mistakes from last years garden

Last year I planted:
tomatoes
2 watermelon plants
2 cantelope plants
2 red pepper plants
cukes
squash

Things went well except for:
watermelons, cantelope, cukes tried to take OVER
only harvested 1 good watermelon...the rest never seemed to ripen and got rotten on the bottom...the same thing happened with my cantelope (now granted, the 1 I harvested was GOOD! There just weren't anymore to grow well!)
Red peppers....turned a beautiful red....but there were 5-6 fruits growing together in a clump, and they never got big enough to amount to anything.

How can I fix these problems this year, so my harvest is bountiful....not pittifull.

Thanks.
Wendi

PS. my garden area was only 6 feet by 8 feet....this year I will have 10 ft. by 20 ft.....so definitely more room this year, but I want to use it wisely.
Thanks again,
Wendi

I'm just an intermediate gardener myself, but I did grow a lot of the same things last year and I'll share my experience.

The watermelons and cukes are vining plants, so they're meant to take over. I planted my vining plants in mounds. There were about six plants planted in the center of each mound, and each mound was about two or three feet square. If the plants started to grow past the mound, I would just move them back. I kinda coiled the vines around the center of the mound in a spiral to keep them from spreading too far.

My watermelon didn't have enough time to mature, but I didn't have a rot problem. Try turning your melons occasionally, and maybe lay down a good layer of (seed-free) straw under the plants. It will help keep them hydrated and keep them up off the damp ground.

I had the best luck with peppers that I was growing in large pots. Actually my 'pots' are recycled cat litter tubs, but that's another story. I think I read somewhere that peppers like to be root-bound a bit. It's something to try anyway. The peppers that I grew in the 'normal' garden got munched on, I think by slugs.

Anybody else?? I sure could use some expert advise before growing/tilling time comes. I want to know how to plan my garden.
Wendi

When I use to garden with my grandmother she would overseed some items on purpose then prune a few items early especially the cukes because they grow in such abundance anyway and are good at almost any stage. SAhe would also leave bad tomotoes split open in the soil or the bugs to feast on in hopes of sparing the good tomatoes.

the melons need full on continuous sun yet lots of root water

this year I'm going to borrow a neighbors idea which is to use pvc pipes drill holes in the bottem half . Stick in ground half way so that plants are irrigated at the root but the soil on top doesn't have to be super mushy, which usually cause the rotting.

I'm also planing to redistribute my last batch of raked leaves to the area where I want to plant and keep turning and tiling for a bettter natural fertilizer effect.

My strawberries did ok in rectangular planter with 6 inches of soil. I'll do tomatoes in pots on deck plus in the yard. I'll maintain hers in home and put on deck periodically for full on sun. The herbs do fine year round in the house.

Plus I'm gonna research and read more this year since I have time.

I planted a lemon cucumber. Just one plant. Yes, it did rather take over the garden but it produced a lot of fruit. As for the peppers, you can simply harvest them when they are small. They are edible then and will have few seeds inside. You pay a premium price for those at the grocery store! I tried several kinds of peppers and the only ones that produced were the green bell, chocolate bell and one kind of hot pepper. I ate all of the sweet peppers when they were young. I had to. Some critter was biting holes in them if I didn't pick them in time.

I haven't grown any melons in years. As I recall they are one of the more iffy things to try to grow. Some years you'll get a good harvest. Other years nothing. We lived in Wichita when we grew them. Here in WA our weather is too cool for growing melons very successfully.

I have a large garden, spent a fortune buying plants last year. This year's tip is starting indoor seeds and then bring them outside. It can save me $75. I don't grow watermelon/cantel., but my neighbor had many small cantel. I don't think for my produce investment in space it is worth me growing this.

I finally have tons of worms coming forth--first time I am seeing them. I am learning how to compost too. May search for a list I am at egroups called Gardening Organically. Excellent group. I'm not an expert but my several large sizes such as 27" cucumbers say something for my garden. Even Cliff Bar folks who came to visit me about this lifestyle were impressed by the raw meal and my garden. One lady said the orange tomatoes were the best she ever tasted. Not bragging, but so much fun I have gardening.

Oh, the Action Hoe is fabulous. Quick, simple and worth every penny. I bought mine only at Home Depot. $15ish. I'm 100% sold on it. Goodbye to tillers too. I don't want to kill the worms that are coming--fat and long too.

Can't wait for gardening to begin. Good luck. Feel free to email me.
carolg

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=22486

hi tville , above is the thread link where i posted some gardening ideas that ive arrived at over the past decade of gardening .

next im gonna go get a seed catalog post i made .

hey only about 30 days til our spring fast pal :cool:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=22437

ok heres seed catalog link .

down the road good buddy

oh i just realized you posted on that catalog thread so altready saw it , and i noticed you said you need a fool proof method . well to go along with what i said in gardening post a tip i read before and found to be right is that most people have a tendency to plant seeds too deep . this kinda suffocates them because they dont have enough nutrient reserve to grow up out of the soil to get the sun they need to grow roots , my outlook anyway . but too deep does kill the seeds so be aware of that . like for small seeds like lettuce spinach radish flowers herbs etc you only bury them like a quarter inch . for large seeds like beans corn etc about a half inch . another tip ide add here is that you dont want your plants too close together or they choke each other out so go by seed packet suggestions for distance . and WEEDING IS GIGANTIC , if you dont keep the weeds out theyll over grow your tender garden plants because the weeds are much tougher . so find a type hoe you like for weeding because its a gardeners best friend .

see ya on the LFH good buddy :cool:

Melons love mulch esp in the hot summer, but so do the critters that like my melons! I have used small flake of straw, taking care to slightly turn the melon. Another tried method is as the melons are developing you can set them on a pot or piece of wood,(you still need to lightly turn )( like go from 12 o clock to 3 oclock every four to five days) towards the end put on a piece of reflective material in am, this helps the fruit to mature ( I use a a car sunblocker that looks like aluminum) I remove it during the hottest points of the day do not want it cooked LOL) that speeds the ripening and you can do one at a time to spread the harvest.

I am no pro!!!!! I still have some losses but the above makes a diff.


Try drying and freezing if you develop the small pepppers again.

LifeAgift qouted
"When I use to garden with my grandmother she would overseed some items on purpose then prune a few items early especially the cukes because they grow in such abundance anyway and are good at almost any stage. SAhe would also leave bad tomotoes split open in the soil or the bugs to feast on in hopes of sparing the good tomatoes."

My Grandparents went to that same school of thought.

We used to plant and say one seed for the bugs, one for the birds, etc etc until we got down to one for me.

Thanks everyone! MR...I did go to the seed catalog sites, and requested a catalog from anyone who will send it! I can't wait. I think I will give seeds one more try. I really want an organic garden with organic plants.
I hope this year I have enough plants to feed the birds, insects, and ME! I will definitely harvest those little peppers next year and EAT them....and dehydrate any leftovers!
Thanks again ya'll!
Wendi