2009 Garden: What I Learned This Year



Erica and Dawson, enjoying Spring sunshine



1.  My biggest, widest, deepest FURROW needs to be right next to the curb on the east side of the garden.

2.  I thinned the STRAWBERRY PLANTS out in about 1/4th of the patch, but this area did not produce as many strawberries, and did produce many weeds.  Next year I will top them with the large hedge sheers and thin them a little but not too much.

3.  CORN needs to be kept close (instead of at Peggy's) so that I can check it often and eat it super fresh.  Maybe instead some peppers can be planted at Peggy's (so I can have more space in my garden).

4.  Planting BROCCOLI was a waste of space this year.  I had so many aphids.  I guess I should have sprayed for them.



5.  FERTILIZING STRAWBERRIES and RASPBERRIES (1/3rd ammonium sulfate, 1/3rd azalia food, 1/3rd ironite) as well as watering twice a week improved production.  Next time plant everbearing strawberries.



6.  I enjoyed planting both SPINACH and SWISS CHARD.  but out of the two I prefer swiss chard.  It grows back quickly after harvesting and tastes just as good, where spinach is pulled completely out and you only get one picking.

7.  We tried letting the TOMATOES sprawl out over black landscape fabric (or black plastic at Mom's) but it really was a big mess.  Better to put them in cages.  Mom may have gotten tomatoes a couple of weeks earlier, but I don't think she really got that much more in production.   I lost a lot of tomatoes- they rot where they touch the fabric.

8.  I loved having CARROTS in the garden.  They were delicious.  I kept them in clear til winter.

9.  TILL THE GARDEN in the FALL so that I can be prepared to plant my Spring garden earlier.  I say this every year and never get around to it.

How To Get Started....

• SELECTING SEEDS or PLANTS- Think about what you want to plant in your garden. Be realistic. What do you enjoy eating? What veggies do you buy in the store that would be cheaper to grow? What will your kids eat? Start simple by planting only a few different things and try something new each year. Pick things that are easy to grow. Seeds can be ordered from a seed catalog or you can simply go to the store or nursery to select the seeds you want. Keep in mind, some varieties are better than others. And some varieties grow better in other climates but not so well here. 
   
• MAKE A PLAN- Lay out your garden on paper. Figure out where you will plant things. There are several reasons for this important step.
  1. Avoid watering problems. Plant Cool weather crops in the same area of your garden so that you can water them more frequently.
  2. Avoid shading problems. Plant tall things like corn or tomatoes toward the north side of your garden so as not to create shade for other crops.
  3. Avoid over planting. Don't plant a whole row of zucchini unless you plan on feeding the whole neighborhood, which is actually fun to do.
  4. Spacing for certain vegetables is critical. For example, corn needs more space between rows than say carrots or beans. Allow pathways for easy access to your vegetables.
  5. Practice crop rotation. Place vegetables in a different spot of the garden from last year. This will help to fight off pests and fungal diseases.
  6. Your garden should be a thing of beauty. Plan rows so they are neat and attractive.
  • WHEN TO PLANT- Cool weather crops can be started as soon as you can get the ground tilled in the Spring, perhaps as early as March. But you must wait to plant warm weather crops until after the last frost, which for us is usually around Mother's Day, or May 10^th. You can also plant a fall garden with more cool weather crops around July 10^th. These will grow and enable you to keep harvesting things right up through October.
    
    
  • APPLYING COMPOST AND FERTILIZER- Growing vegetables takes nutrients from the soil, so we have to fertilize to replenish and invigorate the soil. Make the soil happy and it will make you happy by growing delicious foods to eat.
    
    
  • TILLING THE GARDEN- Two or three weeks before you plan on planting is the best time to till the garden. Apply your compost and fertilizer and then till it into the soil to a depth of seven or eight inches. Depending on the size of your garden, this can be done with a roto-tiller or by hand with a shovel. Tilling the garden also makes the soil nice and fluffy and puts oxygen into it.
    
    
  • PREPARING THE BEDS- Using your garden layout that you designed on paper, figure out where you will create furrows or pathways and where you will plant rows of vegetables. It is easy to make straight rows if you use two stakes at either end of the row and tie a string between each stake. After your furrows are made, then you can use a garden rake and make your planting surface nice and level. 
     
  • PLANTING- (My favorite part!! :) Pay close attention to the instructions on the seed packets. They will tell you exactly how deep to plant seeds and the spacing requirements between seeds. Every kind of seed has different requirements. A good rule of thumb is to plant the seed three times the depth of its size. So if a seed is a quarter of an inch in size, plant it three-quarters of an inch deep. Remember healthy plants need space and should be given plenty of elbow room.
    Some vegetables are better started as transplants. You will have to go to the store or nursery to buy the plants and then immediately put them into the garden. Things like tomatoes, broccoli, and peppers are easier to start from transplants.
    
    
  • WATERING SEEDLINGS- After you get seeds into the ground water them gently with a sprinkler or a hand held sprayer. This will need to be done every day for 15 minutes until the plants are up and established, meaning three or four inches tall. Then gradually reduce the number of waterings until you are only watering them once a week. Transplants need to be watered after being planted into the ground perhaps everyday for a week, but then gradually reduce watering times. 
     
  • REASONS WHY SEEDS DON'T COME UP-
    1. Soil gets too dry.
    2. Packed soil or hard crust.
    3. Cold weather, slow germination, seeds rot.
    4. Fungus diseases such as “damping off”.
    5. Cut worms and other insects eat seeds or seedlings.
    6. Poor, old seed.