We had more rain than usual this month, combined with cooler weather and shorter days. I haven’t needed to water as much. I saved a few 5-gallon buckets of rainwater and used them over the past week for container plants and the seedlings under my desk.
I cleared out several plants that had faded. Some went to compost, some to the green bin depending on disease. We ended up with one good-sized pumpkin from the arch and a couple smaller pumpkins from the hill, one orange and one white. Despite flowering quite a bit, and several male flowers beginning to fruit, each plant produced one viable fruit. Next year, better pollination, soil, light, and watering should help increase yields.
This was my first year growing anything in the ground or containers. Even though we grew dozens of plants, I’m not satisfied. The small challenges with yields, plant size, slow or stunted growth, and mild pests and disease all drive me to understand how to do better. I remind myself about how much more you learn through challenges than with easy successes.
For now I’m focusing on lettuce through fall and winter. The romaine, bok choy, and kale in grow bags were bolting and wilting so I composted where appropriate. We did eat some from them over the last month or so. The romaine was fine. I didn’t like the bok choy; not sure if it was the variety or something in my growing.
I reused the soil from those bags to fill a 15-gallon bag and planted more romaine. I added some Trifecta, pumice, and sifted native soil to the raised bed on the hill where the pumpkins were. I cleaned out roots without trying too hard to keep the structure intact; in a mostly raised-bed mix, I’m not sure it matters much.
I sifted our homemade compost and got about 2.5 gallons. It’s probably not fully cured, but I spread it across the top of the bed anyway. Then I added a thin layer of finely sifted potting mix and native soil for seed planting.
I planted about a dozen White Grano and Tokyo Long onions, along with several Buttercrunch and Oakleaf lettuces. I gave everything a light straw mulch and will add more once the seedlings are established.