One Year in the Dirt: Blooms, Bounty, and Summer Surprises

Hello my friends and welcome back to the garden! Here we are a year after I first started documenting my garden adventures. I apologize for the time between my last post and this one. It’s been a busy year of planting, canning, baking, and attending markets.

I hope you and your garden are doing well. If you’ve been following along then you know the crazy weather challenges we’ve had here in the Midwest! From hot to cold, rain and drought, it seems like we saw it all!

The weather finally started to get better in June, warmer overnight temps and we officially moved out of the drought of May! Now we’ve started seeing the higher temps and humidity that seems to be common at the beginning of July, which is always a bit of a double-edged sword.

My tomatoes have had an explosion of growth in the hot, humid weather. Of course that means I’ve had to be more vigilant with watering to keep the plants from being stressed by the heat. We ‘ve also seen some severe storms that keep me crossing my fingers - wind, hail, and heavy rain, I’m always wondering if the plants will survive without major damage.

Thankfully the garden hasn’t just survived the storms - it’s actually thriving in ways that have caught me off guard.

As I’ve been making my daily rounds to check for storm damage and keep up with the watering, I’ve noticed a few breakthroughs that I just had to capture on camera.

Lessons learned in vertical growing

I planted a variety of peppers, flowers, and herbs in this GreenStalk. Growing vertically in containers has definitely taught me that you need to know exactly how big a plant is going to get before you tuck it in! Inside this one, I have jalapeños, Tabasco, and banana peppers, as well as basil, a couple of onions, and some companion flowers. The Tabasco peppers are absolutely perfect for the GreenStalk because they stay compact and grow upright. I’ve actually learned that, at least with these varieties, the peppers seem to prefer having a smaller, snugger space to grow in!

More Greenstalk growth

This second GreenStalk is loaded up with even more jalapeños, Guero hot peppers, and some beautiful companion flowers planted on the backside. One major lesson I’ve learned here is that positioning is everything! I tucked this planter into a spot that seemed great in May, but now that everything has leafed out, it’s a real challenge to reach the veggies on the backside. Next year, I’ll definitely be more mindful of leaving enough elbow room to harvest from every angle!

Outsmarting the Critters: A Garlic Lesson for Fall

This garlic bed was the one spot in the entire garden that was absolutely never touched by the squirrels or rabbits! While my other raised beds felt like a daily target for their digging adventures, these garlic greens stood tall and completely unbothered. Seeing this play out has me thinking very differently about how I want to plant my garlic this coming fall. Instead of keeping it all tucked away in one single bed, I'm brainstorming how to use it strategically as a natural protective border around the veggies my furry "friends" love to target the most!

It’s been about 2 weeks since I started the draft for this post and things have definitely changed in that short amount of time! The high heat and humidity of July is gone. We finally got some much needed rain and the tomatoes I had been waiting for really exploded with growth.

The pictures below were taken just 16 days apart. The picture on the left was taken on July 24, 2026; the picture in the middle was taken August 9, 2026. This is the new section that was opened up earlier this year by removing the tree in the corner and where I planted the majority of my tomatoes. It’s a tomato jungle with at least half of the plants taller than me!

The picture on the right is the biggest tomato I’ve harvested so far this year weighing in at just over 1 pound! The first tomato I picked from this plant weighed 14 ounces. The variety is Roadster. I only planted one of these because I had never tried them. Once I got a taste of the harvest, I’m hooked! I will definitely plant some more of these whoppers next year.

With the tomato jungle in full swing, tomatoes ready to be turned into salsa, cucumbers ready to be pickled, and basil drying in the dehydrator, it’s time for me to head back to the kitchen and tackle the harvest!

Thank you so much for following along on this journey over the past year - from May drought to August jungle, it’s always an adventure. Stay tuned for the next post. I’m already thinking ahead to next year. My garlic is pre-ordered and I’m considering what I can do to grow more!

Join the conversation below and let me know how your garden is growing, what challenges you’ve faced or successes you’ve celebrated.

With heart,

Fanny