This year was the best ever, all of the plants in my garden did very well. Especially, cucurbit, which includes cucumber, zucchini, and pumpkin. I had never ever had a good year with cucurbit due to squash bugs, cucumber beetles, squash vine borers, and they need *food* more than I think. I had a traumatic experience with cucumber and zucchini in my first year as this was my second time to grow cucumber in my 5-year garden life. I had only three zucchinis from three plants last year. It was pathetic.
(Huge leaves of buttercup.)
(Butternuts saved from the compost bucket.)
Every year, I plant kabocha, Japanese green pumpkin, or buttercup, and this variety is the most favored by squash vine borers. Every year is a war to fight against this pest. I had 15 kabocha plants and was able to harvest 22 kabocha his year. Some kabocha plants gave me 2 fruit, that was my first experience as well as the big leaves! Usually, kabocha in my garden were small, and I had never worry about the plants may take over the garden because some even die while its fruit is still immature.
(They all have decent weight and size
which means inside is considerably fat.)
I think the soil in my garden has been improving with compost that I add year after year, and the diversity of plants led diversities of bacterias and insects, a small ecosystem is developing in my back yard..., hopefully. As my garden is an organic garden, I don’t use chemical synthesized fertilizer and pesticides. I make organic fertilizer with vegetable scraps, grass clippings, and old leaves that are then biodegraded by insects, fungus, and bacterias. My goal is to create a garden that does not need a lot of care because other creatures in my garden naturally take care of it.
Anyway, I’m very happy with the many Japanese pumpkins. I usually buy it from CO-OP when I don’t have my own. Their taste is much different from American Halloween pumpkins, they are more dense and sweet. Other vegetables and flowers are also doing great, but cucurbit was the most impressive this year.
The most important event from last summer was that my husband and I built a 12'x20' shed in the backyard together. We had a 86 years old retired carpenter who taught us how to build a shed. He came to our backyard to work and show how to do 3 days a week in the morning and left homework for us. We had a quite busy summer last year especially me with taking care of my garden also.
(The 86 years old guy working on the roof!)
(By the end of shed building, I became comfortable using an electric saw.)
(We learned a lot about paint, too.)
(Putting oil on the wall before painting.)
(Putting primer on the wall. My husband painted the wall, and I painted the trimming.)
(Windows installed.)
(Finished!)
(I built a large table inside - my gardening working table.)
(Our cat always entertains us by being so curious around us.)
I have never thought of building a shed by myself, but I enjoyed it so much. I basically like to make something, and I am familiar with woodwork since my father was a handyman. It is interesting to see myself as being created by my parents; my father loved to grow plants and a handyman, and my mother was a seamstress. I am doing exactly what they were doing.
The shed became my "second house"! There is plenty of room that gardening stuff can be stored and the large table I can work to grow seedlings. Before this shed, all of the gardening stuff was stored in the Florida room. It was a mess. Since the gardening stuff is moved to the shed, we are now trying to change the space in the Florida room to the visitor's chatting space.
I cannot wait to see what the next year's garden will be like. I am hoping to have cucurbits growing well as well as other vegetables like this year. Also, I planted a year old fig tree in the front yard. I hope it grows well too.
P.S. We finally harvested asparagus this year after 4 years of seeding!