seeking disappointed veggie gardeners!

Hi, all--I write about gardening for a major national news organization and am working on a story about how to truly plan a great veggie garden. I'm looking for folks who---in the heat of the grow-your-own-food trend---were disappointed with how their first veggie gardens turned out. Maybe it was that they felt that not enough was planted to really make it worthwhile (i.e. "i planted all that spinach and this is all i get?!"). Or maybe crops didnt work out as hoped, or the timing of planting was off key. Or, maybe the whole durn thing was too much work anyway.
Any of this ring a bell?
Hope to hear from you--
Thanks!
Anne Marie.

An interesting idea, I am not a beginner , however I do help start several gardens every year. I am curious if you would find any disappointment. albiet yield were low for many things, they were up for others. Every person I started last year were excited at the first tomato. You never forget and certainly look forward to that first - all important - and annually unforgettable - first fruit.

often for beginners and lifers alike. the back yard garden is all about the first, even if it is the only, fruit from your labor.

I will be reading your thread, and respectfully hope you don't find disppointment in lieu of resilience..

-joe-

Disappointed in the whole thing? Nope. In my first veggie garden, my sweet peppers came down with some vague disease and I got only a few small ones. The green beans were attacked by flea beetles and didn't produce well. My zinnias - of all things! - struggled and I found out late in the season it was because a dog was peeing on them. In my second veggie garden, I planted the green beans too close to the pumpkins and didn't get as many as I wanted. Japanese beetles feasted on the pole beans. Garlic rotted in the ground. I had trouble keeping up with the powdery mildew.

But was I disappointed to the point where I thought it was pointless or I wanted to quit? Absolutely not! I learned so much in those two years that now people are asking me for gardening advice. And I had so much of certain vegetables, herbs, and flowers that I was giving them away in big bags. I benefited from the exercise and fresh air and homegrown organic veggies. My two-year old nephew "helped" me garden, and now he knows where food comes from and what it takes to produce it. In other words, I got so much satisfaction out of it, despite the setbacks, that I couldn't imagine saying that I was disappointed.

But I do have this website to rely on, and it's an amazing resource. I wouldn't have gotten as far as I did as quickly as I did without it.

Some people say that anyone who plants a seed is an optimist. You kind of have to be, to be a gardener and go back year after year to face the weather and the bugs and whatever other challenges come your way.

This message was edited Feb 2, 2010 9:15 PM

On that note, if your looking for major disappointment in the garden, you probably won't find it at Daves Garden... The gardeners you find here aren't really the type who do it because of the "grow-your-own-food trend", they do it because they love it. I am probably the worst gardener here, and I am always giving veggies away at work because we have too much. I'm not disappointed, I am thrilled everytime I manage to not destroy a plant. The experts here are too good to let folks like me fail, and I really mean that. I hope I don't sound like a jerk because I don't mean it that way at all. If you are looking for folks trying it for the first time but not getting spectacular results you are probably better off looking on survival forums. Many of those folks are full time "something-or-anothers" and part-time gardeners. Many of them only have the resource of other part-time gardeners, so they are sort of gardening by luck. I know this because Tyler knows this and because I am a memberlurker at most of those survivalist sites. Zombiehunters.com, survivalbolg.com, ar15.com (some wirerdos here), minionreport (probably the smartest of the bunch here). If your looking for disappointment you can surely find some there.

Anyhow, good luck with your story Achake

"I am thrilled everytime I manage to not destroy a plant."

Truly laughing out loud, ratfood! Well put.

I went to such great lengths - starting seeds in my apartment and finding someone to let me use their yard and then at the last minute finding someone else to let me use their yard and then waiting out the rain. And then the rain kept coming after I planted, and I all but said last rites for my peppers and tomatoes, they looked like they just couldn't go on. But they hung in there and I was amazed by their resilience - and I had plenty of both. Oh the drama! I guess people that don't enjoy it just aren't as big of geeks about it as we are. ;o)

Anne Marie, I'm sorry we aren't more help. I'm happy to hear that the WSJ is interested in this topic. True, some people are doing it because there's a lot of hype about it, but I do hope that most of them stick with it. Everybody eats, and everyone should have access to safe, nutritious food. Considering the concerns that people have about food security, global warming, pollution, pesticides, herbicides, GMOs, sustainability, and so on, the trend toward home vegetable gardens just makes sense.

This message was edited Feb 2, 2010 10:05 PM

Please check: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/870295/

All, this is great! keep em coming---and I should clarify: I'm not looking for 'quitters' necessarily. For those of you who experienced disappointments--what are lessons you learned, what are you doing differently this coming year, how will your garden plans change?
Also, as you guys write, you might also indicate whether you would be open to being contacted by me verbally.
Best
Anne Marie

Squash vine borers are of the devil! They will invade your garden and kill everything they like, squash and pumpkins to name a few. Took out ALL my squash and half of my pumpkins last year.

Don't plant a whole row of okra unless you want to eat okra everyday during the warmer months or unless you've got A LOT of friends to share it with.

Tomato hornworms may turn into beautiful moths, but protect your tomatoes, peppers, and lemon balm from them. They'll strip a plant bare of its leaves in no time flat!

Found the answer to my poor soil problems - moved and had a very better season this year, when I get ready to move again the type of soil will be a major part of any decision concerning where to.

One of the first things people told me when I came on here and starting asking questions was to test your soil - not just the pH, but the whole deal. I'm glad they did because you need to know what your plants have before you start trying to figure out what else they need. Even if you don't completely understand the results, you can give them to someone who does when you're trying to diagnose a problem.

If you learnn one thing - one thing only..

prep, prep, prep, prep, prep, prep, prep, prep, prep, prep.

all the gardeners I helped to start in my neck of the woods are told - next years garden is made this year.

Take care of the soil and your plants will thrive.
I am open to being contacted d-mail or otherwise.
-joe-

maybe you should see dyson....

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/870295/


kinda funny.
-joe-

I'm not a veggie gardener, but a backyard orchardist that is just starting out. I want to do what would be my first real dedicated veggie garden, but I need to build raised beds and really plan it out before hand. I know exactly how poor my soil is since I did test it before planting my fruit trees. Veggies would not survive sown straight into that clay muck. I had to be careful about which rootstocks I used and exactly which cultivars could fair well even with the soil amendments.

I used to have a nice herb garden out in containers on the patio when we lived in a rental in Virginia. Those Virginians have no idea how lucky they are to have so many options for growing things. Before that, I had an herb garden at a rental house in North Dallas. So, I do have some experience with edibles gardening even in my current area.

It makes me sad that I can't really expect to get anything done this spring, but our real growing season down here is in the fall. I confess, I took a spreadsheet and plotted out when I should expect fruits from my 45 or so plants. (Not including the 30 strawberries going in as ground cover soon.) I'll likely do the same whenever I get around to a veggie garden.

The orchard takes a lot of patience. Provided you don't screw up in the first year and kill your tree, which yes, I did kill a couple, most of it becomes an issue of maintaining what you have. Spray for bugs nearly all season long, whitewash to prevent sunburn and borers, and mulch those babies twice a year. The kids love it because it is so fun to go out and play in the yard. I'm in my second year and I don't expect fruits yet. Next year, I might start getting some fruits from my trees.

That is not to say that I got no fruit at all last year, I did get my paws on some citrus which I grow in containers so that I can pull them indoors when the weather gets chilly. I will say nothing ever tasted as sweet as those first mandarins we got off the Owari satsuma mandarin tree. I'm greatly looking forward to the coming lemons and limes that are just starting to take. I also how raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, elderberries, and grapes growing in my yard, but I've only gotten to eat raspberries off the bushes.

The thing is, I don't expect to save any money at all. I see it as an enjoyable hobby that my children can actively participate in with me. I spend between 15 and 80 dollars at the local Sprouts a week to feed my family of five fresh fruits and veggies. To build raised bed planters costs me about 35 dollars for the wood, another 30 for the soil, and about 12 for the mulch on top. The 77 dollars in start up costs does not include the plants. Transplants cost around 2 to 5 dollars per plant. Seed packets cost between one and five dollars a pack depending on what you are getting and there is the risk that those seeds will not sprout because I somehow goofed (a common enough occurrence.) Add in water costs and all those amendments to make the soil particularly nice and the total costs change a bit.

When I do the math on what I actually want to grow vs what I spend on fruits and veggies, I don't see that I'd save very much money. Most likely, I will do a good sized garden anyway because I want to and because I can. I just want to remind people to really look at the numbers before jumping to the conclusion that they will save money since that isn't always true.

Agree with jj............................I start prep work in the fall for next season crop. Had many disappointments when I first began gardening about 10 years ago. Did not ammend soil and found that nothing would grow in heavy black gumbo clay type soil. Now I make my own compost every day working at it and really see the difference. I can and freeze everything I grow. Family loves it.

One of my major disappointments is that I can't truly garden year 'round. I can do spring and fall, but summer is pretty dormant due to heat and believe it or not, some things don't like the cold winters.

This is year 3 for me. Disappointed so far? Yes. Quitting? No.

My first year I had our neighbor dig 2 plots about 10 x 12 with his tractor. We then lined the bottom and sides with overlapping chicken wire, then mixed the dirt with over 1 yr old horse manure - about a pickup truck load. After refilling the hole, we made a chicken wire fence and I planted zucchini, beans, peas, beets, carrots, radishes, watermelon, winter squash, potatoes, 2 tomatoes, peppers and cantaloupe. Both melons never got bigger than a golf ball. I replanted the peas later in the season and got enough only to eat to and from the garage. Zucchini crop was good. I did not have a lot of each of the plants, but only had a handful of beans and peppers, 2 squash (lots of vine) and some small beets (planted too close). Everything else was pretty much a wash out, then the gopher moved in....

Year 2 I had tomatoes planted in pots, 1 plant per each 5 to 10 gallon pot. I had about 8 pepper plants in an old horse water barrel with holes drilled in and 5 gal pot and Basil in 1 gallon pots and potatoes in the ground (other side of house with no gopher evidence). My Results??? A FEW tomatoes from the size of a pea to the size of a small lime. They were good, but very few. Some peppers that I think were a little smaller than they should have been (however they are now growing NEW branches on the same plants! Gophers came over and at potatoes and basil had small leaves. For awhile I was fertilizing every other week.

This year. Have planted some seeds in indoor peat pads, more to go including flowers. I have some tomato plants that were planted last Oct in black pots on south wall that are flowering even though we have had nights in 30's and 40's. Planted some broccoli and brussels sprouts in pots (just read tomatoes do not like to be near them, so need to move pots - advantage to pot planting). Besides pots - and I plan to use even bigger pots - I am going to try strawbale gardening. They have a site here on DG and they all was poetic about it. I even planted my new Pomegranate tree in a very large black pot last year. I want to put it in the dirt, so I will dig hole much larger then try broken glass at bottom and sides, then lay in more dirt, then line with hardware cloth rather than chicken wire (gophers can chew through that stuff) that will come up around top of plant ball. Kind of a chastity belt for trees! LOL

I am determined! All this and my family would rather eat fast food!

I was raised in farming country and farmed a good part of my life. We always gardened because in those days you raised and canned your own food. I garden now for two reasons. I like it and I like to eat fresh produce not something that's been in cold storage for a year. I built my first raised bed a few years ago because I didn't have a place to plow up for a garden at the parsonage where I lived. Had to have fresh tomatoes. Now I'm hooked on raised beds and do all my gardening in them. I think you will find as my experience is that farmers and gardeners are the most optomistic people on the face of the earth. We might have small disappointments over a problem we've had or something that didn't produce as well as we thought it should but the disappointment is short term as we begin to learn from our problems and look for to the next year to see if we have figured out a way to overcome them. I've also seen times when I wished my garden didn't produced so much when I got tired of picking and giving away more than I used personally. Of course there is always the little widow lady or the single mom on a tight income that gives you that beautiful smile when you carry a load to them that makes it all worth while. I have also gotten agravated when my cantalopes all ripened at one time and I only got to eat a couple of them because the type I like have only a short slelve life and I had to rush around the neighborhood at night to give them all away. Of course I developed some really good friends at cantalope season. Disappointed, not hardly. I am on pins and needles waiting for it to dry up and warm up so I can get started again. The only problem there is I have to pull up all the greens, rutabagas, lettuce, cabbage, carrots and winter onions and try to give them away so I can start the spring plants.

Jim-Must be warm enough by now down there to plant, huh? Or are you experiencing all that white 'global warming' too?

We had four inchs of snow last week. Yep, we are truly experiencing global warming. This is the coldest weather we've had in years. Our mornings are still down in the mid twenties and the highs sometimes up to the forties. The killer has been a north wind of about 30 miles an hour. Can't stand to be out in that long.

Go figure for Louisiana. Saw it was snowing in Alabama in the background of some show last night, so, duh, you are likely still cold.

Yep, been very disappointed my first year in the garden. Also thrilled. I guess that's gardening.

I just wanted to reply to Stephanie from TX. I understand your frustration with the squash bugs and the dang horn worms. But i have only one thing to say ..Chickens. I may have to go out and pick the bleepin bugs off my plants, but the chickens really enjoy this HIGH protein snack in the morning and at night. My question is, Where in blue blazes do the dang squash bugs come from? I can go thru each and every plant, checking and pulling off the leaves that have egg sacks and tossing them to the chickens or the fire pit, and the next day..there are more. Any tips on getting rid of them for good?

Christine
Tustin MI, Zn 5b?

No where near the first time gardener here ~ sorry. But it was a year of firsts even so. I have tried many new and fun things via DavesGarden. I have been growing potatoes on top of the ground in oak leaves for a few years and have had new potatoes to share. I started all my seed for vegetables by wintersowing last year and will NEVER buy another vegetable plant from the store. I had such success I was able to share many plants with others. None of my tomatoes suffered the virus that commercially grown maters did so that in itself was a success story. No disappointments here either. There is no better treat than to walk out and pick dinner, fresh off the vine. Looking forward to summer...

Podster. You mentioned a couple gardening styles I am not familiar with. Now, we have no oak leaves around here, so no point in going further on that, but what is wintersowing? We have generally mild winters here, but didn't you have a particularly cold winter there this year?

Quiltygirl ~ you can use pinestraw, hay, straw, probably wood shavings, any leaves ~ you don't specifically need oak leaves. my journal link to this years crop http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/viewentry/288006/

Now, wintersowing is just plain fun. Sprouting seeds in containers, I use milk jugs which act as tiny greenhouses. Planting and placing outdoors seems to produce far hardier seeds due to the environment they are raised in. Perhaps not as utilitarian for your zone but if you are interested check out this forum... http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/coldsow/all/

Having grown up on farm, I thought garden would be easy!
Four tomato plants were knee high, looking really good, then just started fading away. Duh......walnut tree (juglone) won.

My sister smoked so much that it started to turn her artificial flowers brown with nicotine, the nicotine attracted dirt and the flowers started to turn black. I made fun of her for turning white artificial flowers brown and black. She responded by cleaning the flowers and leaves with bleach; the next day all the artificial leaves and flowers dropped off.

I accused her of having a black thumb; of being such a bad gardener that she can kill artificial plants.

Here's the story she did: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704784904575111680463669658.html#articleTabs%3Darticle%26project%3DGARDENSEASONS100224