Growing Challenge: the good, the bad, the ugly, and the downright frustrating

One Green Generation's Growing Challenge update: click on the link to read updates from 150 other garden bloggers! In my garden, the veggies are really representing. I've got the good, the bad, the ugly, and the downright frustrating. This pictorial tour begins with the good...

Lots of Hillbilly tomatoes growing. That's one beautiful hierloom if I do say so myself.

A Thai pepper plant producing loads of peppers.

In the foreground below, a little army of light green edamame plants, Georgia Jet sweet potatoes vining out, and behind that, a little strawberry patch planted this spring, sending out runners.

The sweet potatoes - you can't see the pretty purple blooms hidden under some of the leaves.

Moving on to the bad. I have no idea what's going on with this tomato below. It has always been squat, short, and most of its leaves are tight. It's producing flowers, but no fruit. It is either a Cherokee purple, hillbilly, or hierloom beefsteak (you always think you'll remember...).

Now we go to the ugly. I have been picking on my tomatillo all season,but it's just so hulking, branches akimbo, and just sloppy. Lots of fruit growing in their perfect papery husks though.

This below is just downright frustrating. The butternut squash plants are all but dead, leaving only 4 once-perfect squash behind - that is until some animal decided to dig in.

Until next time...

I'm joining the Growing Challenge

One Green Generation is a great site with an ambitious but achievable mission to urge others to help create a sustainable planet. The plus for me personally is that Melinda offers challenges, and those who know me, know I cannot resist a challenge, from my hubby's doubt that I, as a new roller blader, could not roller blade from the suburbs of MD to the middle of DC (my legs paid for about 5 days, but it was worth it proving him wrong), or that I could be the chubby bunny winner at work (tip: you have to really squeeze the marshmallows against your teeth). You can modify the Growing Challenge to suit your gardening skill level, and can check out the site for more details.

My first year growing vegetables, I really had no clue what I was doing. I was trying to grow artichokes in zone 6 by putting a seed in the ground in June (really), and bought most of my plants at various stores. The second year, I started a few seeds at home with a little greenhouse kit. The third year, I got fancy and started using a heating pad for germination, grow lights, and a little pop-up coldframe to harden the plants off. This season marks my fourth year, and I think I've really got a system down now, and 100% of the plants in my little garden were started from seed. It's really something to be proud of!

Today I officially begin the Growing Challenge and have added a special twist to my own challenge. This fall, I will save my own seed to use next year. This is something I'm nervous about for a variety of reasons that involve my parents, my upbringing, and probably a psychologist, but we don't have the means for that in this blog. Anyway, I will do the research and set upon this challenge. Will you join me?