One of the things I love about
gardening is I always learn something new.
2024 was very challenging year in garden. I battled gophers, rats,
mice, birds and squirrels. In spite of them all I managed to grow lots of tasty veggies, fruit and herbs. I grew some pretty flowers.
I learned I have been planting pumpkins to late. I used to add about 10 days to the days to harvest, and plant then. I believe that time was to hot for the seedlings, and the vines never did well. This year I planted pumpkins the same time as my watermelon, and had so many pumpkins, it was wonderful. One year could be a fluke, but I think planting early so they are established before the very hot weather set in is the key.
We had a strange weather year. Spring was much cooler for a lot longer than "normal". ( Which is funny because we set records for most consecutive days over 100 a good deal of the summer) I could have planted much earlier than I did. Usually I try to get the plants in roughly when the seed packet says for my area. It wasn't even close to frost, and everyone I knew planted way before I did. I decided to plant by the night time temps the plant prefers. I planted quite late, wondering if I would get anything. Everything grew so fast, and healthy. I got tomatoes earlier than normal for me, but the standout was the peppers. They always take forever to produce, but not this year. We ate a bumper crop of peppers all summer long. Again one year isn't conclusive, it could have been the weather, the type of peppers, or any number of factors, so time will tell, but I think waiting for the night time temps to be in the range the plants like is a game changer.
I realized just because I can grow tomatoes in my zone doesn't mean all tomatoes produce well in my hot dry climate. So I grew tomatoes that are supposed to do well in hot dry conditions. This summer put them to the test, and a few did very well.
I learned I'm truly addicted to
gardening, and
should stop saying I'm done building raised beds. I guess I can't help myself. I would say I'm done,
enough is enough, then I would be like oh but I need a bed for garlic, it doesn't like companions. Oh I want more sweet peas, and they can't be in the veggie garden because they are not eatable. And and and.... Let's face it folks, I'm insane, and as long as I can find space, I'm going to keep making more raised beds and fill them up.
I learned my apples aren't getting some disease or fungus, they are getting sunburned. This year I'm going to try to give them a little afternoon shade.
I learned butternut squash is pretty easy to grow, and very tasty.
You have probably heard the crazy cat lady term, well I'm becoming the crazy garden lady. I work at a Co-op, my daughter works there too. I was picking up some green sand after work. My coworker asked what I was doing, and my daughter replied I'm feeding my addiction. I said at least my addiction feeds you. My coworker thought that was funny. I learned I'm a crazy garden lady and I'm ok with that.
I'm getting better at starting my veggies from seed. It's quite addicting. It's so fun to grow almost everything I plant from seed. I get a better variety, of everything. It's very satisfying to plant a little seed and end up with a healthy plant. I really enjoy giving my extras to friends and family. I'm not an expert, and still have my failures, but I'm getting better every season. I also learned I can start peas in a pot. I thought you had to direct sow, or they won't grow. This year I started peas in cow pots because of my critter problems. I had more soaked seeds than pots, so I put them in plastic seed pots. They sprouted the same as the cow pots, grew well, and I couldn't tell which is which now that they have been planted. I believe direct sow is best, but I know if I need to I can start peas in a pot, and they will be fine.
I hope you all had a good garden year. I look forward to hearing what you learned this year. Happy gardening.
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