It is rounding out to be that time of year again - when it is time to start thinking about planning your garden for the summer. Living in Georgia means that I need to start planning about a month earlier than when I lived in New England. I was caught slightly unawares of this fact last year, so I wanted to remedy that for this year.
In honor of my garden, I am introducing "Green Monday" - Mondays will be devoted to my quest to have a successful organic garden this year. I attempted to have one last year with moderate success. It seems that the Georgia soil (or clay) is suited for peppers more than it is for anything else - as my pepper crop was growing long after I thought they were dead. I was able to dehydrate and save the peppers from the final yield for year round cooking.
This entry will be about reflecting on what I learned from my garden last year and what I plan to do differently this year. Every Monday I will update how successful I am in these endeavors. Hopefully by July I will have a nice bumper crop of various plants. And since I am going raw, nothing can really beat growing your own food.
Last year's garden, while successful, wasn't exactly what I wanted it to be. I was hoping that it would yield just as well as my New England gardens, but being a different climate and state (and conditions) - I should expect that the garden would grow differently. I think I was a little pig-headed and will fully admit I should have known better. But what is life if you can't learn from your mistakes?
What I did wrong (and my solutions to fix it):
- Water more. I didn't water as much as I could have. One of the many reasons was because Georgia, particularly my area, has on-again-off-again droughts. So using excess water is something I want to avoid. Another reason is all indications pointed to it being a rainier year than it has been in the past, so I wanted to let mother nature do the work.
- How I can fix this: Dearest and I plan to get a rain barrel sometime in the near future. While it won't be perfect for watering the plants, it will cut down my need to use city water. I will also get a sprinkler with a timer for when I do need to use city water. One thing I didn't like about watering was getting bit by mosquitoes for five minutes worth of watering (they are vicious down here!) - and because the gardens are compact enough, having the sprinkler going for the amount of time I would have normally watered will cover everything (so no needing to move the sprinkler around and wasting more water).
- Fertilize more. My plants didn't get very big, some didn't grow much at all. It was clear that the soil (and clay) did not provide enough nutrients for some of the plants. But I am doing an organic garden this year, so that will limit my options for what I can use to fertilize (i.e. chemicals).
- How I can fix this: Ever since I started my garden last year, Dearest and I have been composting. I've checked in on it a couple of times (the bottom of the composter) and it looks like I'll have a lot of hearty, rich soil to mix in with my top soil this year for my garden. I also found some local business owners who sell organic fertilizer. I may or may not go with the following, but they look pretty decent.
- Pests. There wasn't a crazy infestation last year, but my collard greens did get hit pretty hard. I need to further research what types of pests are expected for Georgia. I don't completely know what I am up against - so it best to learn quickly so I know what to do when something happens. I did solve my big pest problem, cats using my garden for paths and for the litter box. I put up some stakes with netting all the way around. This kept cats and other large animals from traipsing through my garden. I plan to do this again for 2011.
- How I can fix this: Once I get some research done, I'll be able to approach this the safe way. I plan on using plants to fight pests. Citronella for mosquitoes, marigolds for aphids, basil as a fly repellent and more.
2011 Garden
This year I will add an Herb Garden. Nothing beats having fresh herbs in salads, foods and as gifts for friends. We will put in our last planter and get the soil ready by getting organic top soil and mixing it in our compost soil. Dearest and I will also set up the paths and do some more landscaping to make the garden look more appealing. The boxes are already nice, but I'd love to have some decorations, stones, and a zen feeling for my garden. I even contemplated putting in a wildflower garden in one section of the yard. I don't have a lot to work with, but enough to make it my own.
The main focus will be on my two giant planters, for the vegetables that I plan to grow (though I am not sure what plants will make the cut so to speak). I hope I can get several rounds of crops this year (which would be more than last year), and stagger the various plants. But that will require more research into the Georgia growing patterns and suggestions. So we shall have to see what happens!
I just need to remember to start off small and over the years I can continue to expand on my garden and my yard. Next Monday I will post seed ideas, the garden layout and my timeline for when I will begin germination, transplanting and hopefully growing.
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