Letting Go to Grow Forward – Midseason Garden Decisions

 Hello friends, 

The 2025 summer garden has been interesting and challenging. With my two previous years of summer garden experience, I will say this year has been unmatched in testing my resilience, hope, and belief in myself continuing to garden. 

That kinda seems dramatic, right? Well, it is, but I am about keeping it real and authentic over here. So what were the challenges? Some were unique to me and some were widespread in the garden-sphere. Weather extremes, 'unprecedented' pest pressure, wildlife, and life-ing of life. 

With some time elapsed now from some of the occurrences that brought me to the brink of losing hope, I have decided to surrender, go forward, and appreciate my garden as a space for learning and observation. I am grateful for it. It has led me to remove some summer plants and make room for fall crops and fresh growth before the first frost. 

What I removed and why?

Curcubita moschatas

I sowed seeds for butternut and honeynut squash and Long Island cheese pumpkin several times. They would germinate and thrive, and then, boom, the plant would be mowed down overnight by caterpillars. These vegetables need a long time to get to the point of harvest. My last attempt to start seeds was in late June. My protection was robust. I used netting, then covered them with plastic water gallon containers with their bottoms removed. The last plants just struggled to thrive even with the optimal sunny spot in the garden. I visit the garden many times a day and put my eyes on these plants every time, silently pleading for them to grow, thrive, and give me a miracle. No such luck, but a good try. So today I removed them and took advantage of the grow bags and trellises by sowing seeds for Malabar spinach in two bags and a mini white cucumber in one bag. Then I sowed some jewel mix nasturtiums in the front of the grow bags to generate some beauty that would cascade over the front. 

Patio baby eggplant

I started seeds in a hydroponic garden indoors and transplanted the surviving seedling outdoors after great success from transplanting cucumber and tomato plants from hydroponic to soil. It adjusted quickly and grew tall quickly. Then it was like in suspended animation. Then recently the flowers came, and I had a few fruits that looked like eggplants on the seed packet. I was elated. I had broken the curse of healthy-looking eggplant foliage, but no fruit. Then the caterpillar and flea beetles came, and the fruits and flowers dropped off. I treated this plant like all the others with netting, BT, neem oil, and diatomaceous earth. The problems slowed, but the plant dropped its last flower today when I proceeded to check the undersides of leaves for visible pests. It had to be removed. I am going to start some pink lipstick and orange fantasia Swiss chard to get a few leafy greens going for the fall. 

Three Sisters Garden

Now this one was hard and required the greatest amount of surrender vibes that I could muster. I planted early bantam sweet corn in one of my largest raised beds in early May. Just a few days ago, I had reached 60 days and the plants had not yet tasseled. I gave my all with the corn, regular fertilizing, mounding the soil around the base of the plants that had fallen over with all of the rain, supporting with bamboo stakes, and BT. After staking with bamboo. The corn responded well, and I was comfortable with planting pole beans alongside the corn. During this same time, I sowed seed for the second time for the Longue di Nice squash that was going to be the third sister of the bed. Well, the same thing occurred here that occurred with the curcubita moschatas, but faster, and it spread to the bean plants and the corn. It was an all-you-can-eat situation. Well, I discovered that the caterpillars had gone down into the whorls and were eating the corn from inside. Lots of frass was visible as I went to check on things each morning. I removed the corn, bean, and squash plants over the weekend. Then I turned the soil and was happy to see an abundance of earthworms. Finally, I doused the soil with BT in the hopes of minimizing the cutworms attempting to get the last bite of any green material that I may have missed. I have decided to plant every last seed of Bolero carrots I have in this bed. 

There were many other crops that I had to remove, but I think you can develop a clear visual in your mind of what things were looking like. I am still encountering pests on okra, cucuzzi squash, peppers, mullein, and comfrey. Additionally, I pulled the first generation of bush bean plants and discovered that the second group of seeds had germinated. I am going to miss having fresh beans for a few weeks, but the garden is poised to deliver fresh beans in a little over 4 weeks. 

What I've Learned

• Sometimes you have to make space to succeed. 
• Be flexible and revisit your top priorities.
• Garden intuition and observation are powerful tools.
• Reflect on the successes and be kind to yourself.
• Surrender! For the sake of my mental health.

Closing Thoughts

Growth isn’t always visible, and sometimes it starts with clearing the way. I am looking forward to making use of the remaining growing days before the first frost. I am going to try a few squash plants to see if I can evade disease and the squash vine borer. My favorite growing season will be here soon enough. I can make use of the mental space and literal space I gave struggling crops to start seeds and prep the growing spaces for the success and recovery. I am looking forward to it all. 

Watch My July 2025 Garden Tour On YouTube

Thanks for being here. Let me know in the comments how your garden is doing.

May everything fall into place for you today. 🌿
Nadja 🍄