I'm glad to say my first year of gardening went a lot smoother than expected!
Beans: didn't look after them much, yet they did very well. Several areas on the leaves were covered with black spots, but they didn't have any adverse effects on the plants. Or they were so minor that nothing bad happened. I will definitely plant more this year so people don't end up with two beans each.
Bok choy: I got the baby version, which were adorable. They did great in containers, not so well in the field with the slugs and snails looming over.
Lettuce and Mesclun: munched on by those cursed slugs and snails so widespread in my garden. Tried growing them during the summer and, of course, it failed. Won't ever be trying that again! Aside from all that, they flourished in containers in spring and fall.
Pepper: no bug attacks and provided good sized fruits that were extra sweet. Only downside is they took a while to bare fruit and the fruits took quite some time to turn red.
Radish: my first root vegetable. It was great, but they all went into the green bin since no one I know uses radish. I really should have thought about that before purchasing the seeds.
Tomato: planted grape tomatoes - so cute! They were attacked by either aphids or beetles but they disappeared by the end of mid summer. I harvested more than enough tomatoes from only two bushy plants.
Zucchini: even though they took up waaay too much space (I'll be on the hunt for a vine type this year), it was worth it. I picked 2-3 fruits every single day. Earwigs made the stems a home, so I had to get ride of them with soap. Their poops were pretty gross.
Rosemary: the starters are fine but the ones grown from seeds refuse to germinate. When one of them did, it didn't want to live : (
Spinach: Talk about a plant being difficult! I tried four different varieties and no seedling has exceeded 1" in height. I'll defeat you one day *raises fist*
Cauliflower: partially my fault. The one plant that did survive bolted because I forgot to harvest the perfect white curd.
Strawberry: they were so very sour. For some odd reason the latter fruits were much smaller than the first batch. That aside, they did bore many fruits and talk about a sight to behold! The flowers and fruits were stunning.
Virgin lettuce seedling: where in the world did it come from? It germinated before any lettuce in the area started to bolt.
2009 was such an amazing experience that I have decided to garden in to 2010. I hope Lady Luck still wants to chillax around my backyard!
HAPPY PLANTS
Basil: easy to take care of and fast growing. I prefer the globe basil, which is much more attractive with its "poofball" shape.Beans: didn't look after them much, yet they did very well. Several areas on the leaves were covered with black spots, but they didn't have any adverse effects on the plants. Or they were so minor that nothing bad happened. I will definitely plant more this year so people don't end up with two beans each.
Bok choy: I got the baby version, which were adorable. They did great in containers, not so well in the field with the slugs and snails looming over.
Lettuce and Mesclun: munched on by those cursed slugs and snails so widespread in my garden. Tried growing them during the summer and, of course, it failed. Won't ever be trying that again! Aside from all that, they flourished in containers in spring and fall.
Pepper: no bug attacks and provided good sized fruits that were extra sweet. Only downside is they took a while to bare fruit and the fruits took quite some time to turn red.
Radish: my first root vegetable. It was great, but they all went into the green bin since no one I know uses radish. I really should have thought about that before purchasing the seeds.
Tomato: planted grape tomatoes - so cute! They were attacked by either aphids or beetles but they disappeared by the end of mid summer. I harvested more than enough tomatoes from only two bushy plants.
Zucchini: even though they took up waaay too much space (I'll be on the hunt for a vine type this year), it was worth it. I picked 2-3 fruits every single day. Earwigs made the stems a home, so I had to get ride of them with soap. Their poops were pretty gross.
SAD PLANTS
Broccoli: since this was one of my first plants, I can't blame it for not doing well. The transplants were too leggy to survive.Rosemary: the starters are fine but the ones grown from seeds refuse to germinate. When one of them did, it didn't want to live : (
Spinach: Talk about a plant being difficult! I tried four different varieties and no seedling has exceeded 1" in height. I'll defeat you one day *raises fist*
INDIFFERENT PLANTS
Eggplant: barely survived the numerous aphid attacks and flowers kept dying, but the ones that made it through offered quite a bountiful harvest. One of the Black Beauties turned out to be a Rosa Bianca.Cauliflower: partially my fault. The one plant that did survive bolted because I forgot to harvest the perfect white curd.
Strawberry: they were so very sour. For some odd reason the latter fruits were much smaller than the first batch. That aside, they did bore many fruits and talk about a sight to behold! The flowers and fruits were stunning.
SURPRISE!
Thyme: despite the years of regret, it's still alive!Virgin lettuce seedling: where in the world did it come from? It germinated before any lettuce in the area started to bolt.
2009 was such an amazing experience that I have decided to garden in to 2010. I hope Lady Luck still wants to chillax around my backyard!
