Why should you practice growing vegetables now instead of before you may actually need them? Well. As I found out, plopping some seeds and seedlings into the ground and then expecting a bounty was nothing more than a self delusional exercise this year.
I called this my practice garden from the start with the intention of learning some skills for planting food bearing plants to either supplement or replacing grocery store produce should the supply lines be disrupted or severed completely.
Ultimately my goal is to produce enough to eat, store and seed for the next planting; a complete breakdown of civilization being on my mind.
I‘ve learned with this little plot of land, about 10 feet x 12 feet, that if I want to be able to provide for my family that there is a lot to learn and best to do it now rather than in the middle of a meltdown.
I really was naïve and completely ignorant on several key points.
1st Planting list: Just to start the basic “easy” food stuffs.
Corn,
Navy, Red, and Black beans,
Green bell peppers,
Tomatoes
And transplanted 2 Peach trees and 1 Blackberry bush. The Blackberry was chosen over Blueberry because Blackberries don’t require cross pollination.
This first season the bush gave a handful of berries, and the trees produced about 10 peaches.
Trees had a problem with beetles but a name brand insecticide cleared it up. Both trees are thriving after I dug out a water collecting basin and filled it with mulch to hold moisture to the roots, which I didn’t do at first and they were visibly in distress once full summer was on us.
Soil quality: Should have tested the soil and amended appropriately for the plants I wanted to grow.
Also this Georgia clay is nothing to take lightly. Had rented a mid-sized cultivator from a box store that did nothing but scrape the surface and pull up grass. Still had to break the land with hand tools and by adding inexpensive bags of top soil.
Again in thinking simple and not checking, I used a time-release granular fertilizer, if it had any affect there is no telling.
Bugs: With Spring they came. I used an insecticide powder. Later researching found out that mild dish detergent or Mean Green would have done the job without adding poison into the production. I went with the Mean Green, rinsing the plants after.
Soil Temperature: While we had warm weather after Labor Day, just two or three weeks later overnight temperatures dropped into the 40’s. Already had corn and beans growing from sown seeds along with green bell peppers and tomatoes from already started plants. They never recovered. I didn’t know about the mid-50 or more degree soil temperature for most plants until after starting to plant.
Very patiently I waited, just in case.
Bell peppers never grew another inch with only 1of 4 plants even making an attempt at producing, a pepper that started and then finally it gave up.
Tomatoes did better but it was a long time before they caught back on. Just as they started doing better an aphid invasion set in. Some name-brand garden insect killer did the trick. But here it is in mid-August with but one fruit born without defect lie splitting open or broken circles around the stems.
Corn slowly grew, stopping at about 24 inches. They tried to make ears, but stopped.
Beans all stunted. Some produced pods that then rotted on the plants before maturing. The beans in school never acted like this.
I had intended to grow the corn, beans and then a squash in the Three Sisters method. Which is plant the corn first in a mound, then two weeks after the corn starts plant beans in the mound; the beans would use the corn stalks to vine up. And the squash which I never planted because none of the rest was working would have produced bonded nitrogen for the corn and the way the roots grow a mesh of mulching.
Had the Red beans in their own row as they are bush beans and don’t vine.
The inexpensive top soil I bought turned out to me mostly chips of wood with some dirt. What little dirt there was washed away from the mounds for the Three Sisters causing some plants to fall over, the roots to have nothing really to hold onto.
In June I gave up on the corn, beans and peppers cutting them down and tossing them into my mulch pile. Should have given up sooner and replanted that crop, but I wanted to try other vegetables also.
2nd Planting: June
Carrots,
Lettuce,
Green peas,
Cucumbers.
Only the cucumbers are growing right now along with some watermelon that I let the kids put in and never expected to grow…the watermelon are doing the best of everything.
3rd Planting: July
Pie Pumpkin
Cleared the plot yet again except for the watermelons and cucumbers which are growing along 3 of the sides.
Hoed a line down the center of the plot and sowed Pie Pumpkin seeds from last year’s homemade pie.
Now late August and the Pumpkin, Cucumbers and Watermelons are looking very good. The Tomato plants have gotten tall and have green tomatoes on them, but every time they turn to ripen something happens to ruin the fruit.
So an entire growing season gone by and all I’ve harvested are few berries, peaches and 1 small tomato big enough to garnish a ham sandwich. But it was still the best tomato I’ve had in years; the smell alone was worth it.
Peaches were so fresh and juicy, best I’ve had; having only store bought ones till then.
And we broke open one watermelon a little premature but what was red was amazing, the entire house smelled so fresh.
Pretty sure the cucumber, pumpkins, and watermelons are going to produce judging from what is happening right now.
When fall comes on going to test the soil, use all the leftover plant vines in the bed over winter, add fertilizer, and expand the plot.
Also going to add 2 more Peach trees and 2 or 3 Blackberry bushes to the yard next spring.
During this season I did more research, gathered more ideas and am planning next year’s lot now instead of winging it like this years.
So why have a practice garden while you can without being stressed over producing? Best answer is so that when the time comes to feed your family in a crisis you may have gained the knowledge and ability to do it. Otherwise ya’ll might just be really hungry.
Resources:
Soil temperatures: Alabama A&M Soil Temperature Chart [1].
Three Sisters planting: Kid’s Gardening [2] and Renee’s Garden [3].