Swiss Summer Garden Success
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A summary of this summer’s garden successes and the steep learning curves that came with a cold, wet spring and a genuinely disappointing yield.
It had been a while since anything went up on the blog — partly a busy August full of festivities, and then two weeks away visiting the United States in early September, a trip long looked forward to and a good chance for some “me” time with family and friends. Well into autumn now, it felt like time to share a summary of this summer’s garden successes.
California and Chicago both offered up some genuinely nice summer weather — the kind of warmth that had been missing back in Switzerland. Getting back into routine after the trip took about a week, jet lag and travel exhaustion included. With a husband and daughter staying behind in Switzerland the whole time, the garden didn’t suffer too much in the meantime.
Table of Contents
Swiss Summer Garden Preparation
The first step in this year’s garden planning was building a greenhouse back in March. With such short growing seasons in colder climates, vegetable gardening and harvesting isn’t always ideal for big yields or variety — one of the main reasons for investing in a greenhouse was to stretch the season out and grow some more exotic vegetables that need extra warmth and sunlight.
Once the greenhouse was up, planting season began. A snip and drip irrigation system went in to make watering inside the greenhouse easier, saving the trouble of dragging a long hose pipe all the way out there and watering the plants gently in the process.
After a few salads, carrots, and some more exotic vegetables went in, a tomato house became the next need — a temporary one, built for as little cost as possible.
A Disappointing June
June was something of a letdown — usually when Swiss summer starts properly, but a cold, wet spring meant many of the saplings just didn’t thrive. A last attempt at recovery meant replanting some of those same seeds and saplings, which did work out in the end. By the end of June, though, a good strawberry harvest came in, along with perennials like rhubarb, redcurrants, and mint.
A Slow, Disappointing Summer Harvest
July was slow too, and the summer harvest overall came in a little disappointing — one of those cooler summers that tends to follow a couple of good ones. Neglect and a busy schedule let weeds take over the garden, which meant turning attention toward planning a good fall garden instead. There was still some success from spring planting though — a few potato varieties and carrots came out of the greenhouse.
With a shortage of bees this year, eggplants got pollinated by hand instead, and it paid off — a decent eggplant harvest came in, with the last of them still being picked into fall.
How the Season Unfolded, Month by Month
Supplies List
- Greenhouse (built in March)
- Temporary tomato house
- Snip and drip irrigation
- Strawberries, rhubarb, redcurrants, mint
- Potatoes & carrots (from greenhouse)
- Eggplants (hand-pollinated)
Instructions
De-Weeding and Fall Planning:
August was mostly about de-weeding and getting the fall garden planned out.
A Modest Tomato Harvest:
A few tomatoes that had started ripening by this point got harvested, though the yield was a bit disappointing overall — not enough sunny, warm days meant the plants didn’t produce as much as the year before. They kept yielding a little even after, just not enough to freeze and preserve for winter and spring the way frozen tomatoes had lasted all the way to July the previous year.
Early Fall Weather:
Fall weather arrived a little early this year, noticeable by mid-August, with temperatures dropping steadily ever since. Winter garden planning and prepping the greenhouse for winter vegetables were next on the list.
More on This Growing Season
A few earlier posts cover pieces of this season in more detail: organic gardening in June, the summer organic garden harvest, and spring planting for the season.
A Few Lessons from a Tough Season
Hand-pollinate if bees are scarce: a shortage of bees this year made hand-pollinating the eggplants worth the effort, and it paid off.
Build a tomato house cheaply: a temporary structure, built for minimal cost, did the job just as well as something permanent.
Expect setbacks after a good run: a cooler, more disappointing summer tends to follow a couple of good ones — not every season yields the same.
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