Backyard Garden, 2011

A few years ago, we had great success with our backyard garden. The next year, we were impacted by the tomato blight that plagued everyone who purchased their plants at big box stores. Heavy rains that June also gave our zucchini and squash root rot. About the only things that worked out were the cayenne peppers, and that’s because the gophers have enough sense not to touch them. Last year, we bought our plants at the farmer’s market and had about the same success as the year before. I experimented with some tomatillo seeds and they brought an unexpectedly bountiful harvest. Because we have so many cheap farmers’ markets close to our house, I decided I wasn’t going to put a lot of money or work into the garden this year. I spent about sixteen bucks on these seeds.

This year, I tilled the soil and added some cheap plant food. Then I planted two-thirds of the seeds the proper way, and haphazardly sprinkled the remaining seeds over the area and kicked them into the soil with my shoes. This way I can tell if it’s worth the trouble of spacing and burying the seeds for next year. The wife also planted about a dozen dollars worth of perennial flowers throughout the garden to attract bees. I’ll post an update in a couple of months when there’s something to talk about.

As you can see, the only herb we had to re-plant was basil. Our rosemary is getting out of control and our parsley, chives, sage, thyme, oregano, and cilantro are all coming back. I might need to plant some more dill and lavender. We also had our rhubarb, leeks, and onions come back this year.

Update: Seed Experiment Results