Today was different. I have the week off from work, and my intention is to spend most of my time in the garden, the kitchen, or with my nose in a book. This morning, after a cup of tea and a peach scone baked from scratch, I brought my second cup of tea out to the garden and unfolded a camping chair. I just sat and looked at things. When the carrots or rutabagas were just screaming to be thinned, I obliged. I pulled a few weeds. I propped up a leaning pepper plant and harvested a few ripe tomatoes. I kept noticing things I wanted to remind myself of next year, now that I'm 8 weeks into the first season of gardening in an open canvas of dirt, rather than raised beds or designated planting holes through fabric as I have for the last decade. I came up with quite the list, from the practical to the philosophical. I'm documenting it here for future reference, and for any unintended benefit to aspiring or current gardeners who stumble upon this post.
The Garden As A Living Space
A garden is a place to relax (or work hard) and enjoy my home. Space left open for paths or to give veggies room isn’t wasted; it’s prioritizing the garden as living space. For years I tried to maximize my yield per square foot, sometimes planting raised beds in the square foot gardening method. I only planted corn once (it was a failure due to strong storms, animals, and general neglect) because I couldn't justify just two delicious ears of corn per stalk. What was I thinking, that's the perfect amount for dinner! Prioritizing for yield may mean minimizing enjoyment. My garden is not intended to be a second job.The shade tent is amazing for working on hot, sunny days, but it’s cumbersome for one short person to move around, especially because the legs dig into the ground. Perhaps we could put some tennis balls or something on the bottom of the legs to make it easier to drag?
Spacing: Never Trust An Ambitious Gardener
- 18”-24” spacing for peppers is perfect. Consider adding a support pole right away, and tying plants to poles about 6 weeks post transplant. Don’t wait for them to fall over. Treat them nicely.
- GIVE THE DETERMINANT TOMATOES MORE SPACE. 18” apart is not enough. It creates a tangled mess, increases chances I miss ripe tomatoes, and makes harvesting more unpleasant since my skin reacts poorly to tomato leaves. Plant them 2’-3’ apart next year. So far, yields are amazing. I may not need to plant 20 plants next year. TBD.
- Although the winter squash do just fine direct seeded in a hill, I need to commit to removing seedlings so I have the quantity I planned for. This year I didn't do that, and I'm curious to see if it will yield to overall smaller squash. They do really well in my garden both up free-standing trellises and on the ground. If I continue letting them spread on the ground, I should mulch heavily with cardboard and straw or grass right after planting so I don’t have to worry about that area for the rest of the season (other than the hills).
Spring Reminders
- Never put off mulching. Mulching makes everything grow better, makes maintenance easier, and it’s pretty! When planting rows of direct-seeded vegetables, consider mulching first, and leaving space where the rows will be. That should motivate me to still plant on time but the mulching will be done!
- I’ll probably never regret under planting seeds (more room to grow, larger/healthier plants) but I will regret over planting them because of the extra work of thinning, less room for air to move when harvesting, etc.
- It’s a good idea to seed radishes in with carrots, but do so sparingly (no more than 1 per foot) and only with the quickest growing varieties. This makes more sense to me than planting a dedicated row of radishes, because they’re not my favorite vegetable.
- It’s probably worth the tedium to create carrot seed strips or mats for planting, and always best to use seed that’s 1-2 years old. Old carrot seed doesn’t seem to fade as well as other varieties. Old beet, rutabaga, and chard seed does just fine though.
- Begin watching indeterminant tomatoes to prune suckers immediately. If I let one go so long it becomes a stem with blossoms on it, I won’t have the heart to prune it and I’ll regret it by July or August. Commit to tying the tomatoes to their stakes once a week whether I think they need it or not. If I continue to grow cherry tomatoes up rebar, I need to plant more (assuming I’m limiting them to a single vine). As my garden expands, I may want to consider planting them in some sort of container where 3-4 vines would be allowed to develop and drape over the sides.
- Chard works just fine direct seeded in my garden. Kale is more challenging that way and should probably be transplanted.
- The 8-ball zucchini grows straight up and puts out climbing vines. While it’s doing fine in hills, it would probably do well in a row in front of a trellis.
- Direct seeding basil was a bust (possibly because of old seed but I suspect because of inconsistent moisture). Definitely start these indoors for transplant.
Early Summer Reminders
- Thin beet greens at 4 weeks for greens only, 6-8 weeks for baby beets (but the latter is probably slowing down growth of the main crop). Remember- they put out more than one seedling per seed by nature. It’s ok to space them generously when planting.
- If critters eat my beans plants, replant promptly. They’ll catch up quickly (missed opportunity in 2020).
If anyone else is reading this, what has your garden taught you so far this year? What mistake do you seem to keep making year after year?
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