What did you learn from your 2023 garden?
“What did you learn from your 2023 garden?”
No more borage in the mixed flower pots. It did add a lot to the compost pile but grew so huge it shaded some tomatoes and peppers. I think we got it all (famous last words).
That I’m getting old. Turn 80 in a couple weeks. To be 75 again...
What did I learn? Less is more. This year I tried really hard not to overbuy. I did pretty good, and was better at maintaining what I had purchased. Part of it was because our daughter was getting married, and I knew I would have a hard deadline on getting plants in the ground. It meant I didn’t spend as much time doing all the chores that go along with over-purchasing.
Also, hiring help has pluses and minuses. They can get things done quicker, but don’t do it to my standards either. I guess that makes it a draw. So I guess my plan will be to get help when I need it. Then do my detailing work after they’re finished.
Good morning...I learned to NOT go on vacation in June...alas, my hub is not yet convinced...best Montana fishing is in June.
Start the onion seeds, lavendar, and rosemary as early as possible, sometinme early February.
It finally snowed here and can’t see the grass. The only thing green here is the Rue (Witchbane) I planted in a big tree planter a few summers ago.
https://advicefromtheherblady.com/plant-profiles/perennials/rue-witchbane/
“What did you learn from your 2023 garden?”
~ That I can survive on even LESS tomato plants than the year before. 36 was too many, 32 was better, but still too many. And to plant MORE determinate Paste tomatoes; they’re more versatile.
~ That I do NOT need more than six pepper plants. I put a lot of them into Salsa this past season, sliced and froze a lot and froze some whole (cleaned out) for Stuffed Peppers. The less of those, the better.
~ Using up older seed is NOT a bad thing. I still had good germination, though some seeds were from 2020. I will sort through my seeds before I look at even ONE Seed Catalog. (Yeah, Right! Famous last words.)
~ I learned that I need MORE flowers. Every room in my house should be FILLED with bouquets all season long. And it’s not. And that’s dumb! Flowers are food for the SOUL.
~ I learned that every three years is good enough to refresh the soil with home-made compost and a light tilling. Using straw on everything as mulch works so well, and it breaks down nicely and helps replenish things. So, I am now on a three-year cycle for that chore.
~ I learned that I need to be more mindful of doing succession plantings. There is no reason that every square inch of what I have to use should sit unproductive for any length of time during the growing season.
~ I learned that I want to grow more drying beans. ‘Good Mother Stollard’ was amazingly prolific, even though I only did 8 pole/strings of her to see how it would produce. Once soaked, that will be enough for a good four rounds of bean soup this winter. I’m impressed and will find another way to trellis more pole beans next season. I’m done with bush beans. ‘Saychelles’ is STILL my go-to pole green bean. LOVE that bean!
~ I learned that I need to pay more attention to the ‘Square Foot Gardening’ methods. I somehow got away from that because, well, Beau just kept building me more and more beds for planting, so what the heck, Right? Wrong. I want to be more orderly and productive in each individual bed next season. (I have 16 raised beds.)
~ More pictures. I was lazy about taking them this season, and I find that they help me greatly when planning for planting the next year. “Oh, THAT looked great - do THAT again!” “That bed was a disaster - DO OVER!”