First garden - poor quantity

[monkeybird]

I planted my first garden this year. I worked daily in my little garden patch and the produce I did get was excellent. I use only non hybred heirloom seed. I have saved some of the seeds for next year.

While my produce was tasty, there was not enough of it. I would have expected more. If I had to feed the family from it we would have all been hungry.

However, I learned. I learned that 3 tomato plants is not enough. That 5 squash plants is not enough. That I'd need 10 square feet garden to just survive.

Granted, for over 2 weeks my area had 100 - 104 actual temperatures with no rainfall. The tomato skins split, despite watering regularly. I ate them anyway and they were excellent.

Finally, last week I had to pull up the squash because I suddenly got a squash bug infestation. I had not used any pesticide because when the SHTF you won't have it. Next year I'll get some.

I'll be honest, I'm very discouraged. I have seeds for a fall garden and according to the experts, I should be planting right now, but it's still in the high 90's and I decided I'd wait. With my feelings of frustration, I wonder if I'll follow through and plant it.

Any new gardeners out there who are having problems?

[Rmplstlskn]

Wow! I couldn't have said it better myself... I am now on my SECOND YEAR of frustrating gardening...

Between the pests, fungus and odd weather screwing up everything, if I had to LIVE off my crops, we would STARVE...

Oddly enough, before I started "improving" my garden two years ago, my crops used to be amazing, albeit small in number... All I did was plant them in the Virginia soil that had been out there all the time, and they grew like crazy... Now, after my improvements (which in hind sight were not improvements at all), I have nothing but problems...

But I look at these times as LEARNING! I have learned that some insecticides are worth more than GOLD and organic is a lot harder to do than it sounds... if you want to EAT! I have learned that what sells as "garden soil" is USELESS mulchy CRUD! I have learned that SURVIVAL GARDENING is a FULL-TIME JOB! As only a full-timer can keep the pests and fungus' at bay, if even then. Many more lessons as well...

I too have learned that I need a much larger garden if I am to LIVE off it. I also need to learn STORAGE of these crops better to avoid spoilage.

I too have had to rip up all my tomato plants due to blossom rot problems resulting from the cruddy "garden soil" I added to my garden, thinking I was doing such a good thing... I then had to dig out the mulchy, dry "garden soil" to get back to my good Virginia clay-soil underneath. I then "double-dug" down and added compost (old fall leaves) and 10-10-10 fertilizer. I am now, HOPEFULLY, ready for FALL crops... But I too am holding off on them due to the HOT and DRY weather...

Last year was brutal too. My tomatoes were constantly attacked by pests and a fungus eventually finished them off. Same too with my cucumbers... They started out great, had an inital wonderful crop, but a fungus hit them and they quickly yellowed and I had to pull them out. My corn was attacked by wildlife too... I now know why oldtime gardeners have FENCES around their gardens...

Very frustrating... But I am trying and learning more every time... So don't give up, it is too important! Try to look out for "experienced" gardeners around your area and offer to help them so you can learn what they know... That is what I will be doing...

But be of good cheer, for even the best of the veggie gardeners have had a brutal tough last two years in my area, so I am not alone... But unlike them, my goal is to one day RELY on this garden for FOOD to LIVE, so it is more depressing for us I think when we see failure...

Rmpl

[GAGLOCK]

You've made it thru some extreme heat and drought that's kicking most everyones behind this year. You can garden year round where you are located so try some cool weather crops in the fall and winter. If you search online you should be able to get some fall planting dates for veggies in your area.

Don't give up!

[Boyd]

I am probably going to get smacked around for this but here we go.......................

Heirlooms will always have their place...
Growing organic is better for you eating wise.......

But when the SHTF, I've got stocked supplies of miracle grow, roundup and hybrid seeds to go along with the heirloom varieties I keep. Insecticides and anti fungals included.

Here's my thinking.. I have to put in a ninja garden. Has to be small, hidden and mean. It has to produce. Everytime it has to produce. Otherwise I starve. One of the drawbacks to going organic and heirloom vs. fertilizer and hybrids is that with fertilizer and hybrids I will have plenty of healthy plants producing plenty of veggies when I need it. My garden I have now? It's a prep for the real thing.

an heirloom garden will not produce on par with a hybrid garden pound for pound. liquid concentrated miracle grow will out do the same weight of composted manure and kitchen scraps.

I know my ideas go against the green movement, but I don't want to be a dead or hungry survivalist/prepper/hippie, but a fat n sassy survivalist/prepper/hippie. Ok, I can take the abuse.. throw the manure my way... :)

[Klayton]

Well I am not sure who or where you heard 10 square feet is enough (or did I read that wrong?)
As for fungus and other things as such, there are some organic "teas" that help, but sometimes you have to rely on science (fungicides/herbicides).
As for the little mites and insects, you can buy predator insects and place them in your garden. Will they leave and eat bugs off your neighbors' gardens? Sure, but if you have enough pests in your garden most will stay put.

But I fall in the same category as Boyd. Do what you have to in order to survive. A dead withered organic tomato plant does more harm (provides no subsistence) than one I lightly sprayed with an insecticide...

[Lowdown3]

Excellent thread! Five stars!

[Matt In Oklahoma]

My gardening has been off and on for years having been with the Army. It can get soooooo frustrating especially when every place was new with new soil and new problems. I am stabilized (old and retired LOL) now and yet every year there are new issues. Try not to be down on yourself and understand just from what you wrote I see that you have learned and gained experience. The tomatoes will split, ya know why, because they are real! When you water them they gorge themslves and cause the skin to split especially in the extreme heat. Store bought maters were plucked while green and ripened on their way to the store and are produced to be pretty but not tasty, kinda like some girls I know LOL. There is NOTHING wrong with them, it's natures way but it does open them up to bugs. I'm willing to bet if someone knew where to look poisons will be of plenty for a while after SHTF. Folks are looking for something else after that. You keep your head up and keep plugging and don't be afraid to what you need to because for now everything is still ok.

[eeyore]

I totally agree with

Heirlooms will always have their place...
Growing organic is better for you eating wise.......

But when the SHTF, I've got stocked supplies of miracle grow, roundup and hybrid seeds to go along with the heirloom varieties I keep. Insecticides and anti fungals included.

But I fall in the same category as Boyd. Do what you have to in order to survive. A dead withered organic tomato plant does more harm (provides no subsistence) than one I lightly sprayed with an insecticide...

The works well for now or until the store bought stuff in on hand. There will come a day when it has lost it potency or you run out. imo now is the time to find out different remedies for different problems. That is part of the reason people grow a lot bigger gardens in the olde days, because bugs got to eat also.

Learn now about companion planting and help helpful insects. When using teas mixing a little (liquid dish type) soap with it will help it stick to plants and makes it much more effective.

[becky3086]

Well, I am on 5 or 6 years now. I have to agree with Rmplstlskn, my garden seemed to do better before I started adding all my compost and before that it was pure red clay. Course some things just won't grow at all but the things that were growing good are not growing well at all now or they grow great but don't produced anything. I also have planted a fall garden several times and it is a complete wasted of time, simply put, the bugs eat anything new that sprouts in the fall, no matter what the temperature is. I keep working on it though because I seriously don't believe that storing anything gardenwise is a good idea, it won't last long and you won't know how to grow anything after it runs out.

[crossbow]

Well, I am on 5 or 6 years now. I have to agree with Rmplstlskn, my garden seemed to do better before I started adding all my compost and before that it was pure red clay. Course some things just won't grow at all but the things that were growing good are not growing well at all now or they grow great but don't produced anything. I also have planted a fall garden several times and it is a complete wasted of time, simply put, the bugs eat anything new that sprouts in the fall, no matter what the temperature is. I keep working on it though because I seriously don't believe that storing anything gardenwise is a good idea, it won't last long and you won't know how to grow anything after it runs out.

ck your fertlizer, sometimes people are using to much nitrogen and not enough phosphorus or potassium, i like to use 5-10-10 all the time for most crops except spinich, then i like a higher nitrogen like 10-10-10. also ck your PH, your ground could be to sweet or to sour for what you're growing, usually the more compost you till in, the better garden you'll have. In Ga. you should get 2 crops easily.

[Lowdown3]

Congrats for getting out and DOING IT folks! + 1,000

Think of all the folks that have said "when the food runs out I'll just grow a garden."

"Have you gardened before?"

"Well when I was a kid I helped my grandpa but not since then."

You don't know how many times I've heard that exact thing play out. Unless folks are doing it now, they have no idea how tough this really is.

I'd love to say that by year 2 or 3 you'll have it all figured out..... I started gardening in the mid 90's and I'm nowhere near where I want to be.....

Experience helps, have a good source of water, know your planting times (listen to the old timers and then try them yourself), maintain some seed stock of a variety you have grown in your soil already, bigger is most definitely better from a survival standpoint, build your soil through organic methods but don't be afraid to use commercial fertilizer.

Manure doesn't store well. Bags of 10-10-10 put inside plastic barrels will store for a LOOONG time.

We have put basically all of the manure from 3 goats, an average of 10 rabbits, 6-8 laying hens and yearly runs of meat birds into one garden area 50'x50' PLUS we have brought in truckloads of cow manure, we have left the goats pasture in there at various times for a year and the soil is just now after 10 years getting to where we don't always need fertilizer. That's just ONE garden plot and while we can produce a lot of food in that area, for us anyways- it's not been enough.

In the survival context we are talking about having enough to eat fresh in season as well as enough to put back to hold us till next harvest. It takes a good size area to do that.

But ANYTHING you can do will help! My garden spot before we left Florida was about 20x10' on top of a septic tank. I learned a lot there.

Great thread folks, keep it going!

[GAGLOCK]

ck your fertlizer, sometimes people are using to much nitrogen and not enough phosphorus or potassium, i like to use 5-10-10 all the time for most crops except spinich, then i like a higher nitrogen like 10-10-10. also ck your PH, your ground could be to sweet or to sour for what you're growing, usually the more compost you till in, the better garden you'll have. In Ga. you should get 2 crops easily.

Exactly, A lot of problems I've seen are people using too much fertilizer or applying it at the wrong times. Each plant variety has its own unique requirements and timetable. PH tests will tell you a lot about your soil and what it needs. Things like crop rotation, resting the soil, etc. old time farming methods that work. Modern methods like square foot gardening might not work when everybody is doing rain dances and your plants are too close to each other in the squares without water or nutrients available.

[jrain]

Ph is very important with most crops. Simple ph testers are available at home and garden centers or send a sample off for testing. Your local cooperative extention office can help with that.

Blossom end rot on tomatoes can be treated with an early application on epsom salt. I sprinkled some around each plant right after planting and had no cases of rot this year.

[Rmplstlskn]

Blossom end rot on tomatoes can be treated with an early application on epsom salt. I sprinkled some around each plant right after planting and had no cases of rot this year.

Thanks for the tip... I had read that blossom rot is due to a potassium deficiency, I think it was. I tested my soil and found it lacking in EVERYTING, which is how I learned that "garden soil" is nothing but CRUD... mulchy, dry CRUD! No nutrient value whatsoever... That is when I dug all the new soil out and went back to my virginia clay/soil, which I double-dug down and added last years fall leaves and 10-10-10 fertilizer...

Before the "garden soil" addition, my soil was loaded with earthworms... After, none, but lots of weird ants and mite looking things liked building a nest in that mulchy soil and eating my carrots...

Now I am back to how nature made my soil... Arrrgghhhh!

Rmpl

[1Admin]

I believe calcium will help with blossom end rot. Check out the products marketed specially for blossom end rot. One we bought was all calcium.