In the spring I posted about my raised bed patio garden. Now that Fall is nearly upon us I thought I’d share a few pictures and thoughts about it and what I plan to change for next year.
First of all the mint is ridiculous! It has grown like crazy. I’ve harvested it several times, cutting it way back and it bounces right back. There are runners creeping out across the soil in every direction. I have four different types of mint planted in that bed and as vigorously as they’ve branched out it will be hard know whether they’ve cross pollinated. Who knows what kind of mint I’ll have next year! I’m thinking of digging them up at the end of the season and next year I could plant them in large containers to keep them from spreading so much.
The peppers that I had planted in the small openings of those cinder blocks did not do so well. The plants didn’t get very big and didn’t produce very many peppers and the peppers were not very large either. I think these would have done better in the actual bed where the mint was.
I also had a little ground squirrel that was really fond of the peppers and ate most of them before I could pick them. He also nibbled on the leaves which pretty much ruined the plants. He was cute though!
My herbs actually did pretty good in the small openings of the cinder blocks. They didn’t do as well as the herbs that I have planted directly in the ground in other beds around my house. Again, just like with the peppers, not as large or productive and the ones actually planted in the ground.
I got much more use out of the herbs than I did the mint and was wishing I had put the mint in the smaller openings and the herbs in the large bed.
My tomato plants started out doing great but after harvesting a small amount of tomatoes, some of the stems started turning brown and gradually I could tell something was eating the leaves and even the green tomatoes. At first I thought it might be that fat little ground squirrel but then I realized I had horn worms. They completely destroyed two plants. They didn’t seem to get to the cherry tomato plant but the ground squirrel was helping himself to plenty of those! I did get quite a harvest of the cherry tomatoes and they were delicious!
I’ve considered expanding my cinder block garden next year but now I’m thinking of digging up the mint and using the bed for all my herbs. I think I’ll plant the peppers directly in the ground in some of the flower beds around my yard. I’ll also be watching my tomatoes for those grotesque worms!
All in all I’d say my little patio garden turned out pretty good. It’s mid-September and I’m still harvesting fresh herbs every day. I still have a few peppers growing too. It will be a race to see who gets to them first, me or the ground squirrel!
Running Down My Dreams 