Garden Journal #2 - February

From failure, diseased plants to success and new growth

Much has happened since my first garden journal post in December. Compared to then, I’m not as ecstatic about my garden. At times I’ve been quite bummed out because things didn’t work out as hoped. But that’s okay; the garden journey isn’t always fun. Sometimes, it’s frustrating, like life. However, some exciting things have also happened recently.

Eggplants

In December, I needed something new to put into the Vegepod (fancy raised garden bed with a cover) as it was a bit empty. However, all the fast-growing seeds I had were those not doing well in the summer heat. The others like capsicum, jalapeños, and tomatoes would take ages to grow to a decent size and bear fruit. I didn’t feel like I had that much time left since summer had already begun. So I went to the local garden centre and bought two well-established eggplants, which love heat. They already had lots of tiny eggplants on them. I LOVE EGGPLANTS, so I was pumped.

Sadly, they did not do well. Some leaves quickly withered and fell off. The fruits didn’t grow much. As the plants were a container variety, I wasn’t sure how big the fruit would get. It also didn’t specify the variety, so I couldn’t even look it up. It was a big, costly failure. For what it was worth, though, it made me decide not to buy well-established plants anymore, at least not annuals. Not to say that the fault was with the plants; the growing conditions I put them in were potentially not good enough. I don’t know, to be honest.

However, I spent $80 (NZ) on those two plants, and frankly, it didn’t pay off. Hence, from now on, I’ll try to grow most plants from seed. Even if those grown from seed don’t do well, at least I didn’t spend a significant amount of money on them, only time. I’ve acquired eggplant seeds recently, so when next spring comes around, eggplants will be sown!

Tomatoes

Ah, how I love to look back on the photos from December when my Cherry Roma Tomatoes were so bushy and vivid green. How beautiful they were. *Sigh*

After returning home from house-sitting over New Year’s, I was gutted to see what had happened to the plants while I was away. I had hoped some of the tomatoes would have ripened and been ready to eat. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Instead, the plants had become diseased, and most tomatoes had blossom-end rot, which is not a disease but a calcium deficiency caused by irregular watering.

Since early January, over 70 green tomatoes have landed in the bin due to blossom-end rot. I was gutted initially and concerned I might not get to harvest any. Luckily, not all suffered the same fate of landing in the bin but in my tummy instead. So far, I’ve harvested over 30, which is 15 times more than I harvested last year (which was 2). I call that success.

Over time, the plants have become more diseased and very brown. I can’t wait for the rest of the tomatoes to ripen and put the tomato plants to rest. I can’t stand looking at them anymore, they depress me.

But I’m not quite done with tomatoes yet. I have already disposed of one and replaced it with a tomato plant I started growing later. It’s a different variety, and I’m curious to see whether it will grow tomatoes. The stem is already diseased but has some flowers. We shall see.

From one of the Cherry Roma tomatoes, I removed a sucker when they were smaller and placed it in water to grow roots. Once it did, I planted it in the Vegepod. Though the growth hasn’t been super vigorous and vivid green, it’s already got a few tomatoes on it.

Avocado Tree

I acquired a Worm Farm in October after visiting a composting workshop, which has been incredibly exciting as it’s part of the process of creating my own compost and garden ecosystem. The host brought his worm farm to show what it looks like. He suggested placing avocado pits in the worm farm, not for the worms but for growing avocado trees as worm farms are the perfect environment for avocado pits to sprout: dark and moist.

Years ago, I tried growing avocado pits partially submerged in water, but it never worked. However, placing them in the worm farm was successful. I don’t know how long it took, but they eventually sprouted. After planting it in a pot, the stem grew quickly while the few leaves were tiny and brown. Over time, the leaves grew and turned green. Later, I moved it into a bigger terracotta pot.

Now, you often see a praying mantis on the avocado tree.

Avocados grown from seed take significantly longer to bear fruit than grafted ones. 5-15+ years compared to 2-3 years. Some might not even bear fruits at all. So I’m definitely in the long game with this. But it’s fun just seeing the plant grow.

Orange Tree

In early spring last year (September), I bought a dwarf orange tree full of flower buds from the local garden centre. I potted, pruned and placed it in my shaded garden patch. The flowers soon opened and formed little oranges.

Unfortunately, the tree wasn’t doing well. It started losing leaves quickly. I assumed there was not enough sun, so I moved it to the upper garden where it gets almost full sun.

The tree continued shedding leaves but recovered eventually. New leaves have grown, and new flowers have developed recently. (I had removed all the tiny oranges from the first flowering to help the tree recover.)

The flowers filled the garden with a magnificent smell that made me feel like it was spring again. The bumblebees were enjoying the flowers, too.

Now, there are a few tiny oranges on the tree again. Hopefully, they’ll grow and ripen!

I also sow alyssum seeds surrounding the tree and the tiny flowers add beautiful colours; from white, and pink to purple.

Filling an unused garden bed with life

Weeks ago, I discovered some red onions in the pantry with green shoots growing. As an experiment, I popped them in the Vegepod as there was unused space anyway. The shoots have grown taller and even developed a beautiful globe-shaped head of white flowers.

As I’m already preparing for the colder months and have sown some brassicas, I will need more space in the Vegepod soon. Therefore, I removed the onions and chives and planted them in an unused garden bed by the shed. I also planted ginger from a pot and a borage seedling and sowed carrot seeds to help break up the clayey soil.

The garden bed looks so much after filling it with more life.

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Gardening makes me genuinely excited about all seasons. Summer used to be my favourite season, and though I appreciate the warmth, the high energy, and the long days for other areas of life, it’s probably not my favourite season when it comes to gardening, if I even have one these days, since all seasons are different and bear different perks.

Though I’m still enjoying summer in other areas of life, I’m already looking forward to autumn in terms of gardening. I’m excited to plant root crops, brassicas and leafy greens like spinach again.

What has happened in your garden recently?

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