Linnie’s first year in the Abundance Garden Course has been a beautiful success. As all of our first year students in the Abundance Garden Course have come to their fall harvest we asked if they would share their gardens on our blog. Linnie is one of our Oregon first year students, so she has the ability to grow her garden through the fall and winter as a cool season garden. We caught her as she is considering her transition. Join us learning more about Linnie’s first year in the abundance garden course.

What were some of your gardening triumphs?

To my surprise the onions grew to the size of softballs. It is the first time I have ever tried growing onions. I wouldn’t have thought of it if it weren’t for your class.

The most prolific vegetable is the lemon cucumbers. I only grew three plants. Every morning for most of the summer I have found two or three ripe cucumbers waiting for me to eat, Only that’s more than I want. So I have shared them with anyone who will take some; even some of my clients went home cucumbers. They have been so sweet. And still coming on.

The tomatoes also have been most prolific. Again I only planted three plants, 2 Early Girls and I don’t remember the other one. However, in addition to salads and other tomato dishes I have canned 16 pints and 2 quarts of tomato sauce. I made it in combination with some of the onions and also some green peppers which I also grew.

I grew Sun Gold cherry tomatoes. We call them garden candy. I have shared them with all the neighbors and especially my mother. They are one of her favorite foods.

Who did you teach in your garden?

My family has been following this adventure very closely. The whole neighborhood has been watching the project. There were several comments about the expense. Now they realize I have more than made up for the price in vegetables. The green beans alone produced about a pound a day.

I get a lot of questions about what is the secret to all this success. I tell them it is in the soil. But I don’t give away the secret.

I have posted some of my success on Facebook. People have asked all kinds of questions. I always refer them to your website.

What has been your favorite produce out of the garden?

That is a hard question to answer. One of my favorite vegetables is green beans. I like to grow the Romano beans, also known as Italian green beans. I cook them with onions and garlic, all out of the garden. However, this year I would have to say the cucumbers. I have never been too fond of the things. They have been so tasty. I have been eating them diced and with a good spoonful of cottage cheese to go with them. They are much lower in sugar than canned pears or peaches that I used to eat with cottage cheese. Now, I much prefer the cucumbers.

What was your greatest challenge?

I had two major challenges. Both the cucumbers and the squash plants, zucchini, patty pan and spaghetti were constantly troubled by mold. You told me what to do and when I had the time I sprayed. But summer is my busiest season and I didn’t often have the time for spraying. It didn’t slow down the cucumber harvest, but I know it affected the zucchinis as they were not very prolific this year.

My second problem was the bug infestation on the cabbages. I couldn’t keep up with the needed spraying. I have harvested three cabbages, all a little on the small side, but very sweet and tasty. I have a couple more to harvest.

I just thought of another problem. A couple of crops had to be planted two and three times. I finally discovered birds were eating the seeds shortly after I planted them. Then in one of your segments you mentioned mulch as a solution to that problem and it worked just fine. I used grass cuttings.

What are you thinking of growing next year?

I plan on building more raised garden beds. I want to grow corn. A squirrel planted a corn seed in one of my gardens. It grew quite tall and produced two ears of feed corn. The squirrels have loved it. The potato harvest was good for the size of the bed, but I would like to grow more.

In spite of the cabbage discouragement, I would like to grow broccoli next year. I tried carrots in the holes in the cinder blocks. The tomatoes took over and blocked the sunlight. I would like to grow carrots in a garden of their own.

I will be planting spinach and lettuce this weekend. I have even considered trying cabbage, as the winters are so mild here nowadays. I have talked to other people who have successfully grown lettuce and spinach outdoors year round.

Thanks a million, Lynn. This has been the most successful growing season I have ever had. Thanks to you, I look forward to many more.

-Linnie

Each of our students have beautiful gardens to share with the world. It is our mission to empower people by teaching them the life skill of growing a high performance garden. You can learn more about the Abundance Garden course or begin developing your garden by reading the High Performance Garden eBook this season. There is no time like the fall season to prep your beds for the coming spring.

Until next time, may  your garden be easy, fun, productive and always organic.

Lynn