The Hanna Garden - July
Just a little Hanna garden update of all the good and bad throughout July. Always open to any helpful tips or advice!
Weeding - day one
I learned the hard way this task is not something that should only be taken on once a month. Yikes. What was meant to be a couple hour project for an afternoon turned into a four day project.
Weeding - day two
Weeding - day three
Weeding - day four
Buy more supplies
Out of partial laziness and partial under education, I accidentally let the sugar snap peas and green beans get too big without extra support and partially killed them off. After I learned of my mistake I made a trip back to Menards. The kindest lady in the garden department with the CUTEST British accent helped educate me. She assured me my best option was these cheap bamboo stakes strategically placed in the row like teepees.
All fingers crossed this works
Garden Feed - round one
After some chatting with the fellow gardeners in my life and reading some online articles I decided it was time to give the plants a little extra nutrients. I decided to first make an attempt with the natural route and it worked INCREDIBLE. Crushed up dried out egg shells is the secret sauce, I am convinced!
The first harvest
one giant healthy zucchini
Finally finished markers
Now that everything is big enough to tell what it is without markers, I got the replacement label maker tape to finish this project. 🤦🏽♀️
The second harvest
More zucchinis, some cucumbers, a few jalapeños + a cute helper.
Fridge pickles
My first attempt at refrigerator pickles was a huge success. And I would love to tell you what I did however it was a combination of three different Pinterest recipes that I didn’t save and MAN do I have regrets. I haven’t been able to make them this good since. I can however list the ingredients!
pickling cucumbers
fresh dill
white vinegar
salt
peppercorns
minced garlic (the pictured fresh ended up being bad)
white onion
water
First batch of pickles
Gosh they were so good. Man I regret not taking notes. I was SO confident it was easy enough to remember. Turns out I was wrong.
The third harvest
The tiniest batch of salad bowl lettuce for a fresh breakfast sandwich.
Garden Feed - round two
I heard equally great things about soaking past ripe banana peels in water for a couple weeks, diluting + using to feed your garden. The soaking process has started. Stay tuned next month for results.
The forth harvest
Quickly realizing that the entire row of cucumber seeds I planted for “just a few pickles” was a huge mistake. One of the top three foods I hate in this world is cucumbers and THEY ARE COMING OUT OF MY EARS. Everyone on Ringgold Rd is about to be getting mailboxes full of cucs. Also a couple more cute jalapeños.
Second batch of pickles
While they didn’t taste as good as the first time, I did try out a couple new things. Mini wholes, spears + spicy (with seeded jalapeños.) The spears and wholes worked shockingly well. They took the flavor almost as fast as the chips which surprised me. The “spicy” batch didn’t turn out spicy at all. I believe I used two full jalapeños so next time I’ll try doubling or tripling that.
The fifth harvest
Cucs coming out my ears, cont.
Weeding - before
While it was only a week or two since the last weeding frenzy. I think I may have had slight PTSD. I was SO SCARED to leave the garden while we went on vacation so I did a quick round to clean up what little there was.
Weeding - after
I also don’t think I’ve yet noted; every time I mow the lawn I add grass clippings along the four edges + between rows to help prevent weeds. My OCD can hardly handle it because it never comes out in an aesthetically pleasing equal layout.
Third batch of pickles
Still edible, still not as good as that first batch.
The sixth harvest
And final harvest pre vacation. The zucchini and cucumber plants are really happy!
It seems so quickly we’re already at the end of July. Stay tuned for a monthly update by filling in the form below!
