My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant’s point of view.
~ H. Fred Ale
Since I started my garden the third week of May, I was sure that everything would die. Every flower or plant that I’ve tried to grow in the past has always bit the dust early on. I heard all kinds of advice imaginable and I started to think if I didn’t follow everything, my garden would be a sure failure.
But what I’ve learned over the past 6 weeks is that the process is unique for every gardener and the best tips and tricks are those learned from personal trial and error. There is no better teacher than experience and the lessons that I’ve learned will stay with me always!
Here are some lessons I’ve learned over the past 6 weeks…
1. Plants aren’t always better than seeds.
Case in point- my pea plants! The pea plants that I started from seed have grown three times the size as compared to the plants I bought in the store. Next season, I will plant more seeds now that I have more gardening confidence.
Pea plant planted from seed…huge!
2. Greens are great for beginners!
Next season, I will likely plant more varieties of greens as I’ve seen how easy they are to grow. Very low maintenance! Umm, except for that spinach failure…
3. Keep your garden within arm’s reach.
This year, I decided to put my potted tomato plants on the opposite side of the house because that’s where the most sunlight is, but honestly it’s a huge pain in the butt to water them so far away. I might move them to the other side of the house and just make sure they are in direct sunlight! When your garden is in arm’s reach, you are much more likely to water them on a regular basis. Try to keep everything as close as you can.
4. Raised garden beds are amazing!
We used this raised bed tutorial and I’m so glad we spent the extra time, money, and effort to build raised beds. Raised bed gardening is beneficial for several reasons, including better drainage, more aeration in the soil, less bending over, more control over the soil, closer plant spacing, and an earlier start to the season and later end (due to the raised bed being warmer than the ground).
5. Don’t be afraid to crowd a few plants
I followed plant spacing guidelines to a tee when I planted everything (I even measured with a ruler!!), but now that I see the growth, I know I could have spaced things closer together and still had success. Next season, I won’t be so afraid of a little crowding here and there! Also, with a raised bed, you can plant closer.
6. Chicken wire is great for keeping small animals out, but annoying when gardening.
We haven’t had any major issues with small animals eating our plants thanks to the chicken wire. However, occasionally I will see a bunny eating my KALE through the chicken wire! The bunnies are too cute to get mad at…and can you blame him? That’s good kale! I laugh when I see a leaf nibbled on next to the wire, but again, it has only happened a couple times.
With that being said, the chicken wire is really annoying when it comes to gardening because it’s always in the way. Unhooking it eats up time, so I usually just bend it down when I’m weeding and picking.
7. Before picking herbs, give them a rinse with the hose.
This way, you won’t have to fuss with washing them once you bring them inside!
8. There are no mistakes in gardening, only learning experiences!
The best part about gardening is that you are in the trenches learning every single day. There is no better teacher than experience! I’ve learned much more by actually doing it, than from reading a book. I will never forget about my bolted spinach and if I plant it again, I will try another variety more resistant to bolting and I will plant it earlier in the season!
9. When picking kale and lettuce leaves, pick the outer leaves and leave the inner ones
Seems logical, but I had to Google this before I did it!
10. Plant only the produce that you LOVE to eat.
Only plant produce that you get excited about. Kale is one of my favourite vegetables, so I planted the most of it- 20 plants. I’m not worried about having too much because I can always freeze it and enjoy it all winter long!
11. Nothing is better than tasting fresh peas.
Sweetest peas ever.
12. Seeing a bell pepper sprout is like Christmas morning :)
Happiest moment of gardening to date!
More progress pictures…
The tomatoes have surfaced :)
The tomato plants didn’t want to wrap around the pole and one of the plants actually fell over!! I don’t know if it was from another animal or from the wind, but I loosely wrapped a twist tie around the upper stem to support them. Seems fine now. :)
Peppers are growing!
This is our banana pepper plant. Long and slender. :)
Cucumbers! Which have little pricklies on them…..cuteness.
Our two cucumber plants have grown the most out of any of the plants in the garden.
Here they are May 28, 2011:
July 7, 2011:
BEETS! Grown from seeds (which I’m especially proud of)
Carrots sprouting ever so slowly, also grown from seeds. :) And a few weeds to pull out!
The peas love to hook onto things for support.
Another pea plant which was planted from seed is doing well. It managed to hook around a stick for support.
I laughed when I saw that the plant has grabbed onto this long piece of grass (below) and strangled it!
I also read that I should put string across the pea plants horizontally so they can spread out more…I’m hoping to do that this weekend.
And the best lesson of all?
13. Mother Nature knows best!
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that nature is pretty darn good at working things out for itself! While it’s important to take care of a garden, it’s equally important not to smother the plants. Like a mother sending her child off to their first day of school, sometimes you just have to let them go grow. :)
Initially, I was watering too much and the plants began to yellow and die. Once I backed off a bit and let it do its thing, the plants just took off with growth!
Weather means more when you have a garden. There’s nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans. ~Marcelene Cox
I think I need to re-try pea plants! I had a horrible fail last year when it got too cold but this year i’m prepared for it! <3
ohmygosh and my cilantro ALWAYS tries to flower/bolt/die on me no matter what I do! though this time i'm keeping it inside and trimming often – hoping it helps! <3
Thanks for the tips girl!
you should feel so proud! Just look at what you have accomplished! I am so envious! That kale! Yum yum yum.
Amazing for a new gardener! I’m on my third year of gardening all on my own, and this is what I’ve learned:
1. Cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins and other squash HATE being transplanted. This year I planted seeds instead of buying plants and they’re HUGE!
2. Carrots can easily take over a garden
3. Kozy Koats are amazing for cooler climates (I live in Winnipeg, MB). They’ve given me ginourmous tomatoes.
I would suggest looking into square foot gardening. The guidelines for planting are ususally a little spacious, the square foot gardening method is supposed to use your space more efficiently. Also, companion plantings. Certain plants grow better when they are placed next to other plants.
Yesterday I looked out my window and there was a muskrat in my garden! I grabbed my camera and ran outside, but he took off and hid under my truck. Then this morning, walking to my garage I spotted him again. He was munching on my spinach (I don’t have any chicken wire). I took a picture, but he was hiding behind my soy beans and I couldn’t really get a good shot of him. I planted enough this year to share with the bunnies (I find it’s easier to overplant and let them eat some than try to keep them out), but I didn’t plan on muskrats. I guess that’s what comes with living next to a river…
too funny! I can never get a pic either…they are too quick.
I dont mind a little sharing either…it kinda makes me happy in a weird way that I can feed animals too? Im sure I will change my tune as soon as one of them eats all the good stuff though!
Hi ange,
Beautiful garden. Gardening has great rewards, lots of work but it pays off. You could arrange potted plants around your beds. Put down patio pavers and set the pots on them. If you dig a space for them and then lay them in you just go right over top with the mower with no worries. You could do the foot print ones or round or square. It will keep everything close at hand. Buy a really nice big pot, some pear moss and good soil next year and plant a pot or two of stawberries to grow along with the tomatoes in pots. Strawberries are better in pots as they can take over a garden. Mint also grows really nice in pots, also don’t plant in the garden or within two years the whole garden will be mint. Buy those round tomatoe fences for your tomatoes next year, it will keep them from falling over. You put one stick in right beside the plant and then the fence around the plant. As the plant flowers you can tie the main stem of the plant to the stick to support the plant when the tomatoes come out.
Enjoy your garden.
Thanks Mary, great advice :)
I ment to say peat moss mot pear moss. Also all you need is a brach from a tree for staking most plants. No need to buy them when you have a backyard full of them. LOL
Loving your garden pics Ange! I keep reading about how kale is so easy to grow… I think I’ll buy a planter next summer and grow some :)
Your garden is lovely!
I love this :D Especially #13. There are so many things to learn but I think that one is the most important. I love the last quote too – I think it’s a little weird that I think about those kind of things, but at least I’m not the only one, haha.
Great post!! I have definitely learned a LOT already this year about gardening. I have decided next year I am going to have my husband build another bed just for my zucchini, cucumbers, and other squashes because they seriously are HUGE plants! They are overtaking my garden! I think I’m going to plant more greens next year!
Your garden looks wonderful, and I’m so jealous of your tomatoes and peppers. Our tomato and pepper plants have flowers, but no fruit yet. I can’t believe you have 20 kale plants! We have 12, and that is the perfect amount for us, but we also have 12 lettuce plants and we’re literally drowning in salad greens! We over planted originally, since this was our first garden, and I was afraid I was going to kill everything. I just posted our six week update and I can’t believe how much everything has grown since we first put it in. It’s truly amazing. I totally agree with you on seeds vs. plants. We planted all seedlings this year because I was nervous about getting anything to grow from seed, but now that I have a little more gardening confidence, I think we’ll be starting things from seed next season. Enjoy all your lovely, and super local :) produce!
I felt the same too! Did I mention I also have 10 romaine plants? hehe. Its great motivation to have a salad every night that is for sure. :)
Im sure your plants will fruit soon as ours just did on the weekend. So exciting. Im just worried that an animal will eat out tomato plants if we dont protect them…
Speaking of planing things closer together, I thought that you might like reading the book Mini Farming by Brett L. Markham. I’m in the process of reading it now and it’s all about planting things close together to get the biggest yield but also the least work. I strongly suggest you give it a read. It’s super informative!
Great thank you :)
I have a lot of the same vegetables in my garden, too!! Saw my first little pepper yesterday. They really are cute!
This just got me really excited about my own garden! I planted peas…so now I can’t wait for them to grow to full size! Mmm mmm its gonna be so nice have fresh veggies!
What a gorgeous garden! On a side note, I just stumbled across this contest and it looks right up your alley, so I thought I’d pass along the link :) http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/cherryfest/
thanks will check it out!
These are great tips! I’m starting the process of building a garden next week so I’ll be keeping these things in mind.
LIving in the city I only wish I could have as much fun and produce from a garden of my own. Thank goodness for the farmer’s market!
One fantastic summer I dog sat for a family for two weeks. They had a wonderful vegetable garden and told me to eat as much as I liked. It was so fun picking my dinner every night!
Get ready for those beets! Once they start you’ll be eating beet everything!
oh that would be fun :) I think I would have eaten everything heh
Good on you! It looks wonderful!
Oh my gosh! Look at that pepper! You’re right, it’s totally like Christmas morning. I’m trying my hand at a perennial garden this weekend. It’s going to take me 2 solid days to create, but I figure it’s a good step for a new gardener. I may have bitten off more than I can chew, but you’ve totally inspired me to rock my black thumb. Thanks Angela :)
Looks like you’ve had quite a sucess with your garden!! congrats! I always get excited when my little plants grow overnight :)
I wish I didn’t live in a hot desert so I could grow a better garden. But I at least got some tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and herbs growing. My brother taught me how to make my basil grow big and bushy by pinching it down so it continues to grow and fill out.
I’m so jealous of your garden! This season has been miserable. Our drought is so extensive (no measureable rain in something like 9 months) and the heat so oppressive that we actually officially live in a natural disaster area. it’s been over 100 almost every day since mid-May (I know it’s Texas, but that’s still a good 10-20 degrees above average for this time of the year). Even the weeds can’t survive!
Our farmers market is finally opening for the season tomorrow (a month late), and I’ve already been told by one farmer that it will be very meager this year since nothing’s fruiting in this heat.
I’m planting a fall garden in hopes that the windlessness of the late summer and fall will be a more hospitable climate (ie. won’t feel like a convection oven anymore, even though it will still be ridiculously hot). I’m having to water my garden area twice a day since it’s so hot and dry that the moisture is sucked out of the ground every afternoon. The hardest part will be getting the seeds to germinate!