What have you learned from this years garden?

[gone 2 seed]

it is early in the season and lessons i have already learned.

1. Prepare in the fall for a spring garden when you get a lot of rain it is hard to till. that way i can have spinach and lettuce early in the season.

2. start brussel sprout and broccoli seedlings inside instead paying over 3.00 for 9 seedlings.

3. plant more strawberries and fertilize fertilize fertilize.

4. you don't need 7 zucchini plants for 2 people especially when one won't eat them.

5. not happy with the cucumbers I bought they are little and turn yellow when less than 3 inches long.

6. planted way too many butternut. better figure out a way to freeze it.

7. make sure the beans you buy and pole beans not bush beans. actually next year a neighbor promised me some of their family seeds.

8. who knew lima beans do need a trellis?

9. plant sunflowers in their own row not in with the corn.

10. plant watermelon it may rain everyday for two months.

11. be more aware of when to plant what.


i am sure there are a few more but these are what i thought of while sitting waiting for the dogs to bark as a signal the UPS man has arrived.

Happy planting to all of you.

 

[seedcorn]

never use eggs by my pepper plants for sulfur/nutrients as dog digs them up to eat. Even when broke open, she has to dig them up to see for herself that they aren't edible.

Put a fence around cabbage to keep chickens from destroying them.

 

[Natalie]

Don't plant 5 packets of lettuce all at once for 2 people

Spend more time weeding

Till twice in spring

 

[miron28]

only plant things i like to eat!

 

[vfem]

#1... No matter how HOT it is outside in NC in April.... do not plant Canteloupe yet.... no matter how HOT it is in NC in May.... do not plant cateloupe yet.... Wait until June to plant cateloupe. It is 10x more tempermental then cucumber every was!!!


#2.... a cucumber plant apparently can produce like 12 cukes a week... so no need to plant more then 1 next year since I'm the only one who eats it. (Unless I make pickles)

#3... plant tomatoes further then 12" apparent... these things are HUGE and I can't reach my cherry tomatoes in the middle of my bed.

 

[RedClayGardener]

Raised beds are a wonderful luxury but you don't need them to have a good crop.

Earwigs are terrible things and must be destroyed no matter what the organic gardening website says.

No matter when you start your peppers it always seems like forever until you can pick the first one.

 

[sparkles2307]

Till twice in the fall AND twice in the spring!

WEED IT

4 people cant eat 48 ft of lettuce

Celery grows slowly and is boring to watch

if it says "this is a vine pea plant and needs to be trellised" they arent joking...

Beans do not like me.

ETA: and Goats are not good garden ornaments

 

[gone 2 seed]

Flat leaf parsley does not like full sun.

8 basil plants are about 7 too many. anyone have a good pesto recipe?

 

[wifezilla]

Earwigs are terrible things and must be destroyed no matter what the organic gardening website says.

THAT!

Also....
Pillbugs are terrible things and must be destroyed no matter what the organic gardening website says.

Squirrels are terrible things and must be destroyed no matter what the organic gardening website says.

There are many tasty greens that don't mind a little snow.

Ducks like basil

If you plant a vegetable bed in an area you can't seem to grow grass, you will ensure that grass will sprout up all over the place and kill off your vegetables when given the chance.

 

[Greensage45]

Let me see, this year is very different than those of the past.

I have a grow box for seedlings, and although I have had fantastic results because it is self-contained and has ample airflow, I really have not gotten into anything full swing.

I am growing tobacco this year. My other half is a smoker and for the price of cigarettes and the fact they are processed and chemical bonded, I decided to contribute; I finally convinced myself of the health factors and the fact that it is a plant after all, plus they flower too! LOL I currently have 5 Virginia Gold plants that have just taken the trip outdoors into the sun. I will be doing about 6 other varieties (each was $2.50 a pack). I have a book and it says:

"if you can grow a tomato plant you can grow a tobacco".

I am over confident and I do realize the time of drying (curing), and also converting my grow box into a fermenting box as well. Adding a hygrometer and a humidifier coupled with heat pads. This will be an adventure in learning.

I also learned to put my melons, cucs, and watermelon onto raised straw beds. This is an incredible growth I have. I am told this will prevent my cucs and melons from becoming bitter from my bad clay soil. Even my previous watermelon was tasteless and dull. I will be sure and let you all know, but the growth is fantastic. At just under two months old my beds are orderly and healthy. I love any sort of organizing even if it is a bit premature in saying that about any vine.

I learned to anticipate the needs of my animals. I have millet spray growing nicely. I assume I can get two crops of these and I should be able to store and dry them to last next year. The millet is for the parakeets, lovebirds, and my bunny rabbits.

I have alfalfa growing now, and I am so pleased to have a ton of seed to continue to seed the alfalfa in between my growing rows and crop rotations. The bunnies love it, and i will be able to dry and store any abundance by seasonal cutting by hand.

I have a case of tall canning bottles. I am going to get a few more cases of various sizes. I have never canned. I keep reading and I have visited all of the canning recipes that you guys have posted so far. My pickles will be an adventure. I have a big patch of dill weed in as well as a crop of garlic. I will only have to buy the whole black pepper. I am shocked it is only grown in Pakistan and India. Now I want my own peppercorn plant.

So I guess all my learning is barely beginning.

I did start 5 more roses from seed this year. I love doing that!

Oh yeah....this is the year of Nasturtiums. I have always admired them in pictures and such. I think I can even remember seeing them growing in Germany and up East when I was little. I have tried them before in a shady hidden, safe environment, but they always bloom one or two hidden blooms and then they go bad...very leggy and easily trampled.

So this year I decided to try them again. This time I dared to do it in the open sun; a spot where the sun is full from 11 a.m. all the way through to 6 or 7 p.m. A hot spot is an understatement. This bed has a rose (very thin) and a honeysuckle. I let the Nasturtiums sprout and then I built up with straw around their bases. This has allowed them to withstand any winds and dog trampling. I am really shocked, but I think I got it!. I actually have some decent-looking plants that are just now beginning to throw blooms. A mixed color scheme, but definitely bright and intense. I did lose a few, there were bad accidents that took out a full plant to the base.....ugh!

Anyways, those are my learnings...and here is a picture of my Nasturtiums.

If these little guys produce seeds for future years I will have finally conquered my beloved Nasturtium. How silly huh? LOL

OK, other than my usual madness, these are my lessons this year. Perhaps I will show you all my creative grow box for seedlings. It is time for me to start a new set of tobacco. These will be 5ft tall in the end and blooming a brilliant pink cluster of dangling trumpets.

Too much fun, Ron