My Vegetable Garden Sucks!!!

[mrbstephens]

The first year I put it in, I had an enormous amount of veggies. So much in fact, that I had to give away some of it because it was more than we could use. Every since, I've had a steady decline in the performance of the garden I add lots of homemade compost and use a natural fertilizer every few weeks. It's that seaweed liquid fertilizer that I just mix with water. I have a problem with something eating my beans and squash leaves. I think a caterpillar. I sprinkle the area with DE and that makes them go away for a while but they come back. This spring I had the soil tested. The ph was a little high (basic) so I added sulpher at the rate that was recommended on the bag. This year my squash plants are puny. They're making lots of flowers, but the leaves are so small and yellowing. I have soaker hoses set on a timer so they're definitely getting enough. The one thing I have noticed is the lessening amount of sun exposure from year to year. My trees and the neighbor's trees are all getting bigger. Plus, my garden is on the north side of my house. I had no where else to put it, because my yard is very shaded.

Really, it's embarrassing. I majored in horticulture for goodness sakes! HELP!

 

[Beekissed]

Don't feel bad...I haven't really had a good garden since I don't know when....and I used to grow lovely gardens. I've been either getting them in too late, we have no rain, I didn't get time to do something about the potato bugs or some other such malady.

So disappointing when you plan for it all year, isn't it?

I have enough soil amendments and such on this garden to plant dimes and grow dollars....some stuff is doing very well and others are not even germinating. Companion planting? Can anyone spell BS!!!! :/ The beans planted near potatoes were supposed to keep bean bugs off the beans and potato bugs off the potatoes.....not happenin'!

 

[mrbstephens]

I'm just wondering if I'm doing something wrong. My pepper plants for example haven't budged. I planted them late May they look exactly the same as the day I planted them. They're tiny! I wanna just yell, "hey, wake up!" Maybe this fertilizer I'm using is no good? It's weird, because everything else in my yard is growing very well, but the veggies are awful. I have to say though, I'm gonna have a lot of edamame this year. It's the only thing that growing well. My lettuce and spinach bolted before I even had a chance to harvest any of it. The carrots are finally starting to take off. The scallions always do well. The snow peas did well this year. The cucumbers look good. The beans are so so. The lower leaves are stating to yellow and look like they have something (rust?).What's really not doing well is the squash, peppers, eggplant and tomatoes. I so wanna move to a sunny piece of property!

 

[big brown horse]

Sorry about your lack of sun.

My garden is slow this year. This week we have been in the 60's during the day, and until some time last week we went 270 days with the temps never going over 75 degrees. (I'm happy, but my garden is not.)

I stupidly started a gazillion seeds and put them in the ground after St. Patty's day...only to have them freeze to death and wither away.

All I have now are tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, brussel sprouts, herbs, raspberries, blueberries, kale, onions, gooseberries, black currants, lettuce, peas and some herbs. The only thing ready to eat right now is peas and lettuce. :/

And I hope the temps don't harm my apple, plum and pear crops as badly as it did my poor cherries. :/

Do you think you could ask your neighbors if you could have their trees trimmed? Lots of folks do that around here to enjoy the mountian/sound views.

 

[Blackbird]

I feel for you - in the herb department. I planted about 15 different kinds of medicinal herbs from seed, only my fenugreek is coming up! Last year I only had Motherwort and Horehound come up from seed, but soon after I found a huge opening in the neighboring woods filled with Motherwort, so I really didn't need any.

Everything else is doing pretty well for us, especially the darned weeds!

Sally, did your Stevia make it??

 

[bibliophile birds]

Everything else is doing pretty well for us, especially the darned weeds!

yes, my garden is full of lush, beautiful vegetation.... the inedible kind. stupid weeds.

to be fair, it's at least 1/2 my fault: i got lazy because it was raining a lot and the garden was too muddy to get into without damaging veggies. and then it got HOT.

now i'm paying for it hard. i've been weeding about 3 hours a day for the past 2 weeks and i'm finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. i'm pulling most things by hand because the poor plants are hidden in the overgrowth.

 

[big brown horse]

Yup BB, my stevia made it! (Thanks btw ) It stays in the house though in my sunny kitchen window...I treat it like a queen.

 

[curly_kate]

I'm just wondering if I'm doing something wrong. My pepper plants for example haven't budged. I planted them late May they look exactly the same as the day I planted them. They're tiny! I wanna just yell, "hey, wake up!"

Has the weather been cool where you are? My peppers didn't pick up the pace until we got a couple of weeks of hot hot weather. Last summer, since it was so cool, they never really did much at all. I've noticed that the tomatoes also kick into gear when it heats up. Unfortunately, I guess there's not a lot you can do about the temperature.... :/

 

[mrbstephens]

I'm just wondering if I'm doing something wrong. My pepper plants for example haven't budged. I planted them late May they look exactly the same as the day I planted them. They're tiny! I wanna just yell, "hey, wake up!"

Has the weather been cool where you are? My peppers didn't pick up the pace until we got a couple of weeks of hot hot weather. Last summer, since it was so cool, they never really did much at all. I've noticed that the tomatoes also kick into gear when it heats up. Unfortunately, I guess there's not a lot you can do about the temperature.... :/

These last two weeks have been hot. High 80s and super humid! I don't think it's a temperature thing. I think it's either the varieties (heirloom), the soil, or not enough sun.

 

[Rebecka]

yes, my garden is full of lush, beautiful vegetation.... the inedible kind. stupid weeds.

I know the feeling. Spinach , broccoli, radishes.. lost. Not dead, I just cant find them for the weeds. For weeks its been near painfully hot and humid with a daily downpour. I swear they just keep bumping the end of the flood warnings back. It was rare to see the little sun icon in the forecast. This week is nothing but sun icons though. I hope it stays that way ! We've been out digging out the beans and picking what we can. 2 rows are completed and there is still only about a bushel , maybe the last 3 rows will be more productive. The weeds hadn't gotten quite the foothold in that side of the garden yet. Well, the upside I guess is I won't be sick of beans by the time I get them all canned