What would you like to do differently in next year's garden?

[Beekissed]

meriruka, I'm going to give you a sound piece of info. All you really need to keep deer out of your garden is an electric fence charger and one strand of fence about knee high to an average man. My folks have been using this method for around 30 years now with no problems...and, trust me, they live in the boonies, deep in the heart of deer country. Deer have a natural curiosity and will often "nose" an object before they jump it, to gauge the height and depth of the barrier. ZAP!

No lottery needed!

 

[Liberty7]

I live in a suburb of Minneapolis, and I had a wonderful harvest from my backyard vegetable garden last year. I had corn, tomatoes , cucumbers, carrots, radishes, green peppers, broccoli, bush green beans, bush yellow wax beans, zucchini, peas, and even okra.

I've already made my garden area larger for next year = 1,800 sq. ft.

Next year:

-- Grow lots more corn.
-- Grow a lot more onion sets.
-- Grow more cucumbers.
-- Grow more green peppers.
-- Grow more broccoli.
-- Grow more carrots.
-- Grow pole beans rather than bush beans.
-- Grow the cucumbers on vining structures just like the pole beans.
-- Try my hand at growing potatoes.
-- Add swiss chard, bok choi, pumpkins, and cantaloupe.
-- Had 26 tomato plants last year; so, I'll keep that number.

I learned a TIP from one of the gardening books I got at the library for planting carrots and dealing with those teeny tiny seeds. Either on long strips of toilet paper or newspaper, and using tweezers, place a carrot seed at the correct spacing. Make a weak paste of flour and water and put a little dab of it on each seed. When dry, this can be done ahead of time by rolling up the toilet paper or newspaper strips, put in a bag, and put in the refrigerator until time to use. Plant at the correct depth; and, the carrots will grow in nice straight rows.

I already have a fenced-in yard, but I also fence around the entire garden area to keep the three dogs out.

I have a compost bin which I use for enriching my garden soil.

And, last summer, I bought two 37=gal. garbage cans which I put behind my backyard shed and directed the gutter downspounts into them to collect rainwater for the garden.

During the winter, I save all egg shells; wash them out; and put in a freezer bag. Tomatos and green peppers love the calcium. Come garden time, I nearly pulverize them and add it in the holes where these vegetables are planted.

I also save the cardboard from toilet paper and paper towels to put around tomato plants when I plant them to ward off cutworms.

I also grow 3 types of leaf lettuce, but I grow this in those long, rectangular, plastic planters on the ledge of the deck. I have grown my lettuce like this for many years and have had tremendous luck.

 

[meriruka1]

meriruka, I'm going to give you a sound piece of info. All you really need to keep deer out of your garden is an electric fence charger and one strand of fence about knee high to an average man. My folks have been using this method for around 30 years now with no problems...and, trust me, they live in the boonies, deep in the heart of deer country. Deer have a natural curiosity and will often "nose" an object before they jump it, to gauge the height and depth of the barrier. ZAP!

No lottery needed!

Thanks for the tip!

 

[TanksHill]

Last year I spent my whole summer at a volunteer garden at a senior living community. I thought it was a great idea, plant in their beds. They water I get the food. It was ok for a while but my little ones hated tagging along and I never had time to get there mid summer. Lots of people benefited from my efforts. I sould not be mad.

So this year I made new raised beds and plan to stay close to home. I have all kinds of little seed pots started and hope to get an early start this year. I think I am going to concentrate on just a few items but grown lots of each. I want to can this year so bulk will be good. Who knows, I always run out of space.

I like the idea of going vertical. More production in less space. Cattle panels sound good. I have several not being used right now.

No corn for me. I never have any luck with it. Always gets infested with ants.

I already put some pumpkins in the ground. Leftovers from the holidays. Just cut them in half and buried them whole. I have had luck with this before we will see how it goes this year.

I do need to close off part of my garden area so my hens can't get in.

I am sure there's more, a list that's my first thing.

 

[me&thegals]

Get a clue on brassicas, for one thing! I had an awesome garden this year, for once some exceptional peppers and melons, but my brassica stunk. The cabbage never closed up, just kind of flowered, the cauliflower went right to seed and my Romanescos looked more like broccoli raab! Plus, they were all horribly infested with moths. So, I will work harder next year on planting my brassicas REALLY early, covering them with floating row covers and maybe even sprinkle them with that natural Bt or whatever is supposed to work for that family.