What Did You Learn This Year From Your Garden in 2021?

Lisa K

Last year I create a post titled “What Did You Learn This Year from Your Garden?” at the beginning of 2021, but this year I am starting a little earlier. Some of the things I have learned is making Worm towers that seem to be working, how to better protect my crops, which fruit trees do well in buckets and which are better off in the ground I seem to be constantly redesigning or rethinking my garden which I actually enjoy, what type of plants do well in the house and that I can in Zone 9 grow Saffron Crocus that actually flower (granted next year lesson will be can I keep them alive and grow them again in 2022). 

What are some of the lessons you have learned in 2021?

dipat2005

@Lisa K Thank you for giving me the idea of a worm tower. I learned that planting within 6 inches of my back door worked. I added new compost plus the earth was really good on the east side of the house. I left my beet greens in to overwinter. I am about to have some beet greens that I picked several weeks ago. I want to plant the carrots deeper and on the east side of the apartment. I want to find some thin plastic so I can make a deeper raised bed garden. I always learn a lot of things.

Jens the Beekeeper

Well I learned that I cannot do it all at once. There is only so much a person can do and you need to prioritize and take nature into account.

And I once again learned nature can't be forced as the weather did some very nasty turns around here and my bees did not do well with regards to honey harvests this year. Got only one and that was smaller than the last year.

vickeym

I learned I need a much bigger garden to accomplish all I hope to grow for our food, our culinary and medicinal herbs and figuring out how to incorporate our chickens into the garden to help control the slugs and other pests while providing them with more food as well.

jowitt.europe

like @Jens the Beekeeper I understood that I have to prioritise my activities in my garden and with my bees. Especially that I would like to obtain a few quails. And grandchildren spend more time with us during summer holidays as they have started school and the holidays are long. I have to turn my garden into one needing less care, otherwise I loose the sense of joy and happiness when I am working in the garden. I am thinking of reducing the amount of vegetables I grow, especially the ones which do not grow well, or need much care. I might Introduce and let spread more plants needing less care, but good for us and the bees. More perennial herbs. Winter is a good time to think and plan

Lisa K

@Jens the Beekeeper so sorry to hear about your bees!

@Jens the Beekeeper and @jowitt.europe I also learned the same thing about priorities and that I may not get everything done in the time frame I wanted too (I am still working on securing my raised beds!).

Another thing I have learned this year is Baker Creek seeds seem to have the best germination rate.

SuperC

Enjoy the morning walk with a hot cup of coffee noticing all of the little new sprouts, how they’re growing, which direction the light is passing through the woods at, and watching the grapevines grow. Viticulture. This year, I wrote on a month-calendar the weather, animals and birds that were seen or heard, and when the winds came rustling the leaves blowing in the trees and/or watching leaves fall to the ground (much earlier this year due to less moisture).

Lisa K

@SuperC that sounds so awesome and calming!

VermontCathy

I learned that I need to focus on the veggies and fruits that are highly productive, and not waste too much effort on those that don't produce well.

It's okay to have a few experimental crops, but if too much time and energy goes into those, I get less food for my effort.

More peas, green beans, lettuce, spinach, multiplier onions, garlic, cucumbers, and potatoes; less tomatoes, ground cherries, and so forth.

Lisa K

@VermontCathy I so agree, I usually try a bunch of things but end up with the same crops year after year.

marjstratton

I learned that in spite of my success with zucchini the previous year, it is not a given year after year. I generally try several new things. Things that I think should be a shoe in aren't necessarily so. I just need to keep trying new things and try to figure out each year what I need to do for any particular crop to have on going improvement and success.

Lisa K

Apparently a lesson I did not learn last year was how to protect my crops, I thought I did a good job with the chicken wire but there must have been a gap since a creature or creatures (probably rats) eat my gorgeous Purple Broccoli seedlings!😥

My goal is this year to get it right so that at the end of 2022 I can say I learned this lesson!😊

SuperC

I learned to walk the yard in the morning being aware and noticing what was growing here and there. How tender life is as it is budding, admiring all of the birds and when they fly in and out letting me know when a storm is coming/when the weather is going to get severe. Listening to the wind rustling the tree leaves either higher up in them or closer to the ground suggestioning stronger winds approaching. Also, it’s time to get back into the swing of weeding, pruning and spending more time outdoors!

monica197

When it is dead (dying) get rid of it. Keeping weak plants around spreads 'stuff.' When I have cleared out an area, prep the soil and cover it with chaff from the bottom of the hay bag. This makes the job in the fall much smaller and gives the soil time to enliven.

VermontCathy

I also learned that it doesn't necessarily take much space to get a lot of yield from a few key crops. Pole peas, pole green beans, pickling cucumbers, and lettuce really crank out food.

After being unhappy about the amount of potato yield I get from expensive seeds, I did some additional reading and found that potatoes really want more space. The idea number of seeds in a 4x4 ft bed appears to be a single row down the center, while I have been planting them in a grid of at least 4x4 (if not even more dense). I get a lot of potatoes from the bed, but it's questionable whether it's a financial benefit versus just buying potatoes to eat.

So for 2022, I have purchase a number of bags designed to hold soil for growing potatoes directly in the bag. I again purchased quite a bit of potato seed at significant expense, but this year I will be planting much lower densities of potato seed, and using the bags to effectively increase the size of the garden temporarily.

It will be interesting to see if this trick works.

Lisa K

@VermontCathy Good luck with the potatoes!

Lisa K

Thanks @Marjory Wildcraft for this post's shoutout in the TGN Newsletter!

Sheila

I learned I can leave my late carrots that weren't big enough to bother pulling in the garden and they will continue to grow. I am pretty sure it is because they had a decent snow cover before it froze heavily (both unusual here on Vancouver Island) and I pulled new carrots yesterday! I learned I have to be earlier with my 2nd crops as I can't rely on the weather to get me through! I also learned that cabbage will continue to grow when transplanted from the garden to the greenhouse even with heavy freezes. I also learned that a hoop greenhouse needs much more support with heavy wet snow and will be putting that information to good use when I rebuild it ;)

Lisa K

Wow @Sheila sounds like you really learned how to extend your harvest which is awesome!