August Garden Adventures
Organized Chaos, Curious Critters, and Dinner on the Table
This is our first year with raised beds, and let’s just say the garden has been an excellent teacher.
The lessons have included timing, light, location, patience, pests, and perhaps most importantly: there is no such thing as a foolproof garden plan. Especially when the person doing the planting subscribes to a philosophy of organized chaos.
I thought the radishes, mini carrots, bunching onions, and assorted greens would happily embrace my helter-skelter approach to seeding. They did not.
And yet, somehow, that’s part of the fun.
Even when things haven’t unfolded quite the way I envisioned, there has been plenty of potential to work with. We kept things relatively simple this year, focusing on foods we already know we’ll eat - and then we watched, adjusted, harvested, and occasionally wondered what on earth was happening.
The Great Greens Experiment
We eat a lot of leafy greens at home, but they don’t seem to be especially common crops among the local farmers around here. So greens became one of the main focuses of this year’s garden, taking up a generous portion of the beds—tucked between and beneath some of the larger plants.
My understanding is that once the nightshades call it a season, the brassicas can keep on growing, which makes them especially appealing for extending the garden’s productivity into the cooler months.
It turns out we aren’t the only ones who appreciate them.
The rainbow chard, collards, and four varieties of kale have been tender, delicious, and apparently irresistible to other creatures. We’ve shared more than a few leaves with the local wildlife, whether we intended to or not. Apparently, “homegrown greens” is a popular menu item around here.
Some of the greens didn’t even make it that far.
These bolted almost immediately:
Arugula
Bok Choy (white stem)
Pak Choy (green stem)
Mizuna
Radishes - four varieties, which eventually yielded a mixed handful of French breakfast, icicle, and red globe radishes
The radishes were perhaps best described as a sampler platter.
The bunching onions were another mystery. A few random sprouts finally appeared just as I was clearing the bed, as though they had been waiting for the dramatic finale.
The carrots were a little more cooperative. I planted two types of mini carrots, hoping for adorable two-inch roots. We have harvested a handful of actual carrots – some but ½” long - and an abundance of magnificent carrot greens. The greens have arguably been the bigger success.
Good Starts, Short Careers
The cucumbers began promisingly. We planted two varieties from seed and harvested a few good fruits.
Then came the thick-skinned, bitter cucumbers. These were not so good.
Cucumber beetles moved in and were promptly excised from the premises, but the lantern flies were harder to discourage. Eventually something was clearly having a grand time with the plants. The leaves wilted, the vines started splitting, and although there was no sign of mildew or other obvious affliction, the plants were clearly done with their cucumber careers.
So I removed them.
The sugar snap peas were another lesson in timing. I planted them too late and they began fruiting just as the heat arrived. The plants struggled, so I pulled them too.
But there may still be seeds left.
And if so, why not try again?
Perhaps we’ll get an autumn crop. Perhaps we’ll get another lesson. Either way, I’m curious.
Beans: Quietly Coming Into Their Own
The bush green beans are currently having their moment.
They aren’t producing enough for me to put up a winter supply, but they are producing enough to make their way deliciously into our meals.
Actually, quite a few of them never made it that far.
We’ve mostly been eating them raw, straight from the garden. There’s something wonderfully satisfying about wandering outside, picking a handful of beans, and eating them before you even make it back to the kitchen - or giving them a quick rinse and plopping them into a dish on the table. Somehow, food just tastes a little better when you can point to exactly where it came from.
Some did make it into a garlicky tofu dish, though. So the beans can officially claim a place on the dinner table.
The Farm-Stand-to-Garden Crew
We also purchased young plants from a local farm, and these have given us some of our more interesting developments.
The eggplants - two varieties - have been taking their sweet time. It’s now mid-August, and I’m finally noticing a steadier progression from blossom to fruit. I’m hoping the plants have decided that now is the time to get serious.
The peppers have been a mixed and spicy bunch: Jimmy Nardini sweet peppers, jalapeños, cayenne, and habaneros.
The habaneros are still just babies. At this point, I don’t expect much fruit from them this season, but I’ve recently learned that peppers are actually perennials. Now I’m contemplating potting them up and trying to overwinter them indoors.
Because apparently, I need another gardening experiment.
The tomatoes have also provided a little surprise. We have Roma tomatoes and what I thought was going to be a red cherry variety.
It is not.
The fruit is orange, tasty, and has a texture that reminds me of tomatillos.
I have no idea how this happened, but I’m delighted by the mystery.
Flowers, Herbs & Other Good Garden Company
For a little beauty and, hopefully, some pest control, we planted marigolds and nasturtiums in the beds. They offer brilliant pops of color! The nasturtium has presented its peppery goodness at the table too.
The herb collection, planted both in the beds and in pots on the back deck, includes basil, chives, dill, oregano, rosemary, thyme, peppermint, spearmint, and onions that we’ve been happily clipping and using as scallions.
I also scattered cilantro and parsley seeds rather randomly in the shade of other plants, hoping the taller plants would protect them from the direct sun.
There are, indeed, some little plants.
Of course, I started them much too late.
This seems to be becoming a theme.
In a long planter, I planted Genovese and Thai basil from seed. They are the cutest little plants - and I may have overseeded just a wee bit. The planter is now extremely dense, so some thinning is definitely in my future.
I’m also considering bringing some indoors for the winter. I’ve successfully overwintered basil in a bedroom window before, so perhaps the laundry room will become the next basil spa.
The Container Garden Has Opinions
Beyond the main raised beds, we have a small supporting cast growing in containers and individual pots.
The everbearing strawberries are hanging out and have rewarded us with a few sour little fruits. They’ve now been repotted into a larger container, so perhaps after a winter rest, they’ll come back next summer ready to be more generous.
The bay laurel is looking strong and steady, although a bout of thrips required treatment, so for now it’s enjoying retirement from the culinary rotation. Once it has had some time to recover and put out fresh growth, I’ll happily welcome it back to the kitchen.
The Cuban oregano, meanwhile, appears to have discovered immortality.
It is absolutely thriving. Borderline unstoppable.
I pruned it back, stuck the cuttings into soil, and - because apparently it has things to prove - the cuttings rooted and are growing too. They are now ready to be gifted to people who are prepared to accept responsibility for their future oregano jungle.
The fig tree is another story.
After several years of growth, a fresh repot, and a late pruning that may or may not have been perfectly timed, I was hopeful this would finally be the year it produced fruit.
There are tiny little nibs at the leaf junctures.
But no figs.
The clippings didn’t root either.
The fig tree and I will simply have to discuss this further next year.
There are also several mixed pots of decorative foliage - coleus, dusty miller, dwarf dahlias, zinnias, geraniums, verbena, rock rose, alyssum, and some pretty spotted-leaf plants whose names I never remember.
And the citronella plant that successfully wintered over has bloomed beautifully, which feels like a particularly nice little victory.
Late-season additions include currants and native perennials to plant for next year.
Because clearly we haven’t learned our lesson about adding more plants.
And none of this even touches on the wildflower and perennial garden out front!
From Garden to Kitchen
The best part of all of this has been what happens after the gardening.
Fresh, tender, garlicky greens.
Tomato and onion salad.
Beans eaten straight from the garden or folded into dinner.
Eggplant parmesan.
Spicy dishes thanks to the chilies.
Basil pesto in the freezer.
And one of my favorites: delightful fried peppers combining Jimmy Nardini peppers from our garden with banana peppers from the farm up the road.
These aren’t grand harvests. We aren’t filling a root cellar or putting up enough vegetables to carry us through the winter.
But that isn’t really the point - at least not this season.
There is something deeply gratifying about walking out to the garden and picking a few things to incorporate into whatever we’re making that day. A handful of beans. Some greens. A pepper or two. Herbs for dinner.
It feels connected in a way that grocery shopping simply doesn’t.
A Garden Is Apparently a Conversation
This first year of raised beds has reminded me that gardening is less about controlling the outcome and more about paying attention.
You plant.
You wait.
You wonder.
Something bolts.
Something gets eaten.
Something refuses to grow.
Something you thought would be red turns out to be orange.
The Cuban oregano attempts world domination.
And then, suddenly, there’s dinner.
I’m learning to appreciate the garden not only for what it produces, but for what it teaches me along the way. The successes are satisfying, the failures are instructive, and the surprises are often the most fun.
So here we are in August: still experimenting, still harvesting, still planting a few things much later than we should, staring at a half-empty bed, and already thinking about next year.
Because apparently organized chaos is a long-term commitment.
And honestly, I’m here for the chaos. Toodles for now!
~Barb