Repository of My Best Intentions
A friend recently told me that her garden is her “repository area for best intentions”. I thought, what a beautiful way to approach gardening. You can have the best of intentions, as we all do upon starting our gardens every year, but weather, seeds, time and energy can take a toll on those intentions.
I tend to be very hard on myself, expecting that all the hard work that I put into my garden will, without a doubt, payoff. In reality, there will always be disappointments, birds pull out all of my peas, squirrels dig up the lettuce seeds that I just planted, to bury a peanut, or a very hot, humid summer that stunts the growth of my peppers, but I had the best of intentions. And that needs to be enough.
It is important to learn everything that you can to increase your odds of success, and it is even more important to relish those successes, and to learn from the failures.
When I started my cottage gardens 3 years ago, I was very naïve about the pending results. I dug up my entire urban sized backyard and removed every piece of the dreaded, invasive wire grass, with a garden fork, that I could get my hands on. This took me over a month to complete. Then I mixed in topsoil and compost to enhance the sand and clay soil that is common on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Although the garden was lovely to all who entered, there was lots of room for improvement.
Here are some of the lessons that I have learned:
1. How to provide plants with the right nutrients to thrive
My first year was adequate for a new garden, but something was obviously missing. I have learned that getting a soil test saves you time, energy and money. I highly suggest that you take a sample in March so that you can adjust your soil as needed before planting time. Check with organic farmers at local markets to see who they use or call your local county Extension Services.
2. How to control heavy rains from destroying my garden
I had water pooling in my yard and areas that were being washed out in heavy rains, so I had to find ways to control it. For more information, check out my post, Controlling Runoff, to get help with ideas such as using rain barrels to capture rainwater from the gutters, planting a rain garden and using swales.
- How to protect my garden from wildlife
When planting large seeds in the ground, such as beans, pumpkins, squash, peas, etc., it is important to cover them until they get started. I couldn’t understand why I kept planting cucumber and beans seeds last summer and only 1 or 2 at best would produce. Then I watched birds plucking them out just at the point that the seeds had sprouted. Now, I cut the top off of plastic or paper cups, turn them upside down over the seed and once they have leaves, I remove the cups. As long as the collar is about 4-5” high, the birds don’t seem to want to put their head in it.
For smaller seeds, such as lettuce and carrots, I place netting over hoops to protect the seeds and to keep the squirrels out. These hoops are easily made with 3/8” PVC pipes cut and bent to fit. Place the pipes in conduit clamps to keep the sturdy and upright. Then clip on your netting. This will also protect your plants from insects.
As for rabbits, we attached 2’ high chicken wire to our privacy fence, burying about 3” in the ground. It worked great!! If you don’t have a fence, I have been told that a perimeter of blood meal with keep the out.
4. I needed to simplify my gardening chores.
Watering
Last year I watered every day. This year we have installed an irrigation system. It is inexpensive and simple to install as a DIY project.
To simplify weeding, the first thing I do is to clean up the entire area when I am preparing a new garden bed. Remove all weeds, especially any invasive grasses such as wire grass. Then put in your plants and place 2-3 inches of mulch around them. Some mulches will harden over the season and the water will run off, so make sure to check it throughout the season and break it up with a garden claw if needed.
You can also use Green Mulch which is a growing technique used in many cottage gardens. The key is to let the plants grow together so that weeds do not stand a chance.
I use a combination of both techniques.
5. Learning how to create compost
I started my compost pile a few years ago and I love having the beautiful black soil to place in the holes with my seedlings. It took a bit of time to get it right, but I have finally been able to produce a large enough quantity to serve my purposes.
Keep in mind that any plants that are, or have been, infested with pests or diseases cannot be put into the compost. Always err on the side of caution. When in doubt, throw it out.
6. The best approach to fight diseases and pests
This can be very frustrating to control organically and can take more than one season. Here is what I have found that helps.
Investigate daily
Be diligent. Take a daily stroll through your garden to assess your plants. Look for curled or discolored leaves. Look under leaves for pests. Then, react quickly.
Beneficial Insects
Many of my organic gardening friends prefer to wait for the beneficial insects to arrive before considering any organic sprays, such as Neem Oil or BT. So, if you notice a small number of pests, you can try waiting, but I would remove any infected leaves and throw them in the garbage. Case in point, last year my butternut squash was attacked by leaf hoppers. I waited to see if anything would come to the rescue. Just when I was about to give up, parasitic wasps arrived. In other areas of my yard, leaf hoppers almost destroyed my garden, I waited as long as I could and I eventually had to spray neem oil, but I isolated it to the areas of infestation and sprayed early in the morning or late in the evening, when beneficial insects were not active.
I also had to quickly learn the good bugs from the bad. The last thing you want to do is to use an organic pest solution and harm any beneficial pests like parasitic wasps, ladybug larvae (that do not look anything like a ladybug!), or green lacewings. Before you spray anything, do your research.
Parasitic Wasps to the rescue, and they don’t sting!
7. Using Companion Planting
I use The Old Farmer’s Almanac for a complete list of friends and foes in companion planting. Companion planting can improve the nutrients to enhance its neighbor or hide the scent to confuse pests. My grandfather always had the latest Farmer’s Almanac and had amazing gardens and this was before the internet. You can now get expert advice by going here https://www.almanac.com/companion-planting-guide-vegetables for more information about companion planting. Some examples are rosemary near carrots and basil near tomatoes.
8. I had to have a sun map
A sun map is very important if you are just starting out or if your garden is not doing well. There are apps out there to help with this, but I used my camera and one day, I took pictures every hour of my entire yard, from 6am to 7pm. I know it seems excessive, but the pictures were very revealing. I did this in May and in July. This will give you a great picture of where your plants will thrive. So, when you read the labels on seeds and plants to see their sun needs, you will know right where to plant it. And, you can refer back to these pictures year after year.
9. How to choose the right seeds and plants for my garden
I have found this to be very important. Knowing your garden’s needs will help you to make the best decisions for success. Be patient, because this can take a few years to get it right. For my garden, I know that powdery mildew is difficult to control. I live in a small town with a small back yard that is completely fenced in with a 6’ privacy fence. Although I can’t imagine not having the fence because we like our privacy, it has created a microclimate that is hot, humid and does not get adequate air flow.
This year I am choosing seeds and plants that are organic and disease resistant just to give my plants that extra protection that they need.
10. The final thing that I have learned was the hardest to implement…
Being patient. Gardening is always a work in progress. I now take time to smell the roses and enjoy my garden.
Enjoy!
