- Tomatoes and iris were my worst "weed" problems. I had tons of tomato plants volunteer from the seeds of last year's tomatoes. This worked out ok, because I was really, really, really late getting in the plants that I started from seed inside. Last summer was bad for tomatoes, because it was really cool, so most of them never even ripened. Bummer. The irises were a rookie gardener mistake...I thought that since the rhizomes had been in the shed all winter they would have died, so I threw them in the compost. Dumb, dumb, dumb. While I love irises, I don't want them in my vegetable garden... at least where they were growing. I am still cleaning them out!
- Peppers were my top crop last year, but maybe that's because I planted more pepper plants than anything else. They are definitely worth growing, though. I heard that if you keep them a little on the dry side, they will be hotter. I think I took that too far, especially with the green chiles, because when I roasted them, there was no flesh left. I will water more diligently this year, and hopefully have some "meatier" peppers. I did end up canning two jars of jalapenos and one of banana peppers. My first solo canning experience! And it was a success.
- I did get a few sweet potatoes from the container I put them in. This method worked well, and I also used some of the vines for decoration amongst my flowers. I am not sure the yield was worth the container space/ dirt it took to grow it, but I could try to use a smaller container in the future.
- Potatoes were a waste of time. My soil is too rocky and shallow for them to grow deep and big. Potatoes are pretty cheap to buy, anyway, so I don't think I will bother with them in my garden in the future.
Having learned that, here are some of my tentative plans for this year.
- Garlic! Grow Great Grub has instructions for planting garlic, and it said to put it in the ground a few months before things freeze. I didn't get around to it until New Year's Eve Day, when it was really warm. Tim asked me what I was going, and I explained. He said "This is when you're supposed to plant it?" I said it should be a couple of months before a hard frost, but at the rate we were going, I should be fine. And I was right! The plants are about a foot tall!
- After battling the volunteer tomatoes last year, and dragging my feet on getting "official" plants planted, I think I'm just going to join 'em, since I can't beat 'em. And if it doesn't look like I will get solid volunteers, I can always just buy some plants in late May and put 'em in the ground. Staring from seed isn't worth it.
- I want to find a better variety of cukes to grow. Last year I intended to make pickles, but didn't, and I didn't like the "great for pickling" variety. I want to grow some that are longer and skinnier.
- I still plan on lots and lots of peppers! This is what I will dedicate most of my in-ground space to. Green, red, jalapeno, banana, and green chiles! Yum, yum, yum, and yum. And this year I will water them.
- I want to do more herbs this year. I bought some cute little buckets to grow them in. More on that when I get them started.
- Lettuce is something I want to be more intentional about. And I am thinking about planting rows of flowers between rows of lettuce.
So, that's a quick run-down of (vegetable) garden lessons learned. I didn't even touch on flowers! I like that gardening is such a "learn -as-you-go" thing, because it is so individualized to the soil, sunlight, and space you have to work with.
So, to officially kick of the 2012 garden season, I will leave you with my gardening cheer.
It's God who grows things!
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