Ah well, a good experiment it was. It's true what they say, Colorado's mountain growing season is piss-poorly short. And with cold nights and crappy dirt we has a problem. Many, problems. I still hold out hope that with better planning and more experience I can eat from my own garden eventually.

I talk frequently with friends in Minnesota and Ohio, classic farming states, and they cannot stop their overgrown monster gardens. I realize during conversations the real difficulty early settlers faced. I can't imagine eating nought but salted meat & turnips and such for 7 months a year.

Thusly, here are my notes:

Peas: Have been all but OBLITERATED by a small fuzzy enemy of unknown identity. Small enough to fit through the fencing, I can only assume it stands roughly 3" tall on hindquarters, due to my pea plants all being 3" tall. The kicker is, IT IS NOT EATING THE PLANT. The little fuzzy bastard does it for shits & giggles, leaving the felled stalk lying on the ground. Fuckhead. My counterplan is to plant in a more orderly fashion and surround with gun turrets. O sry, I meant wire mesh.

Carrots: Are being quietly overtaken by Asters (daisy things) which when juvies, LOOK IDENTICAL to carrot tops. I have foiled their plan by figuring out that a vegetable top smells just like the bottom. If I squish the leaves and smell carrots... the plant may stay.

Aphids, beetles, worms & caterpillars have not been an issue. Evidence of some activity is clear, but not to a devastating extent. The spiders and I have an uneasy alliance.

Radishes: OMG radishes. Testing the soil by broadcasting radish seeds is a good idea, and accurate. However, I am now surplus in radishes. I fear they have blocked light to the carrots. Homegrown is MUCH spicier than storebought, and I dont require many, if any. The leaves are spiky, and irritate the hands.

Zucchini: HUZZAH! finally the zuccs have shown up, and have proven that I need to start the bigger fruit bearing plants like peppers etc in pots, inside, prior to spring. Good news is they seem strong.

Lettuce: Ah lettuce. So delicate you are. You need to be planted at intervals, so there is a steady supply rather than one hundred then none. You are a bit slower to start than I thought, and may end up riddled with bugs. We shalll see.

Still have not purchase my seed potatoes so no tater crop here, maybe I will get motivated before snow arrives.

Want to expand out next year but all that tilling will have to be done before the ground freezes early this winter. Gah. We are idiots. If the infrastructure crumbled tomorrow how many of us could survive? It is not easy to feed yourself. No gas and no food? URFUKT. Hmm. Mayb I need to buy some fertile land and a bunch of guns. Survivalism here i come!