We buy starts

"Look! another garden diary."

"Wow, this one's more detailed."

"And a little sad, too. I'd forgotten how much we didn't know then, and it amazes me that we're still making the same mistakes now..."

"No kidding! Let's see..."

Garden Notes
Sept 1984.	Tilled main garden spot (hadn't been used for 2 yrs) $55
Oct 1984.	Planted vetch in garden. $6
Jan 1985.	Planted 3 Elliot blueberries 3 Blueray blueberries 2-3 yrs old died next yr :( -- $20
Feb. 85	Tore down old beds on South side, tilled & prepared for Strawberry, asparagus etc. covered with black plastic $8
Mar. 85	finished 8' by 6' greenhouse $50 planted chive starts 3/2. Potting soil. Seeds in greenhouse: pumpkin, spinach, broccoli, zuke, butternut, hubbard, chard, collards, cukes, tomatoes, bell peppers, dill, parsley, zinnia, watermelon, muskmelon. 3/12 In garden: peas, carrots, onions, spinach 3/16 strawberries, asparagus, rhubarb, compost $3, dolomite $4, black plastic $3. More tilling; hay 2 tons $20. Seeds $15; Flats $7
April 85	Only 5 asparagus came up bought & planted 25 more $4. Greenhouse: celery, pac choi. Tomatoes and peppers did poorly. Planted too early in greenhouse. Sprout inside when frost danger over, then take out. Plant lettuce and brocs earlier next time. Thinned & repotted in Green House. 4/5 sunflowers in ground; turnips, carrots, rutabagas, radishes & beans in ground. REAL SLUG PROBLEM. Seem to be migrating south from neighbors untilled garden spot. Have sprinkled dolomite along fence line & put out Beer. All rhubarb got slugged -- don't plant on N. side of house!!! Beans 2 plantings of 3/4 oz. One didn't make it. Peas 8 oz. (2 plantings). In greenhouse 4/8 zinnia, marigold calendula, more lettuce more celery. Starts $22. Chicken manure $10. Bone meal $9. Fish fert. $12.
Evaluation	Lost track. let's see: lost all Beans & squashes put out in April. Turnips, Radish, Ruta were a joke, very leafy but we didn't eat them. Broccoli should have been put in earlier (root maggots) took them all out. Too many pumpkins. Better stakes needed for toms & more spacing 60 plants OK
7/1/85	Evaluation and garden status. Snap peas (Sugar Ann) Great. planted early March. Tom out late June. put up 27 1/2 pints. need better trellising wider paths between rows. Try planting a bit early & one succession. (doesn't do too well in late planting) onions -- set, good. corn -- needed more H2O. Melons OK. Two plantings of green beans good. Cukes -- make sure pickling variety. 15 hills too many -- try two plantings. Remember spaghetti squash next time. All squashes OK. OK: red cabbage, beets, chard (plant less) carrots, celery.
Evaluation	Excellent spinach, plant early & late. Plant less of food not really used. Keep up lettuce succession & greens in general planting less at a time. Early & late broccoli. More peppers (24) farther apart & not too neat toms. Eggplant good two or three plants.
Evaluation	suggest that spring/summer '86 be spent cleaning up yard & preparing soil planning & beginning landscaping -- Next time -- record variety, weight, row length & how crop did. Plant broccoli, lettuce in G.H. soon. pumps, melons later. start toms & peppers indoors. Plant mostly june bearing strawbs
1985 HARVEST	Put up: Freezer canned broccoli 11 qts sweet pickles 27 qt spinach 8 pt. dill " 27 qt snap peas 28 pt Apple Sauce 8 qt beans 19 pt " butter 26 pts green peps 9 qt peaches [bought?] 42 qts chard stem [???!!] 2 pt pears [scavenged] 24 qts strawberry [bought] 11 pt tom puree 83 qts Raspberry [bought] 26 qt pickle relish 11 pts Blk berry 5 qt melons 15 qt Pearbutter 6 pt plums 27 pts [plum] juice 5 qts applesauce 18 pts
Garden	$132. Strawberries & asparagus didn't make it. Green house became too dark (dirt collecting on roof & walls) -- not able to clean off -- now a garden shed. [We didn't know how to fight algae on the fiberglass, apparently] We buy starts...