Lessons in Gardening

I have been gardening for three years now and I still have a lot to learn. I get so overwhelmed by trying to learn how to do things well by reading. I am more of a trial-and-error person. That has made for quite a few errors.

The lone pear on our tree. It will be baby food whenever it is ready.

This year was a bad year for most plants in Sacramento. Everyone's tomatoes did well, and I had good luck with eggplant but not much else.

I learned a lot about organic pest control. I already learned to plant marigolds and basil with the tomatoes to control aphids. I lost my cucumbers and melons to cucumber mosaic virus early on. We got some cukes and one melon. Next year I will plant nasturtium and calendula to keep the cucumber beetles away. I also learned that coffee grounds will keep whatever was devouring my eggplant away.

Before next year I want to figure out what to do to keep my bell peppers from getting sunburnt and how to attract enough bees to adequately pollenate my squash. I also want to figure out when to plant things for an adequate fall crop.

Here is a sample of my tomatoes before I made them into golden marinara

Izzy's hand next to two tomatoes - they were huge!

I roasted them on the grill outside so I didn't bring unnecessary heat into the house.

Tomatoes ready to be roasted.  The smallest was about the size you find at the grocery store.  

Then I cooked them down with roasted onions and garlic, also from the garden in the crockpot.

My marinara sauce simmering in the crockpot