One of the things I was so excited to start after moving into my home was a garden. I bought
Month-by-Month Gardening in the Carolinas by Bob Polomski and quickly started my plans. I figured my best bet was to buy small plants (instead of starting from seed) and I was so excited to get to planting that I jumped the gun and planted them too early. I lost a couple of plants, but not all of them. I chose tomatoes, strawberries, bell peppers (I think I only have the red kind left--I don't even like that kind), yellow squash and zucchini. I think I had others, but they haven't survived.
I'm a novice gardener and it definitely shows. Something's eating my squash plants and I have yet to determine what it is. I thought I'd put up chicken wire fencing in case it was the neighborhood cat or the groundhogs, but the fence was too flimsy to put up without stakes (my bf maintained all along that it wouldn't work, but I was determined--I admitted, reluctantly, that he was right and I was wrong). I also tried to do some sort of organic pesticide, but I couldn't decide on anything. Sadly, I took the easy road and used the spray pesticide my bf bought. So no squash yet. No bell peppers because...well, I don't know. I don't know if they pop out later in the season or whether I'm supposed to be picking the flowers off so the plant will put more energy into the fruit. No strawberries. Why? I don't know that either. I got the roots on sale so it's possible they were old. It's also possible I planted them too late in the season or incorrectly. The tomatoes are the only plants that have produced fruit so far. This was the only reason I planted them--I actually don't even like tomatoes, but I knew they are hardy plants and I'd have to drop a bomb on them to kill them. BUT, even still, I'm dealing with problems associated with these plants. One: the
tomato hornworm. If this thing wasn't so big, I'd be okay with it. But this thing is...gross. And yells at me when I try to take it off the plant. Seriously. It was disturbing. I'll probably have nightmares tonight. Two: I didn't realize I bought 2 tomato plants that both produce salad sized tomatoes. Geez! I guess I'll be eating a lot of salads... :oP
