2022 Dzen Garden Superlatives
The charming garden sign my father-in-law made for me
The first year I had my garden my good friend and “Fairy Gardenmother” Jess gave me the advice to keep a little garden journal to jot things down in when they came up so I could remember what to do (and not do) the following year. It proved to be great advice (no surprise there because Jess is a pro—literally, she and her husband run a CSA farm in Oregon) and I’ve been doing it for the past three years in hopes of improving my gardening skills year over year.
I’ve got three seasons under my belt now, and while I’m still very much a beginner, I’ve learned a thing or two along the way and keeping notes has been very helpful when I’m planning for the following year.
This year the weather turned from summer to fall very quickly here in Michigan (it was 87° on Wednesday and then 59° on Thursday), so I’ve been closing up the garden bit by bit all week and reflecting on the season.
If I were giving out superlatives high school yearbook style for my garden babies, this is what they’d be:
Most Likely to Actually Last Me Through the Winter: Onions. I harvested 50+ onions this year—my best year yet!
Most Prolific: Kale (as always), cherry tomatoes (they ripened the earliest and lasted the longest), and basil (it’s still going strong!)
Most Likely to Get Eaten by Flea Beetles: RIP eggplant and arugula
Most Photogenic: Lettuce, it was so pretty
Most Successful Newcomers: Delicata squash and tomatillos (I will definitely be growing both again)
Most Serendipitous: Sunflowers! I didn’t plant any but I had a bunch self-seed and they were so beautiful
Most Likely to End Up Unused in the Compost: Tulsi/“Holy Basil.” I grew three plants and they got huge but I just don’t know what to do with it. Any ideas for me? Help!
And here are my notes for next year:
Get the compost. Yes, it’s annoying to wheelbarrow in load by load and spread it all out, but it’s definitely worth it.
Fertilize—even just once or twice. I think I would have had a much greater yield in general if I had.
Start my flower seeds at home instead of direct-seeding in the soil to get cut flowers blooming earlier.
Three kale plants is PLENTY. Do not plant nine again, just don’t Danne.
Get bigger tomato cages and stake them up earlier.
Cover the things I know need to be covered right away. I think my eggplants and arugula might have had a fighting chance if I had been more diligent about protecting them early on.
Make wider pathways between beds. Things always get much bigger than I think they will and it gets pretty crowded.
I’d say it was a good season overall though and I’m honestly just proud of myself for even gardening at all with a little baby at home who is very cute but not a very helpful garden buddy just yet. Thank you early baby bedtimes and summer sunsets at 9 p.m.!
I’ve got a few cool-weather crops still holding strong that I’ll continue to harvest over the next few weeks but then it’s a wrap for Season 3 of the Dzen Garden.
