This is the first in a series of occasional postings that will document my attempt at growing and cultivating a small vegetable garden. I say “attempt,”because last year I ended up with a less than successful harvest. There were many lessons learned, and I hope this year I can improve my yield and correct some of the errors of my ways!
Background
About a year ago, I moved from a condo outside of Washington, D.C. to a house in suburban Richmond, Virginia, and for the first time, I had a yard! So without much thought or research, and definitely without any experience, I decided to plant a small vegetable garden adjacent to my driveway.
My dad had been an avid and very successful gardener, but I know from previous experiences with living things, that I did not inherit his green thumb. However, I was determined to give gardening a try.
“The Plan”
One of the seven zucchini from my garden.
The previous owner had left an area with a rosemary bush, lemon balm, some very healthy chives and thyme, and a lot of mint, so I had a small head start. I decided I needed to add some basil, oregano and cilantro.
I also wanted to grow tomatoes, zucchini, spinach and yellow beans. Zucchini was usually prolific, tomatoes could be plentiful, I cook with a lot of spinach and it was hard to find fresh yellow beans at any produce market, so I had a “plan”of sorts. Looking back, I’m not sure why I didn’t include cucumbers or peppers, but I felt these veggies were enough of a start.
The Garden
Most plants were cultivated from seeds started indoors, except for two
Small, but healthy tomatoes.
tomato plants I purchased. At the appropriate time, I planted all the seedlings outside (it was probably sometime in early May). I neglected measuring the distance between plants or the distance between rows (big mistake), but it didn’t appear to be an issue at the time. I kept the garden weeded and watered and waited for things to grow. The spinach should have been the first to start sprouting ” and it did. But it never really grew to the point where it was ready to eat ” it just shriveled up and died. So I replanted a second batch, and the same thing happened, so this year, I have to figure out what went wrong.
It took awhile, but the tomatoes took off. The zucchini plants were huge, but instead of getting loads of fruit, there was only one zucchini per plant. There was a measly harvest of yellow beans, and they were tough and fibrous. The basil grew, but there didn’t seem to enough. The oregano did very well. But like the spinach, the cilantro died. Twice.
Lessons Learned
Looking back, there were many things I did wrong, starting with planting the crops too close together, not giving them enough water or nutrients, and placing them in areas that didn’t get enough sunlight. With the exception of the spinach and cilantro (which were dismal failures), I did get about seven zucchini, hundreds of tomatoes, and several batches of yellow beans.
There were maintenance issues, too, including not having tall enough stakes for the tomatoes. And I think there may have been a pollination issue with the zucchini. There were plenty of blossoms, just not very many zucchini.
This Year
Next week I am going to plan out this year’s garden. Part of the job will be making the area a little bigger, by relocating some bushes and other vegetation. The soil has to be turned over. And a trip to the herb farm and local nurseries will be on the agenda.
Stay tuned and watch Suzy’s garden grow!
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