By Rita R. Robison, Blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

This year, I decided to make a concerted effort to grow food to reduce my food bill and cut the energy costs it takes to transport food to my table.

I struggled with how to build a raised bed garden, but once I was able to get it built, I was enthusiastic about growing food.

It was exciting to plant seeds in the ground as well as seedlings. I’ve had container gardens for many years, but haven’t planted seeds in about 20 years.

Things started out well.

I also planted a side garden with kale and cabbage.

The garden grew big.

I ate crookneck squash.

The green beans, which turned out to be yellow, were wonderful.

I ate my first ripe tomato.

I harvested some cucumbers.

But I began to have problems. After a heavy rain, my squash developed powdery mildew on the leaves. I began cutting off the leaves to keep the mildew from spreading to other parts of the garden.

The cucumber plants got mildew, too.

I had to rip out the squash plants because they weren’t growing anymore.

Slugs chewed a tomato in my container garden and laid eggs.

Cutworms began chewing on my kale.

Cutworms also love my cabbage.

Slugs chewed my Swiss chard.

I’ve talked to Cooperative Extension about action to take for the cutworms. I’ve put out some beer for the slugs, but more advice is needed on what to do about them. I’ll check with Cooperative Extension again.

Another interesting thing that’s happened is I’ve spent so much time gardening I’m behind in my weeding. I’m pulling up wheel barrels full of weeds from the rest of my yard. I want to finish weeding before the cold weather sets in.

I’ll plant more kale and other winter vegetables where I took out the squash. I need to get some straw to put around the plants. Diseases in the soil splash up on the plants when watering is done.

Will I garden again next year? Yes, but I’ll be on the lookout for pests earlier and apply the organic remedies sooner.

I’ll also plan my garden more carefully so that there’s more air circulation. My gardens were too crowded which contributed to mildew growth.

Gardening seemed easier in Eastern Washington where I grew up. It’s drier and you don’t have to worry so much about getting water on the leaves of the plants. Of course, my parents sprayed pesticides on the garden when they saw any insects. My mom put DDT in the ditches when she planted radishes.

So organic gardening is harder, but it’s definitely worth the effort. More studies are showing that pesticides accumulate in the body and can cause health problems.

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