The end of my second year sharing my small garden and a good year it was. I had quite a few successes, new experiences, struggles, and even failures. While I had hopes of trying to make it through the mild winter that was not meant to be.

There was a solid week during November where a cold front moved in and that was that. It did not help any I was not around for a couple of days. Quite a few of the plants died as it was also raining during those colder nights. It’s strange to think we are still getting 80 degree days down here and it was able to get cold enough that most of the plants did not pull through.

Tomato

The tomato plant went quite quickly. I was fortunate enough a couple of days beforehand to have pulled my last harvest of tomatoes off the plant. I was going to be gone for a few days and did not want to risk things. I ended up getting eight tomatoes in total and they went into sandwiches and tacos among other things.

This was my first year of having a successful tomato plant with me only getting a single tomato last year all season long. I lost count after getting thirty tomatoes from a single plant this year. I really do want to get a few different types next year. The fun part will be working out what that exactly will be and how many!

This year I gave a Beefsteak tomato a try. While I did not get the giant ones that it was supposed to produce. I’m also willing to admit watering it by bucket once a day was also not the most ideal. The fact it did so well and lasted this long was amazing.

Herbs

While it might look like all was lost but the parsley ended up surviving. Everything else including the Oregano in the photo above has finished for the year. Trying out growing herbs this year was quite a blessing as for the most part once they take off they were not that hard to keep alive. It was also nice just to go outside and cut what I needed for a meal whenever I wanted.

I ended up having a bit of a bonfire to clear out some brush and a few of my dead plants and herbs. The Oregano gave off this amazing scent as it burned. It was like having a final farewell and I had a couple of S’mores as well!

While I was going try and dehydrate whatever remained I could not get the darn thing to work! The device is also past its warranty as it had been sitting around for a couple of years before it was gifted to me. Sometimes in life things just don’t work out.

Proof that Parsley is still doing fine outside of a couple of dead leaves. It is not an herb you want to go into a second year with as it will attempt to seed at some point. I’m not quite sure when that is but I don’t want bitter-tasting parsley. Before the next time I start my garden up again I’ll be replacing it. I still have way more than I could ever use.

Peppers

As far as my peppers I had one final harvest of Tabasco peppers. The jalapeno and Bell peppers (which nearly did anything this year) are also done for the season. The photo above of the Bell peppers is the state they have remained almost all season.

While I did not end up liking the Tabasco peppers as I thought I would when I got the plant. It’s nice to try new things and see what you like and don’t. I really loved the color it adds in the sea of mostly green that I’m used to seeing in the backyard.

Next year I’m definitely going be trying Bell peppers again. Once you compare the taste of a store-bought vs homegrown Bell pepper you never want to go back. As the flavor is so strong it makes the store-bought stand out with how muted and bland they taste.

I do think if the ants did not destroy the root systems I would have a wonderful harvest from the two Bell peppers I had. Next year I won’t be planting them in the same container either. I might even put them on different sides of the outdoor area I have everything in. Just to increase my chances if something happens there is some space separation protecting things.

Final Thoughts

2019 was an amazing year to continue my journey of trying to grow a couple of different things. Sometimes in life, you just need excuses to go outside daily. If that happens to come in the form of watering plants I could not think of anything better. I was truly blessed to have this in my life.

Hopefully next year I’ll give it a try again and even expand out to some new things. I still have that goal of growing almost everything I need for a certain salsa I love to make. I was a bit shorter on this goal then I was expecting due to some early on failures. Perhaps 2020 will get me a few steps closer to reaching that goal.

This is my final update for Steem Community Garden Journal Challenge which can be found here. A special thank you to @simplymike for running it.

Below are all the months I’ve written about this year. It brings back some great memories of 2019.
October | Getting Colder Outside
September | Salsa
August | Rain
July | Pests
June | Peppers, and Tomatoes Oh My
May | A Fresh Start

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Photos were taken and content was written by @Enjar.