Garden Journal June 2025

In which I meet my first garden nemesis.

Welcome back to my low-effort gardening series in which I share, almost word-for-word what I wrote in my gardening journal for the month. This is my first year gardening with raised beds and actual intentions (versus just scattering a few zinnia seeds and composting an accidental pumpkin patch), but it is also what I call “an experiment” because that takes so much pressure off, doesn’t it? I am experimenting with what works in our garden beds, what brings me the most joy, and how to KEEP THE DAMN SQUIRRELS (and chipmunks) AWAY FROM MY SEEDLINGS.

Luckily, we have a fenced in yard, so deer and bunnies are no issue. It’s just these pesky little rodents! They love to nibble on my baby plant leaves and dig up zinnia seedlings. I mixed a solution of peppermint essential oil, hot sauce, and water to spray around the garden, but that didn’t do much. I sprinkled coffee grounds in the garden beds, and that helped! But I am not a coffee drinker, so this is silly and expensive. I did just learn that a local coffee shop puts out a bucket of grounds for gardeners to grab for free, so that might be an option. Coffee grounds also work as a fertilizer, so I like using those instead of Liquid Fence, which I finally caved and used, and it does indeed work. I just don’t love having it around my dog and kids (even though it says it’s totally safe). I only used it on the flower beds, not our veggies.

Other than my new mortal enemies nibbling away several sprouts, everything is in good shape so far.

Back left: kale and carrots, back right: zinnias, Front left: zinnias, Front right: zucchini.

Cucumbers, tomatoes, and zinnias.

Because I have no chill and never do anything halfway…I cleared a messy corner behind the raised beds and planted a pumpkin patch, plus a chaotic wildflower garden. It’s looking really happy and green a few weeks later, so I’m eager to see what happens.

I added a couple of nasturtiums to my garden beds, near the trellises for climbing. I’m not sure if they will help or hurt the tomatoes and cucumbers. We’ll see!

To fill in some bare spots and replace damaged plants from the nibblers, I purchased more zinnias and cosmos from Outside Pride. I love their selection and might get all of my flower seeds from them next year.

Every morning, I water the garden. Every evening, I do a “garden check” which is really an excuse for me to wander around outside by myself for 15 minutes before the bedtime marathon starts. I’m impatient and cannot wait for my cut flowers to grow. I’m curious about my vegetables. I’m anticipating a LOT of zucchini. I’m already thinking about what I might do differently next year. I'm glad to have found solace in nature when it is so, so needed.