I realize there is still several months left for some people's gardens and others have already had to start growing everything in hothouses again but I was curious as to what so of yall have learned from this year's garden. Was there some variety that just blew the others out of the ground? Did you try some new technique that you weren't very sure about that paid off big? What about some of the let downs that were unavoidable, or even avoidable?
For me, this year, was including the use of chemicals to my management. I've never grown organically but have considered my approach natural with my garden as well as livestock. But using a pre-emergent on my garden saved me countless hours of pulling weeds and chopping with a hoe.
As for other surprises this year I was blown away by the wild goose peas that I planted. They produced over 30% more peas of a greater quality compared to my purple hull peas which are my favorite. I haven't cooked any yet but I have high hopes from all the "talking up" my coworkers did trying to get me to plant some this year.
One of the biggest upsets was my corn, I apparently planted way too late because my corn is usually 6 feet tall with 12-16 inch ears on almost every stalk and this year they stopped at 4 feet and I have less than a dozen ears and none were worth keeping.
Next year I plan to not plant as much at one time and go to at least three plantings or maybe four for some of my crops instead of one or two. I also plan to water some of my more important crops more instead of relying on the rain. This year I was lucky and was able to get rain at good times that kept me from water but three times over the whole summer so far and I've saved everything I plan to so I should already be done for the year with dragging a water hose over the spread.
For me, this year, was including the use of chemicals to my management. I've never grown organically but have considered my approach natural with my garden as well as livestock. But using a pre-emergent on my garden saved me countless hours of pulling weeds and chopping with a hoe.
As for other surprises this year I was blown away by the wild goose peas that I planted. They produced over 30% more peas of a greater quality compared to my purple hull peas which are my favorite. I haven't cooked any yet but I have high hopes from all the "talking up" my coworkers did trying to get me to plant some this year.
One of the biggest upsets was my corn, I apparently planted way too late because my corn is usually 6 feet tall with 12-16 inch ears on almost every stalk and this year they stopped at 4 feet and I have less than a dozen ears and none were worth keeping.
Next year I plan to not plant as much at one time and go to at least three plantings or maybe four for some of my crops instead of one or two. I also plan to water some of my more important crops more instead of relying on the rain. This year I was lucky and was able to get rain at good times that kept me from water but three times over the whole summer so far and I've saved everything I plan to so I should already be done for the year with dragging a water hose over the spread.
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