2025 Food It Yourself Garden-Slowly but Surely

It was a cool, wet spring here in Central Massachusetts. Indeed, we have had flood watches more than once. In between the heavy, intermittent showers I did manage to get the Food It Yourself garden planted. It was a slow process, but I did take pictures. Check this out…

Mr. Food It Yourself really wanted pumpkins this year. I will never say no to a pumpkin vine. We decided that we are going to utilize the front yard for them, because that is where we have room. I made this fun “planter” from our stockpile of slate. The condensation drip from our air conditioning system will provide irrigation and the chicken wire will hopefully prevent chipmunks from eating the vines. We started the pumpkins inside about a month before we set them out.

I planted string beans and snow peas in early May. They sprouted well enough, but then went into suspended animation due to the lack of sun and cooler temperatures. I then planted a second round of string beans next to the first just a few days ago. There is this old legend amongst gardeners that if you plant fast-growing crops sequentially through the season you will have a continuous supply of that crop. I have never before been regimented enough to make this work. Will this be the year?

You can see that a couple of sunflowers from last year seeded themselves in this raised bed. I am perfectly happy to let them stay.

I also put two hills of butternut squash on the far end of this bed. I grew more last year and Mr. Food It Yourself confided that he was not as enthusiastic about winter squash as I am. I cut back this year.

I planted some spinach in front of the snow peas. The goal is to remember to plant more spinach when I plant the next round of string beans. Oh the high hopes I have for my self this year.

Of course I am growing tomatoes. I started Roma, Mortgage Lifter, and Big Red Cherry tomatoes back in March. They sprouted beautifully. They grew and grew under the lights Mr. Food It Yourself uses for his aquarium. I was extatic to have enough tomatoes for myself and to share with my fellow DIYeter’s.

But, it turns out I started the seeds too early. They became pot-bound in their little six-pack cells. I purchased some Romas from a local garden center. I also salvaged as many of my leggy home-grown starts as I could, and currently three of our eight raised beds are full of tomatoes.

What varieties did I salvage? I have no idea because I did not label my seedlings. What can I say? I am a chaos goblin. Whatever survives will be enjoyed by us and by those we share with, so I am not disappointed in the least.

I planted five hills of cucumbers, the pickling type. Last year our cukes did not survive an early heat wave and I did not get pickles. I am hoping this is year my pickle plans will pan out. In the raised bed at the back of the photo you can see where I planted three hills of zucchini and three hills of yellow summer squash. We will eat some. We will share some. That is how zucchini and summer squash work.

While I was picking up tomato plants at the local garden center, I also bought some herbs: sage, rosemary, oregano, and parsley. A few days later I got a cilantro plant from the grocery store for 99 cents. I planted them in another raised bed that is housing volunteer sunflowers. They all fit beautifully.

Every year of gardening is different. I am excited to see what this year will bring. What have you planted in your garden in 2025? If you live where the growing season is coming to an end, how did it work out for you? Share in the comments!