My Poor Garden

Newly planted in 2016

My garden did not do well at all this year.

A couple of years ago Husband gave me a raised bed because I had complained of heartburn from bending when working in the garden.

Covered raised bed 2018

This year he added a raised bed with covers because we have a had issues with the wind destroying plants.

Peppers and cucumber seeds 2018

I researched and used what was most recommended to fill the beds - equal parts top soil and composted cow manure. 

 

I planted green peppers and started green beans and cucumbers from seed in the covered bed.

Garden area

I put a tomato plant, and sowed lettuce and radish seeds, and later transferred the sprouted cucumbers to the uncovered raised bed.

A lonely green bean

I planted potatoes in tubs, summer squash in a hay bale and a zucchini plant in the ground on the other side of the hay bale and pea seeds went directly into the ground between the raised beds. 

None of it is doing well. 

Sad green beans

The peppers and green beans have lost their leaves, perhaps to bugs or birds, I don't know. 

Spindly tomato

Half of the green beans have died.

The peas are struggling and I doubt if they even produce peas.

The zucchini died. 

The radishes got about as big as a marble. 

The lettuce didn't do well at all.

I have gotten 3 tomatoes with 2 more about to ripen.

Potatoes - or should I say potato since this is all that is left

The cucumbers are just not growing. My neighbor is getting 4-5 cucumbers a day from her garden, that she planted after I planted mine.

Summer squash in a hay bale

The potatoes have all been eaten by something. I never see what is doing it.

 
The summer squash planted in the hay bale is better than anything else I planted.

Volunteer cucumbers possibly

But, the thing that is doing the best is whatever this is growing UNDER the covered raised bed. I did not plant it. It is growing beautifully and has lots of blossoms on it. Crazy. I think it is probably cucumbers. 

The rest of my yard does not look wonderful, either.

The apples are very small and bug-eaten. 

 

Purple Coneflower

Plants have not bloomed well, and when they did the bugs - Japanese beetle and some other unidentified insects - have destroyed them.

 

This Hosta has had curled leaves for about a month. None of the others do. I don't know what is going on with this one.

But, this Hibiscus if finally blooming. 


My foot is there for size. 


They are huge!
 


And, it is loaded with buds. 




I can't wait to see this with more blooms.

I hope I can figure out what went wrong this year. We joke that it is a good thing we don't have to rely on the garden to feed us. We would starve!

Small Quilts and Doll Quilts is 

hosting Design Wall Mondays and  

What a Hoot Quilts is challenging quilters to 

finish '18 in 2018'.

Check them out.