What gardening mistakes did you make that I can avoid?

[abifae]

- limit DW's involvement in prior step (18 mounds of summer squash, really? )

LOL. I'm dangerous in a garden too, still.

I'm learning though!!!

 

[journey11]

limit DW's involvement in prior step (18 mounds of summer squash, really? )

Hahaha...that's for sure! That was one of my first gardening mistakes too. I was throwing squash at people, begging them to take it off my hands. Really, 4 or 5 is usually enough.

- some things can be cheaper/less stressful if you "outsource" We like to do a lot of sweet corn, so I buy it fresh from the farmer up the road.

This is a really good point. I have a relatively big garden at 2,500 sq. feet, but corn still takes up so much room and my luck is it will usually get blown over. Just easier to buy a bunch at the farmer's market or roadside. Now I can get a bushel of canning tomatoes for $5 over in OH at a U-pick, but for things like that, I'd rather grow the particular varieties I want. Starting my own tomato plants from seed, I about break even there.

 

[Wannabefree]

I wish I could get a bushel of tomatoes for $5!!!!! I'd not try to grow so many then!!

 

[savingdogs]

I'd say my ultimate goal here is to not spend as much money on food.

Last year, we bought four lovely tomato plants for a few dollars apiece.

I got a total of two tomatos off of those plants and they were rather dry. Those were very expensive tomatos.

I can't afford to have a veggie garden as a hobby or as an experiment or to have more organic food. At this point, we are just wanting plenty to eat and vegetables seem to cost more and more these days.

But I cannot repeat the tomato experiment like that (although I suspect cherry tomatos will do okay.

I have plenty of water and plenty of space if you consider unfence areas, but I will be limited on how much fencing I can put up. We do have a source of free fencing materials but not unlimited.

 

[savingdogs]

Can potatos be in the same spot? We had good luck with them last year, I was hoping to use the same area. It is semi-shade actually but the potatos came out yummy. There is probably six to eight hours of sun but then full shade in the late afternoon, but it worked for the taters

I have to try a new spot for tomatos. I have done them in pots on my deck. At my last home this worked fantastic, but my deck here is a rather cold, windy area and none of the plants have done well there. I think I will abandon it as a veggie area and go to an entirely new spot. Two years of failure there was enough.

 

[freemotion]

Potatoes are too closely related to tomatoes.....new spot.

I've found that tomatoes do better in the ground, as they need quite a bit of room. Although I've had outrageous success with tomatoes at an apartment in a homemade earthbox.

 

[savingdogs]

I'm thinking about just starting the seeds a few at a time so I don't waste them, they are the biggest expense. I can construct trellisses and such, I have many small sticks and what not here. We could fell some more trees and make raised beds with them, but I don't think it is necessary. I think we can make do with shorter fencing, the deer never come in to our front yard. It is the wild bunnies and such we need to worry about, and our own dogs going in and lifting their legs, etc. The dogs won't hop over a short fence if it is just plants in there.

 

[Denim Deb]

For me, it's cheaper to raise the corn. It's $3.00/dozen around here.

 

[patandchickens]

You don't HAVE to rotate crops every year. If there were no obvious disease problems with the potatoes last year, and it is not convenient or feasible at this moment in time to move them somewhere else, then if it were me I'd grow 'em in the same spot again for 2011. They may do just as well (assuming you re-amend the soil) or your yield may drop off a bit but unless you had actual problems then you have a pretty good shot at no major debacle.

Tomatoes like lotsa sun, excellent soil, even watering and HEAT. (Well up to a point ) Peppers and eggplants are even worse for that.

When you bought your tomatoes, were they well-grown plants? You are likely to have better luck with teensy transplants, actually. Get them in the ground (or self-watering container) as soon as they have 4-5 pairs of true leaves, bury 'em up to their "necks" when you plant 'em, and they will typically grow up to be more productive plants than ones bought larger and thus planted in later. Also you can usually get a 4-pack of little tomato transplants for a buck

Beans are a very good reliable prolific crop in most areas, I'd suggest planting beans. Pick a variety known to freeze or can well. In fact try several varieties.

Lettuce is also a good crop to grow at home IF you can keep it very very reliably watered. If your watering efforts tend to lapse, try it in self-watering containers; if you don't always keep the self-watering containers filled then best not to grow lettuce LOL

Herbs are a real good thing to grow to save money, IMHO. Because they allow you to dress up and add variety to a bunch of fairly prosaic inexpensive foods, and yet *buying* herbs can get pricey. Also a lot of them are heat-and-drought-tolerant perennials. Most of them do want most-of-the-day sun, though.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[savingdogs]

I'm hoping I can be better about keeping everything well watered and weeded this year!