We planted strawberries, bell peppers, green beans in the raised bed, and cucumber, cantalope, watermelon and squash in the ground. We also planted tomatoes, mint and basil in two large pots. We weren't really sure which crop would be grow best but we considered this first year an experiment year.
The most successful crop was the green beans which at first didn't look like they'd grow at all then after a warm weekend they grew three inches all at once. They were fresh and delicious especially to Richard who is a green bean fanatic.
Watermelon looked promising when a round bud the size of a pea would appear. We envisioned it growing to the size of a basketball as promised in the photo on the pot we had purchased. But instead of getting bigger the 'pea' would dry up except for one which grew the size of a large flattened grapefruit. I was hoping to taste it but I think it was eaten by the time we arrived.
The tomatoes plants withered right away and looked like something from the Nightmare Before Christmas. We even bought new plants in mid-July hoping to add homegrown tomatoes to our summer salads. We may have picked a half a dozen anemic ones we pretended were a success.
We did harvest several cantalope, sweet and juicy and perfectly round like you'd expect to find in Safeway but of course ours were fresh picked and not trucked in from hundreds of miles away. The cantalope were definitely our pride and joy.
We produced a few perfectly good squash in the crop but not as many as we expected. Usually when I've planted zuchinni in the past I've worried it will take over the garden, but not this time.
The cucumbers were prolific but they were bitter and inedible much to Courtney's dismay since cucumbers are her favorite vegetable.
My daughter, Lauren, brought several eggplant plants to add to our box. They grew quickly and produced beautiful purple flowers and more eggplant than we knew what to do with. Honestly we didn't really like them much and tried to pawn them off to the neighbors.
