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March 1, 2022
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Gardening Mistakes to Avoid - Lessons of a Beginner Gardener
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Technically, I am not a beginner gardener. I have had many flower and vegetable gardens throughout the years. This past year however, was my first “real” attempt at giving an actual vegetable garden a go. In the past I have grown maybe 1 or 2 vegetable plants a season. Some attempts were semi-successful. But this past year was the first time I had a large space with room to grow several crops. Overall, I was pleased with the results, but I definitely learned a thing or two along the way that I want to pass on to you.
Growing Up Gardening
Growing up, I have fond memories of being in the garden
with my mom. She has always tended to vegetable and flower gardens, which is
where I found my love of gardening. Throughout the years my mom would switch up
her crops and grow different fruits and vegetables. My mom has had her own
challenges, including keeping deer from her Swiss chard and beets and how to
grow pole beans. I still enjoy taking a tour of her garden and picking
raspberries with her each year.
For starters, gardening is so gratifying! There are so many benefits that come with gardening and I look forward to the grow season each year. There is something so rewarding about strolling out to the garden with an empty basket, and returning to the house with a full basket of food that is ready to be washed and prepared for my family.
Plan Your Space!
One of the very first lessons I learned in the 2022 grow season was to plan my space. This was my first year ever having such a large space to grow in. When I inherited this garden, it was so overgrown and filled with weeds and rubbish. It was a feat in itself just to get the ground ready for planting. The places I planted things were sort of all over the place depending on where there was a free space that didn’t need to still be cleaned. I would suggest making a diagram of your space. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy. Just grab a paper and pencil and sketch out the space you plan to grow in. Then you can jot down where you will plant your fruits/vegetables. When you utilize your space well, you can plant more and yield a much higher quantity of produce.
Plant More!
Another lesson I learned from my first real grow season, is that I should have planted more than I did. For example, I only planted one plant each of zucchini and summer squash. My zucchini plant did not do well and only produced two zucchinis for the entire season. Some sort of critter kept getting into my plant and eating it. While it produced several flowers, it ultimately yielded very little. My summer squash did much better, but started having issues half way through the season. Next time, I will plan on planting more than one of each plant in the event that one of them does not do well.
I did container planting for the first time ever in 2022.
I planted potatoes, which I had never planted before. I honestly wasn’t
expecting anything, since I had never grown them before. I had heard that
potatoes grew well in containers, so I gave it a try. I did have a small yield
of potatoes that I was thrilled about! This year, I will plant many more than
last. I will try more than one variety and I will use bigger containers, or
plant right in the ground.
I also planted carrots for the first time ever. I used 4 big containers that were left in the garden to plant them in. I definitely should have thinned them out. Had I thinned them, I believe the carrots would have been much bigger. I just don’t think they had enough room to really thrive. While I did produce a lot of carrots, they were very small. I did however take advantage of the whole plant and dehydrated the carrot tops for use on garnishes in my dinners.
Water, Water, Water!
Water, water, water! We had a very dry summer which meant that my garden wasn’t able to thrive on rain alone. On days that it would rain, it wouldn’t be enough and I should have supplemented with watering. The first part of my season, I did not have a water source nearby. I had to lug a watering can back and forth from the hose at the house to my back garden. This made watering tedious. I did get a water source half way through the season, but I still should have been supplementing and watering more than I did. I also learned that it is more important to give your plants a good soaking, making sure the water can get down into the roots to help them grow deeper. This is more important than watering a little bit each day.
Stay on Top of Weeds!
Weeds everywhere! It was very difficult to stay on top of the weeds! The previous owner of my house was growing several invasive species of plants that took over my garden. When there are weeds growing near your fruits and vegetables, they take precious nutrients and water away from them, making it more difficult for them to thrive. I do not like to use pesticides or weed control in my garden. Because of this, the weeds were out of control!
Direct Sowing
Direct sowing is something I had zero luck with in the
past year. None of the seeds I direct sowed actually grew. I planted at least
3-4 different seeds directly into the ground and nothing ever came of them. This
year, I will either start all of my seeds indoors, or purchase plants that have
already been started from my local market.
Gardening is a Humbling Experience!
I learned a ton my first year of gardening! It is definitely a very humbling experience and the benefits are so worth the challenges I had! I loved learning all of the things I shouldn’t do, because it means I have learned what I can do to be more successful in the future. I am looking forward to much more learning and growth as the seasons continue.
Happy Planting!
ABOUT AUTHOR
Rebecca
Hello, I am Rebecca! I am so glad you are here on this journey with me! Here, I am sharing my passions including gardening, cooking, baking, crafting, natural living and so much more! In addition to the content I share on my YouTube page, I also write a blog.
It took a long time for the things I am passionate about to awaken within me. Now that they have, I am eager to share them with others.
Among the many things I am passionate about, gardening is one of them. In addition to gardening, I also enjoy different areas of art, crafting, photography and home project DIY.
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