December in the Garden: First Conclusions from the Crops
As December arrived, we began to assess the state of the crops sown in previous months. Not all the news was good, but there were also positive developments that encouraged us to continue with steady work and care for our garden.
🌱 Things Didn’t Go as Expected
- In garden bed 2, the turnip greens and beans didn’t germinate.
- In bed 2, we also had no success with the kale crop.
These losses may be because of typical winter weather conditions: less sunlight, low temperatures, and very damp soil. 
We’ve taken note so we can improve in future seasons.
Looking for good news, we made two new plantings:
- In garden bed 3, we planted a third of the space with garlic. Garlic is planted on raised ridges, a rather interesting method. We made three furrows, and on the higher ground between them, we planted garlic cloves horizontally at a depth of about 3 cm. The cloves were spaced about 10 cm apart.
- In garden bed 2, where the beans hadn’t germinated, we decided to take a risk. One of our gardeners proposed planting potatoes. Potatoes are normally planted in March, but as the saying goes—nothing ventured, nothing gained.
- In garden bed 3, we planted a third of the space with garlic. Garlic is planted on raised ridges, a rather interesting method. We made three furrows, and on the higher ground between them, we planted garlic cloves horizontally at a depth of about 3 cm. The cloves were spaced about 10 cm apart.
🌿 Good News from Other Corners of the Garden
Despite a few failures, other crops are responding well:
- In garden bed 1, the snow peas, carrots, and peas are growing nicely and showing promising development.
- In garden bed 2, the turnip tops are few, but they are growing healthily.
- In bed 3, the lettuces are holding on without major changes. The lack of sunlight and warmth is slowing their growth, but they remain sturdy and in good condition.
🧹 Maintenance and Fertilization Tasks
In addition to monitoring plant growth, this month we focused much on our activity on cleaning and fertilizing the garden:
- We continued removing weeds from the planted areas to prevent them from taking resources away from our crops.
- We carried out intensive cleaning of the edges and surrounding areas using a sickle to keep access clear and reduce the problems caused by tall grasses, especially during these rainy days.
- We also added a natural green fertilizer made from nettles collected from the center and fermented in rainwater for 15 days. After that time, we diluted the mixture at a 1:10 ratio in a watering can, creating one of the best organic fertilizers for enriching the soil with nitrogen.
This month taught us the importance of observing and adapting to natural conditions. Not everything grows the way we’d like, but each lesson helps us improve for the following harvest. 
