Spring into Action; Part Two

It's a sizzling summer day in Laurel, MS, and our garden is booming with life! After constant watering, shade cloths to protect vulnerable plants from the streamed heat and humidity, we can now have an easier fall planting. We have stories to share, lessons learned, and a lot of joy from the little green oasis. We hope you'll find this post rewarding—with a big smile on your face and dirt under your nails—We are not expert gardeners, It is just two men and a dog on a quest to grow our own food and never have to stepped into a the supermarket.

Harvest Hustle

Our dog Lady, has become quite a garden assistant, she will eat pretty much any fruit or vegetables as long as we eat it too. She refuses to eat a whole fruit or vegetable unless is cut so she can taste their juices before she decides to eat it or not. Some of her favorite fruits and vegetables are Blackberries, blueberries, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, and carrots. She detests citrus of any kind but she will eat them as a last resort.

Here are some of the highs and lows of this season, with harvests and surprises! One of the mornings, we went out to check on our tomatoes, and sure enough, the vine was falling over under its weighted shoulders. It's kind of like a treasure hunt. There is something just magical about plucking that tomato, still warm from the sun, and popping it right into your mouth.

This summer, we had an abundance of tomatoes, cucumbers, chili peppers, eggplants, sweet potatoes, spinach, black berries, asparagus etc. We have made some delicious meals and experimented with roasted and fermented vegetable salads, made pickles, and even cucumber water! It's like a day at the spa in a glass. We shared our surplus of veggies with friends and neighbors.

The pepper plants were just amazing. The cayenne, chili, and jalapeño peppers have been on fire—literally and figuratively. Making homemade salsa has been a real hit with this crop, we made our own hot sauce, we still need to name it though, along with sun drying hot peppers for the winter. Oh, the eggplants look so beautiful with their shiny purple skin, and the spinach is looking great and taste amazing, perfect to add to my fresh salads and smoothies. This year we planted Loofahs and what a magnificent plant to bring pollinators to the garden and create a canopy to shelter other plants. We a thrilled about how well they did on pots as well the amount of flowers they produced.

Garden Mishaps & Misadventures

But that's not all! One morning we woke up, went to the garden, and found our kale looking as if it had taken a trip through the caterpillar buffet line. After an initial freak-out and a couple of choice swear words, we pulled out the big guns of natural remedies. Neem oil quickly became our new best friend. We even ordered in some friendly ladybugs for pest control; those little critters are unsung heroes in the garden, eating away at aphids like it's their job. Because it is. Afterward, they pack up and move to the next garden in need of their services.

Some plants, however, just did not want to cooperate this year. Our usual regular potatoes were a no-show; try as we might, they refused to thrive. The brassicas were a real war with pests and unpredictable weather—cabbages, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, don't like heat very much. As soon as it became hot and muggy, they died. It would seem our garden had other designs for such veggies, and that's fine; it's all part of the learning process, and we've rolled with the punches. After all, a perfect garden doesn't exist, but a fun one does! Another lesson learned this season was planting morning glory and moon flowers on the garden fence. Their vines used all the surrounding fruit trees and plants and created an enormous pollinators habitat and almost suffocated all the other plants that were on trellis such as the black berries, apple, roses and crape myrtle trees. Next season, we need to designate special area for morning glory and moon flowers. Although, they are beautiful, we need to relocated next spring.

We've pretty much fallen into a comfortable routine with so many nice rewards. Now, after waking every day with our coffee cups, and our dog Lady by our side, we're off on a quick tour of the garden. It's like our morning ritual: checking the plants, doing a little weeding, and saying hi to the bees, and butterflies. That's followed by our main task: watering the garden early enough so that the plants can use it up by midmorning and not suffer heat stress while taking in that moisture. We then proceed to the pruning; let's say, for instance, we want to harvest some herbs to be used for breakfast, then off for the day. In the evening, it is checked on again, mostly for pests; very relaxing at the end of a hectic work day.

Garden Projects and Innovations

This year, we decided to get a little bit creative in our garden space. Being inspired by a "do-it-yourself bug," we made multiple wooden trellises with wire fencing 1 x 2 poles, We also used a cattle panel and made an arch or our squashes. It has been perfect for our peas and cucumbers and kind of adds a playful touch to the garden. We added an additional tumbling composter and added two 55 gallons rain barrels to collect rainwater. also expanded our raised beds—a big part of our pride! We created a pollinator garden with milkweed, coreopsis, sun flowers, echanicia, salvia and lantanas. It made gardening so much easier, from planting to weeding. And now, they have become our dog's favorite lounging spots (don't worry, we keep an eye on her!).

The Heart of Gardening

Still, more than anything else, gardening has been an exuberant escape. There is something innately grounding about getting your hands dirty and nurturing life. It's our little oasis—an opportunity to disconnect from the hustle and reconnect with nature. That garden never fails to offer reasons for joy: shared laughter at that funny-shaped carrot or finding accomplishment in every new bloom.

Look Forward

We're looking forward to canning some of the produce as the season progresses. Homemade tomato sauce, anyone? And with fall just around the corner, we are already planning our fall planting. Thank you for walking with us through the gardening journey. I hope our stories and bits of advice inspire you to grow something of your own, whether or not you have a lot of space to do it. Remember, it's all supposed to be fun, learning along the way, and enjoying the fruits—or veggies—of your labor. Happy gardening, and may your garden be as wild, wonderful, and wacky as you are!