Post-Vacation Garden Notes, 2024 edition

Last year's learnings held up!

I came home from two weeks away from my garden hoping the tips I shared in my Summer 2024 newsletter—the things I did last year that seemed to work to prepare me to be away—would again serve me well.

The quick-version report: They did!

I came home to find no significant pest damage, lack of water damage, or major breakage from overgrowth.

I won’t rehash the tips here (you can go back and read them if you want to), but I will share that this experiment is now two-years strong with good results.

So what did I find when I got home?

• Radish pods dried out and ready for seed-saving.

• Bushy cherry tomato vines, and san marzano tomatoes nearly ready.

• Once-again prolific shishito peppers.

• Basil having a moment.

• Hydrangeas in full bloom.

• The kids’ pumpkins vines rambling throughout a flower bed and around the absurdly heavy concrete lions that were on the front porch when we moved in (we moved them off the porch to the side flower bed and then haven’t had the gumption to try again to rid ourselves of them).

• Oregano flowering, much to the delight of bees of all shapes and sizes. I had no idea bees loved oregano flowers so much. They don’t really look like anything—but they are literally COVERED in bees every time I go out to check on the garden. All day long.

• The delicata squash vines did take off in a way I didn’t expect, and they likely would have broken if they hadn’t been secured well before I left. Instead they just started reaching for the ground. I am pretty sure at least one of them has a squash vine borer that was already there before I left, but time will tell. They are still looking pretty happy.

• The salvias and chamomile looked sad, having been planted in the area of the property where I stole irrigation for the raised beds, but I think they will recover.

• Lemons and lemongrass still going strong, and the fig tree taking off in height.

I harvested and pruned quite a lot on the day I got home to get things back under control.

And now, at last, I feel like I’m summer gardening.