I can’t believe the 2022 garden season is over! Follow along as I recap the garden season and what I learned and plan to change for the following year.
What Did I Grow?
| Name | Seed Variety | Success/Fail | Description | Pests? | Any Preventative? | Changes for Next year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spinach | Burpee Baby Leaf Hybrid | Fail | They grew but the bugs got to them and I never got to enjoy fresh spinach. | Yes | Neem oil-too late | Adding a see-through mesh to prevent bugs from getting to the leaves |
| Broccoli | Burpee- Sunking Hybrid | Fail | First I started them inside and they ended up being too weak to make it. I direct sewed outside in the garden box. These grew fairly large and strong but we received a frost before they ever produced. | no | n/a | When starting them inside-grow them closer to the light |
| Carrots | Burpee- Nantes Half Long | Success | Sewed them directly in the ground and were more sparse with the seeds and the carrots grew bigger this year compared to last year. | no | Neem Oil | n/a |
| Garlic | Walmart | Success | I just bought bulbs from the garden section at Walmart. I planted them in early spring and the packaging said they would be ready in late summer/early fall and they were! I would say the finished bulbs were on the smaller side but they still work for what I need them for. | no | Neem Oil | n/a |
| Sugar Snap Peas | Burpee Sugar Snap | Success | I sewed the seeds twice! but I ended up with about 8 plants that produced plenty for Kapper and me to enjoy right off the vine. | no | Neem Oil | Might look into a sweeter variety |
| Potatoes | Tractor Supply | Success | I bought a bag of seed potatoes from Tractor Supply. Cut them up into individual eyes to plant. Planted into a mound. I ended up with mostly smaller ones with a few baker-sized ones. | no | Neem oil | Planting at least two rows and planting them into a deeper mound |
| Onions | Burpee Bunching Onion Tokoyo Long White + Walla Walla | Success | I started some indoors and then direct sowed seeds into the ground. The ones I direct sewed were the ones that gave me bulbs. I sewed them too close together. | No | Neem Oil | Starting them indoors in January. Labeling them so I know which kind is which. |
| Pole Green beans | Burpee Kentucky Blue | Success | I direct sowed them into the ground and built the new trellis. | yes- Japanese Beatles | Neem Oil and soapy water | Might look into a new variety |
| Peppers | Burpee Carnival blend and Sweet California Wonder | Success | Started indoors and grew healthy strong plants. Did see some transplant shock. Used the Florida weave method for support | No | Neem oil and epsom salt | Introducing them to the outdoors longer before planting |
| Tomatoes | Burpee Super Beefsteak and Super Sweet 100 Hybrid | Success | Started indoors and was transplanted outside and saw some transplant shock. Used the Florida weave method but was too late for them to support one another properly. | no | Neem oil and epsom salt | Keeping the labels on when transplanting them to bigger containers during the inside phase. Only planting one cherry tomato plant. And building support to tie the plants up along with the Florida weave method |
| Corn | Burpee Illini Xtra Sweet | Success | Sowed directly outdoors. Grew two rows back to back | Japanese Beetles | Neem Oil | I might plant another row or two |
| Zucchini | Burpee- Summer Fordhook | Success growing but lost to pests | Sowed directly outdoors. Grew One plant and had a decent size harvest before losing to squash bugs | Squash Bugs | Neem Oil and tape method to remove eggs | Either finding a variety that is squash bug proof or using neem oil right away after seeing seedlings. I also might start seeds indoors for a longer harvest |
| Basil | Burpee Sweet Basil | Success | Sowed directly outside | no | n/a | I want to have a herb garden box for different kinds of herbs |
| Watermelon | Burpee Sugar baby | Success | Direct Sowed. Had about 5 successfully grown fruits. | no | neem oil | Starting them indoors for a longer harvest. Finally building the cattle panel trellis |
| Pumpkin | Burpee Sugar Pie and Jack-be-little | Fail | Direct sowed but ended up losing the seedlings multiple times | no | n/a | Starting them indoors |
| Cucumber | Burpee | success/fail | Direct sowed 3 times. Ended up stepping on them and a pest got to them. Then got one cucumber from the 3rd plant | yes | n/a | starting indoors |
| Spaghetti Squash | Burpee Winter Vegetable Spaghetti | Success | Direct sowed outside. Accidentally pulled the plant out and planted it back in the ground and the plant bounced back. | Japanese beetles | neem oil and Seven dust(responsibly-see below) | start indoors for a longer harvest |
| Strawberries | Tractor Supply | fail | Bought bare roots from Tractor Supply. Nothing produced. I had a couple of green up before dying | n/a | n/a | Buy a better variety and plant with better soil for strawberries |
Seed Starting
It seems like forever ago at this point, but I did start seeds this year(again). This year I was way more successful than in 2021, I had a way better setup! I bought this greenhouse on Amazon for my birthday gift. It was $40 it works pretty well but the wheels (insert eye roll emoji) SUCK! I did read that in the reviews but thought they would be ago for indoor use but no. Currently, it is leaning to one side because one wheel is missing. I also bought these grow lights that work well!
- Seed trays need to be closer to the lights whether I use books or cans to prop them up. My seedlings seemed weak
- Add a fan pretty early on to help strengthen the seedlings and keep the soil from getting moldy.
- Add plant food at the time of planting. Luckily once I got tomato plants outside they grew and produced but were struggling. They were turning purple likely due to phosphorus deficiency.
- Start onions in January. I try to start all my own seeds. I thought I started everything on time but probably all vegetables could have been started earlier. Onions I started inside- the tops got big outside BUT NO BULB!
Transplanting + Outside Growing
So with transplanting, I failed. Somehow the peppers and tomatoes still got transplant shock even after I started slowly introducing them an hour a day building up to a full 8 hours. Luckily I found a hack to sprinkle some Epsom salt around the plants and that worked! Between squash bugs 🙁 stepping on the pumpkin and cucumber plants multiple times, and accidentally pulling out the spaghetti squash (luckily that plant came back) I had bad luck with all the squash! Strawberries were a no go again.
What I would do Better:
- Buy better-quality strawberry plants! I bought some strawberry roots from TSC. None of them even grew let alone produced. I also want to figure out better soil and a place for strawberries.
- Plant at least 2 rows of potatoes. Could probably do 3 rows. I planted one row and I made mashed potatoes out of them for a small party and they are gone.
- Spinach and broccoli need to be planted outside sooner.
- Make a trellis for tomatoes. I am going to build a frame out of PVC drill holes at the top and run the string down to the plants along with the Florida weave method.
- Start composting now! I started saving eggshells and coffee grounds. I’m scared to do much else. But I need to get a container to allow oxygen.
- Add in Fertilizer. I am going to add more worm castings and dead leaves to the garden before planting. I am also going to continue to water every couple of weeks with water-soluble plant food.
- Crop Rotation Make sure you are writing down the layout of your garden. You want to be rotating your crops around so the nutrients are not getting drained from a particular spot.
- Knowing Dates I had lost my garden journal and wasn’t writing any dates down when plants were planted and when they would be ready. I definitely want to be better about writing the dates down again
Companion Planting
So, this last year I started marigolds and they got pretty big around the perimeter of the garden. But I am wanting to add more! I almost would like the garden to be wider all the way around to have more room for companion plants. On top of marigolds, I want to plant nasturtiums. I really just want to create a wall of flowers around the perimeter of the garden! That would consist of Dustin tilling more of the yard! He hasn’t yet 😉
As you can see from the pictures above, these marigolds got pretty big! I
had them all around the perimeter of the garden. It is crazy to me but each
bush started out as a single seed and single plant and they blossomed into
this!
Garden Soil Testing
I started to test my soil this last year with a soil testing kit I got from Menards. It is a pretty complex kit with options to test many different things. I used the pH test and these were my results. To be honest, I really didn’t do much to the soil. I added just a fraction of what the garden needed in worm castings and some dead leaves. Then, I watered about every two weeks with this water-soluble plant food. I do think it is important to test the soil so you know what you can properly add to the soil to make it healthier.
Cover Crop
I think the cover crop is a great resource to keep your soil healthy. Cover crop helps put nutrients back into the soil and helps with soil erosion over the winter. You can use it in your garden beds or if you grow it from the ground. Also, you can check with your local extension office they usually offer a free or reduced price of cover crops great for your area. That is where I got mine for the end of 2021. I never had time this year to go there luckily Dustin’s grandpa offered me some of his, I never even asked for any he brought it up!
Garden Trellis
I also added some different trellises this year!
- Sugar Snap Peas- I used bamboo sticks I bought in 2021. My row was not a straight row, so I couldn’t use the netting like I need the previous year. I staked them in the ground and grouped three together at a time to help them support one another. I then used zip and twist ties to secure the plants onto the bamboo.
- Pole Beans- I still like growing pole beans. I switched out the net trellis for a garden fence trellis instead. Here is the reel of me making it! Pretty inexpensive and straightforward. I will be able to use this for multiple years and taking it down was more manageable than netting! Last year I couldn’t get the dead plants out of the net.
- Squash- I still didn’t get my cattle fence up as I wanted. So I used the rest of the garden fence and made a makeshift trellis. It didn’t look beautiful but it kept the watermelon and spaghetti squash off the ground. I bought plastic step-in fence posts and attached the garden fence to those. Then ran it up and used a wooden post in the middle and ran it back
Building New for Next Year
- Tomatoes- I used the Florida weave method after first having three of my plants in tomato cages. If I had started out with the Florida weave method right away I think it would have been more successful. It was just too late really and the plants were pretty big by the time I got them secured with the string. You can learn more about the Florida weave method by watching this reel I made! I first used the step-in fence posts but ended up buying a regular metal fence post because the weight of tomatoes was too heavy for the plastic fence posts. Next year I plan on still using the Florida weave method as soon as I transplant them outside, but I am also going to build a frame out of PVC so I can tie time up for more support.
- Peppers- I also used the Florida weave method for my bell peppers! It worked really well and I will be doing it again next year. I used the same tomato twine I used for the tomatoes but my stake was just yardsticks I had from the previous year and I had originally bought them for craft projects a couple of years back but never did.
Garden Pests + What I used to help control them
This year was more of a struggle pest-wise! I had Japanese Beatles (again), and squash bugs. I try to be as organic as possible. One of the reasons why I like to grow my own food is because I know where it comes from and not using any harmful pesticides. Plus looking out for the environment and all the beneficial insects. But what I learned is that sometimes you just have to use chemicals wisely and that is okay too.
Japanese Beatles
So, I had issues with them last year on my green beans. This year was my first year successfully growing corn so I was dealing with them on my corn and green beans. I was using the trusty bucket of doom! (a bucket with dish soap and water) Just flicking the Beatles in the bucket. But I was not going to let them ruin my corn! So I picked up some neem oil! I bought the concentrate and a pump sprayer and sprayed, the entire garden, about every 14 days. It not only helped with the Beatles but also helped prevent any fungal diseases.
Squash Bugs
Even just thinking about them just ticks me off! I remember last year I saw one and flicked it into the bucket of doom and that was the only time I noticed them. But this year is a whole different story! I think I had just watched a reel on Instagram about them and decided to just check my zucchini plant for the hell of it. And wouldn’t you know it, I saw clusters of the squash bug eggs on a few different leaves.
So I picked them off with the tape trick. And did this for a few days and continued to spray with neems oil. I picked the dead leaves off so the bugs couldn’t hide under them. But at this point, it was too far gone to save. I lost my zucchini plant to them. Luckily, I got a decent harvest this year but I didn’t have fresh zucchini the whole season.
I needed Extra Help
Then, I noticed they were starting to attack my spaghetti squash and I didn’t want to lose that plant again. So I used Seven dust. I felt like I had failed and was betraying myself and my fellow friends on The Roost. But I used it responsibly. I wore gloves and dumped the dust a little bit at a time in my hands. Then sprinkled only on the bottom of my spaghetti squash plant. Making sure to not get it anywhere near the pollinator flowers. I also made sure to do it later in the evening when the pollinators were not around. I only applied the Seven dust once and I got rid of my squash bug problem!
Garden boxes
This year we built one garden box. I have plans to add a couple more in the garden area! We just built it out of wood pallets we picked up locally for free. I would like to give Dustin the credit. He really built the one for me. He has half of one built for a second one. Hopefully, he can get it knocked out in the early spring plus another one. I plan to use these for strawberries, herbs, and the fall season growing!
Looking forward to the 2023 Garden Season
Let me know how your growing season went! I will just have another month off before I start on onions! I am glad I don’t have to go very long without doing something with plants. Long enough to get a little break in!
