Well, not completely but almost.
I had big plans but this summer's weather did not cooperate. Springtime was atypical and I did not time my planting well. Last winter we were still in La Niña and I anticipated an early last frost. Even calculated an ENSO shift for 7 to 10 days early. And I used lilac bud formation as a phenological clue as well. All was going well.
February for Indoor starts of geraniums (pelargoniums) and they failed, so I did a second round of seed starts on 2/21, which survived. After potting up geraniums and made room in my humidity domes I started Brandywine tomatoes (24), Red Cherry tomatoes (24), Poblano peppers (12), Jalapeno peppers (12). I had doubled up on tomatoes with plans to give away several to family.
By May 2, it was time to harden off plants for transplant. Carrying potted plants out for full day exposure in sun and back in at night if forecast was below 50 °F. I do not put them out if wind forecast is greater that 15 MPH.
May 7, a late snow, so early last frost is out of the picture.
Meanwhile I prepared my squash bed for a Three Sisters planting. I decided to use staggered planting instead of a square foot layout. Alternating squash and sweet corn in two rows, one foot in from the margins and 3 feet between squash hills. Hills about 4" high only (turns out this may have been too much as well).
I used sweet corn spaced evenly between squash hills, soaking kernels at least 12 hours and planting 4 per spot. I added some super phosphate and mixed into soil below the seed.
The plan is to plant beans 1 to 2 weeks later to give corn a head start before beans try to climb up.
Back to tomatoes, peppers and geraniums out again for hardening off on May 10.
By May 20 I had 17 tomatoes, 18 peppers, and gifted 12 to relatives. For geraniums I had a mixed total of 52 plants and handed them over to Roxie to do as she pleased. Some went to the nine pots out front, some to the 4 trays on the back deck and I believe some were given away.
May 29, was doing transplants and outdoor seed starts. Much later than I originally planned.
The tomatoes and peppers I put in two beds that are about 4x10' using square foot spacings, each plant got additional super phosphate and calcium. Today 8/22, I have about eight tomato plants surviving and producing fruit slowly.
Cucumber seed about 10 feet planted with two to three seeds every 6" and a tilted wire fence trellis. Lettuce and Chard planted in the same bed with cucumbers just on the north side. Of the cucumbers I got about a 20% yield and so far about 4 or 5 unusable fruit.
Still May 29, planted about nine feet of carrots and 20 feet of radish. I originally planned succession planting all summer, not realizing radish, known as a cold crop also bolts in hot weather with no root formation. So now radish is a spring and autumn planting. Not summer.
Also planted spinach in 12" rows spaced 6". None germinated.
In the Herb bed I planted seed for Mammoth Dill, also was 100% failure to germinate.
The beans I planted are Botanical Interests, bush beans and they are doing "okay," a handful every couple of days. The beans with the squash have good foliage and I planted extra in a second bed. Those extra got a lot of leaf spot that I believe are spider mites, still producing beans... slowly.
I'm still thinking this through and trying to diagnose how to deal with hot weather and the swarm of desperate insects that come along with the heat.
