Learning from Experience

In planning for the upcoming growing season, I've been thinking a lot about last year's successes and failures. On the whole, I was thrilled about the productive outcomes and the growing friendships in 2009. Before the memories fade and the new year is underway, I want to list some of the lessons learned...

1. Hardscaping

In 2009 we started too late to do enough of this; we learned that it isn't just about aesthetics. We can improve the efficiency of the growing area and the layout of various crops for 2010. If the invasive plants on the east border are removed, there will be less competition for nutrients in the soil in the top tier. Ideally, we would remove the privet and knock down the divider wall between the middle and lower tier. I am thankful that someone has cut back the brush on the edges. This will bring more light to the upper tier, and maybe eliminate the poison ivy.

2. Soil

We have done a soil test for 2010, and the results should be in soon. The soil test results should give us some good information about how to amend our soil. We need to till in organic material before we plant. There are high hopes for obtaining some well-rotted manure.

3. Cost

Buying greenhouse starts in 2010 was pricey. Of course, starting our own seeds takes work, space, and costs - many of which are in the form of time. For 2010 I am attempting to start a number of vegetable plants from seed.

4. Crop Choice/Days 'til Harvest

In 2009, it happened that most of our plants had around the same number of "days 'til harvest", so we ended up with few vegetables until mid-July, then far more than we knew what to do with for the next month. The exceptions were the green peppers: the pepper variety we planted needed a lot of days, and we didn't get peppers until late August. For 2010, we can extend our harvest by planting an early and a late variety of each crop.

5. Crop Choice

We did not realize that we planted only "determinate" tomato varieties (Celebrity and Early Girl). Determinate tomato varieties set blossoms once: then all the fruit ripens, and then the plant dies. Indeterminate tomato varieties produce blossoms and fruit continually until frost. The plants also should be tended quite differently for optimum production. For 2010 we will have at least one determinate and one indeterminate tomato variety.

6. Production

In 2009 good crops were produced in the middle and lower tiers. Certain plants in the top tier did well, while others suffered. Poor results and their likely causes include the following:

- Low production of eggplant may be attributed to transplant shock. Eggplants do not transplant well anyway, and we put them in during a hot spell - many died back to the ground level and only survived because of healthy root systems and a lot of TLC.

- The failure of the Roma tomatoes may be because of competition for nutrients from invasive roots; it could be a number of other causes as well. It will be important to see how plants fare in that area of the garden in 2010. Some peppers died from an unidentified cause, but others in the immediate area thrived.

7. Right, In Spite...

Finally, some things we did right by accident!

- Okra and watermelon happen to be excellent companion plants. We chose a spot for the okra because of the distance from our water source, and the spot for the watermelon because it seemed like they had a lot of room to move.

- Tomatoes should not be mulched upon planting. Kathleen and Ann mulched the tomatoes at the right time (later in June) but only because we planted late, then didn't have the mulch or the time to do it right away. Turns out that mulching tomatoes too early prevents the soil from warming enough to stimulate good root development, which is very important for healthy plants.

Garden Planning

For me, March means three things: college basketball, spring break, and planning the summer garden. Last year, our small group of gardeners realized that we could have done a lot of things differently. This year, we need to spend time doing some important work on the garden soil. We need to remove the roots of the invasive plants that grow around the edges and draw water and nutrients from the planting beds. We need to amend the soil with some organic material to provide better drainage and aeration. More on those efforts later.

The second part of early planning is considering what to plant in our space and starting those plants from seed. We spent money on plants from the garden center last year, and if we can start our own plants we will have resources to spend on other things. Last year we planted the following plants:

Cucumbers (1o hills burpless, 2 hills Armenian)
Peppers (20 bell; 6 banana; 12 jalepeno; 4 habanero)
Eggplant (4 Thai; 4 Caspar; 4 Purple)
Bush Beans (seeded rows)
Tomatoes (15 Celebrity; 15 Early Girl; 4 Roma; 3 cherry)
Basil (3 plants; seed underplanting)
Lettuce (seed underplanting)
Melon (12 Hale's Best Jumbo; 12 watermelon - probably Rattlesnake)
Okra (30 Clemson Spineless)

This year, we will plant several different varieties of crops - not only because we would like the variety, but because it would be good to have different varieties ready for harvest at slightly different times. Last year, the plants that did well were: Armenian cucumbers, all peppers, Caspar eggplants, Celebrity and Early Girl tomatoes, basil, watermelon, and Clemson Spineless okra. My hope is that we will plant the same amount of the successful plants (maybe slightly fewer) and rotate in some other crops or varieties that are likely to do well in our growing conditions or extend our harvests.