Sunday, May 23, 2010

Lessons Learned: Failure.

Back in the day, when people like you and I were actually required by circumstance to grow their own food, gardening technique was passed down from generation to generation. From neighbor to neighbor. From friend to friend. (This is the way I imagine it anyways). Therefore, I'd like to spend a couple of posts recounting my various successes and failures this spring, so as to share what little I have learned. Today, (and this is a highly non-technical report) I'll focus on some of the failures:

1. Follow the directions on seed packets. Being slightly cocky and slightly stubborn, I decided that things would sprout when and where I (god) wanted them to. As it turns out, it actually works MUCH better to wait until say, the weather is warm enough, and the sun is out. Planting seeds at the correct time and in the correct conditions will save you a lot of stress and disappointment as a gardener. Lesson learned.

2. I read about a sloped-bed technique in Four-Season Harvest, by Eliot Coleman. The supposed advantage to adding a 15% southward slope on a garden bed is capturing 20% more warmth from the suns rays. Unfortunately, when it rains heavily, as when planting much too early in the spring, a sloped bed only serves to swamp the seedlings in the lower half of the bed, creating poor growing conditions. Just this week I hoed up, evened out, and replanted these lower halves of my sloped beds, adding more drainage by raising the soil level relative to the upper halves. I have no doubt that these sloped beds can be beneficial if built correctly, but you have to provide proper drainage. Lesson learned.

3. Do it right or do it twice. There have been many areas where the saying applies, but the best two are these: Pea Trellis and Fence. The Pea trellis I built is composed of stakes on each end with twine threaded back and forth throughout. I didn't build it very well, and as the peas have grown bigger, it has begun to sag under the weight. Furthermore, I didn't build it tall enough, the wind and rain have had their way with some of the taller stalks. And what of the fence? Well, it quickly became clear that the dogs were not going to leave my poor garden alone. So I threw together a flimsy three foot tall chicken wire and wooden stake affair. The dogs went under and over and around. So, I added plywood at the base, dug six inches into the ground, added a foot in height, and reinforced the ends with plywood and staples. The hounds have been held at bay. Lessons learned.

Tomorrow: The Successes!

A Proper Fence


Sagging Pea Trellis


Trellis 2.0: Tomatoes

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