The garden takes shape

Ever since I was a little kid, I have enjoyed gardening. When my Mom wouldn't let me dig up the backyard, I dug a garden at my Aunt Dot's house. When my Mom finally let me start a garden, I planted it every year, right through high school. At college, I had tomato plants on my patio, and even planted an all out garden in the alley next to the house I was living in one year. My most difficult garden to grow was in Oklahoma. It is WORK to garden in Oklahoma. The summer heat is brutal, the red clay soil cracks during droughts, and those ill timed spring hailstorms just break my heart. Even with the hardships, I kept a large garden and learned to grow it year round.

With my move to South Carolina last winter I had to start over. I left behind my garlic still growing, a nice hedge of raspberry bushes and gave away my chickens that provided fertilizer as well as eggs. With a big move across country, I did not have time this spring to properly plan my garden... I basically threw some seeds in the ground and wished them luck. I had some successes and some failures. I had plenty of tomatoes, tons of green beans and my eggplants and okra are still growing like crazy. Beets and peppers did not do well, and my broccoli and cauliflower failed (I planted them too late and it got too hot).

I am now getting my fall garden going. I planted winter squash last month that should be ready in November. I put in a few more tomato plants to see if they will produce before it gets cold, and just today I planted lettuce and spinach. I am also going to put in turnip and collard greens this weekend. I am excited about collards, since they will grow all winter. I will also plant a bunch of garlic in November that will grow through the winter. I also planted a peach tree and a fig tree today. I am looking forward to figs as early as next year!


I feel that my garden is finally starting to get some order. I already know what I need to change for next year (for one thing, it needs to be BIGGER!). I plan to align it better, to better fit in my back yard, and to take advantage of sunlight and afternoon shade. I also need to plan my plantings better. In Oklahoma I had four seasons of gardening with cool season, hot season and winter season plants. I am already starting to take this philosophy with my garden here, and will make that a rule next year.

I'll have a garden update in a few weeks. Please feel free to offer any advice or ideas in the comment section below. Even though I have been gardening for over 30 years, moving from Oklahoma to South Carolina makes me feel like a beginner again.

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