My garden is showing the first hints of autumn, and since this is my last post at the Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op for the month of August, it seems a good opportunity to look back at the summer season. I take my lead here from Amber of Strocel.com, and her neat tradition of “A Month in Review” in which she lists and briefly comments on the main things she's learned during that month. I'd like to do the same today, as some of the things I've learned during this gardening season have come from the readers of this blog.
So, here are some of the things I learned so far:
Intercropping requires careful short-term and long-term planning. I made two main mistakes this year: I intercropped radicchio, chili peppers and carrots, to combine a leaf, a vegetable, and a root vegetable. However, it didn't occur to me that I was growing three plants of the same height, quite close together, and all three with long growing cycles. As a result, the plant stuck in the middle (the chili peppers), which happened to be the one I was most interested in, didn't grow very well. Also, I intercropped perennial flowers of the Asteraceae family, like calendula officinalis, with my vegetables, not considering that the perennials will make it difficult to hoe and work the soil next spring without damaging them.
I planted potatoes for the first time in many years (here), and learned from Brenda of Sense of Home how to cure them before storing them here.
When in doubt, it's wise to over-plant. I planted enough tomatoes for eating fresh, but not enough for canning. I knew I was going to be on the road for a whole month, and I was afraid the tomato plants might not make it. As it turned out, they were among the vegetables that did the best during my month away (here). Had I planted more, right now I'd be putting up tomato sauce.
Mulching is a great practice to use while you're on the road, as Sue of Garden Notes suggested in the comments here: it retains moisture and it suppresses weed growth.
Neem oil is a natural remedy that diluted can be successfully used in the garden as a parasiticide and an insecticide, as Theresa of All of Us, and AG Ambroult of Elemental commented (here, with more suggestions on homemade insects repellants).
But perhaps the most important lesson I learned – or rather, re-learned – this season is that when it comes to gardening, you can never stop learning.
What did you learn in your garden this season?
5 comments:
I learned how important my garden is to my life, since I was unable to have one this year. I know I will appreciate it even more whatever I may grow in the future! Thank you for sharing your lessons with us. I love learning what works and doesn't work for others.
Great post. Thanks for all the information! :)
On the practical side, this year I learned fennel grows very well here, but I should have dug it up sooner to have the best flavor.
I have learned something bigger though. You see, there were a few years recently that I did not have a garden due to various circumstances and the last two years of gardening have taught me that I never want to go without one again. I love gardening and having the fresh taste of fruits and vegetables out my kitchen door. I also like knowing I grew them myself.
-Brenda
I love that you decided to review your growing season - I hope you'll link up the post on September 1!
That's so sad about the chili peppers. Hopefully, you will take this knowledge with you into your next growing season, and be simply swimming in peppers.
I absolutely love your photo here. The tiny dots of red make a very nice contrast to the clear green.
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