpkin plant but no pumpkins at all.
One major problem I have is pokeweed which is sprouting up all over my yard but mostly in my strawberry patch. I've tried a few natural things this summer to kill it. First, I cut it down to the ground every time it produced leaves, but if I cut down one shoot, five popped up within a few weeks. I also poured boiling water on the foliage which killed it temporarily, but it came back in full force. I think I may try the vinegar idea which I posted yesterday.
As far as your garden next year- I think the raised beds sound great, but gardening close to your home would be convenient, too. Can you do both? It's so nice you now have a place at home to garden. How do you like your new place?
