My First Garden: Lessons Learned

For the past 4 years I've been growing herbs in pots on my patio (and occasionally a pathetic-looking tomato plant), but I've never had the space to have my own garden. It never really bothered me until I started eating healthier and paying more for organic produce. I would sit and watch documentaries, envious of those who could simply walk outside and "pick dinner" each day. My chance for a garden finally came this spring. We moved out of our house (with the tiny yard) in South Carolina and moved in with my parents who own 3 acres. We are living with them for a year while our house is for sale, and we look for a new place or land to build on. My dad had bought all the guys in the family (my husband and two brothers) i-touches and asked me if I wanted one too. My answer was....I'll take a garden instead.  We built two huge (20x4) above raised bed gardens and had organic black dirt mixed with manure brought in. Our total cost with the building materials, dirt, and plants/seeds ended up being near $300 (for both gardens). I planted a variety of vegetables that I thought we would use and would grow quickly (since it was already the end of May when we planted) Overall I was very happy with how the garden turned out. We did not use any pesticides or fertilizers and had no issues and a great harvest. I did learn a few lessons though and will be doing a few things differently next year. Here is my "recipe for success" for the next growing season:

Timeline:

1) Take the winter and come up with a list of the vegetables I want to plant, based on cost to buy in grocery store and our consumption level of that vegetable (bell peppers are guaranteed to be on the top of that list!)
2) Use the winter to research the best way to plant, care for, and harvest the list of vegetables, and using hay as mulch to prevent weeds
3) In March, order organic seeds online
4) In April,  plant seeds under growing lamp in garage or use cold frames to start growing seeds
5) In May, transplant vegetable plants to garden based on temperatures and specific plant's durability

Things to Remember Next Year:


1) The recommended spacing is correct, even if you don't believe that a tiny squash seed will ever grow that large :)
2) Do small plantings each week (plant a few seeds, of the same vegetable, each week the first month to ensure all your harvest doesn't come at once)
3) Start a compost, as that is the best way to fertilize your soil organically
4) Keep the watermelon away from other plants, and it likes to strangle them with it's vines
5) 4 tomato plants produce A LOT of tomatoes....plant 8 next year so we can make double the salsa! Mmmm!
6) Weed regularly to stay on top of it!
 7) Get the whole family involved in the process. Studies show that children (and in my case adults) that help grown their own vegetables are more likely to eat them.
8) Fresh produce, canned salsa (featured tomorrow on my blog), or other items that come from your garden make great gifts, and people appreciate even a ziplock bag with fresh veggies in it
9) Plant more fruit!
10) More gardens are needed next year!

My dad and husband hauling the extra dirt away after they finished the second garden

My daughter "helping" me in the garden

Newly planted gardens

This was about 1 month after I planted. They grow quickly! (broccoli, cabbage, tomato and strawberries)

Second garden (cauliflower, squash, zucchini, green beans, peppers, carrots, lettuce, spinach, and onions) 

My harvest from this weekend. Even though the season is almost over my little garden is still cranking out this much produce a couple times each week.