Niagara Vegetable Garden: Part Two

It’s a good thing they’re cute or I might be tempted to strangle them. I’m talking about squirrels. You remember that rock tip I gave on the Part 1 article? Well, I got lazy and didn’t do it to my potato plant. As potato plants grow, you need to keep adding soil until you’ve reached the top of the planter. I really didn’t want to have to take off the rocks every time I did that. And now it’s come back to bite me…

Photographic evidence of a vicious squirrel attack

That squirrel was really convinced something was buried there. I’m guessing the plant will be fine since potato plants are so hardy, but I’m going to be putting rocks on the soil now just in case. Lesson learned. For a timeline to catch you up, both tomatoes were planted on May 19th and everything else was a week earlier. So, it’s time to fertilize now. I have only added fertilizer to the cucumbers, tomatoes (plus chives) and broccoli. I will keep this up every 7 to 10 days. However, I will not be fertilizing the herbs, lettuce or potatoes. My reasoning is that I’ve grown herbs just fine without fertilizer, I wasn’t sure about the lettuce and I’ve heard that potatoes should be left alone. To be honest, I didn’t really have a fertilizer preference and just grabbed one from the store shelf. Hopefully that won’t be a mistake.

Miracle-Gro for tomatoes and vegetables

As you can see from the initial pictures from Part 1, the plants have grown quite a bit. I spaced out their photos by about 2 weeks. The most impressive growth has been the cucumbers and tomatoes. I was fooled into thinking the growth has been slow. It’s nice to have pictures to show that it’s not their speed but my impatience that is the problem.

Cucumber after two weeks

Cucumber after four weeks

Bush Beefsteak after two weeks

Bush Beefsteak after four weeks

Micro Tom after two weeks

Micro Tom after four weeks

Lettuce after two weeks

Lettuce after four weeks

I am thrilled that I managed to pull the broccoli out of the shared container and plant them in their own individual pots. It would have really turned into a problem. Look at them!

Broccoli claiming their space

This whole process has been tiring, but a good kind. I love running my hands through soil. I enjoy sitting outside and taking in the natural simplistic beauty of growing your own food. It’s a shame that farmers are facing economic hardships because I truly believe that life would be more balanced if we were outside connecting with the earth more than we are now. Technology has thrown up a roadblock and today we face different issues than our parents did. It’s when I am in my garden that I remember things should be simple. Life isn’t HTML code. Happiness isn’t an animated GIF. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, support your local farmers market. Farming is tough, albeit rewarding, and it’s a great thing to support that lifestyle. Do some research and find out where your city has a market. Dan and I can frequently be found at the Port Colborne market on Fridays or the Welland market on Saturdays. Stop and say “hi” if you see us! Thanks for following along with my amateur vegetable garden and, remember, I still welcome any tips or suggestions.

A close-up of my rosemary – it’s not growing fast but it’s pretty nonetheless