You may not know this, but I'm a college student, and my major is elementary education. As a potential future teacher, I hear a lot about reflection. It is a good practice for educators to look back over the lessons they've taught, and evaluate what worked well and what they can change and do better next time. I tend to do the same thing in most areas of my life, especially gardening! Now that my garden is done for the season, it is time for me to start reflecting about what I did this season, and evaluate what worked and didn't work. The things that did work, I look forward to doing again this summer! For the things that didn't work so well, I like to try to figure out what I could have done differently, and make a specific plan to change the outcome next time.
My goal with this seasonal reflection is, as always, to make my garden even better this year. I want to combine the best things about last year with the improvements I plan to make this year. So, without further ado, here are my top 5 goals for this year! 1. Get better at trellising, especially peas and tomatoes This year, I struggled with getting my vining plants trellised in time to prevent damage and promote growth. This has actually been a consistent struggle each year. My main problems tend to be finding enough trellises that are tall and sturdy enough for my plants and the unpredictable summer weather. Trellises can be expensive, especially when you need lots of high-quality ones, and they have proven difficult to make on my own! Also, the timing of putting the trellises out can be tricky. I don't want to put them out too early and possibly have them blocking light from my vulnerable seedlings, but not putting them out soon enough can lead to the plants getting too tall and becoming weakened from supporting their own weight. This year, I hope to organize my inventory of trellises long before I'll need them, and have them standing by in the shed where they will be handy to put out at just the right time. I also plan to organize the garden in such a way that the plants that need trellises will be in longer rows, so it will simply be easier for me as I am putting out the trellises. 2. More potatoes (and preserving some of them?) After my success with growing blue potatoes last year, and then consuming all of them within a couple of months after harvesting them, I've decided to at least double (maybe even triple??) my potato production this year. After reading a Reformation Acres article about preserving potatoes, I got inspiration to possibly can, dehydrate, or freeze my potatoes for use throughout the year, so I won't be pressured to eat them all at once so they don't go bad. I also want to continue to work toward being self-sufficient for my food, and having preserved garden produce at my college apartment is a big part of that goal. 3. Same amount of tomatoes Well, this goal isn't really about improving something, but instead re-creating perfection. In last year's garden, I think I had about 8 Roma tomato plants (or was it 6? I already can't remember!). They were pretty heavy producers, and we ended up with several batches of beautiful red, smooth, flavorful spaghetti sauce in our cupboard. I've been eating a steady diet of pasta with this sauce, and several months later I'm not at all tired of it and I'm not close to running out either! I am so pleased that I had enough tomatoes to make enough sauce for a year, and I want to do that again this year. 4. More spinach/improve sprouting (try something better?) Another thing that has been a constant struggle over the past few years has been.... spinach. The reason I grow spinach instead of other greens is because I enjoy eating it, the leaves are bite-sized and more accessible for snacking, and I think the taste is more pleasant than other greens I have tried. Also, spinach does not get bitter like lettuce does! (Which is why lettuce is now banned from my garden!) My problem, however, is that my spinach never sprouts very well. I can plant a whole packet of spinach seeds, carefully cover them with soil, and sprinkle just the right amount of water on them, and still only end up with 5 little seedlings! In order to improve on this goal, I intend to do some more research into the soil conditions that spinach needs, and perhaps build a small raised bed so that I can control the quality of the soil the seeds are planted in. 5. Make use of vertical space (more about trellising) With both trellising and space being an increasing issue in my garden, this year I want to focus on starting to make more use of my vertical space. Right now I'm looking at some ideas for using live plants, like sunflowers, as trellises for other plants. I don't know yet about constructing raised beds, but that is an option I am considering for the future. I may also try to use more sturdy trellises for large vining crops, like squash and melons. This is definitely one of my goals that I will continue to work on for several years before I find a system that completely works for me. 6. Improve sprouting/timing of cover crop So last year was my first time attempting to sow a cover crop, and so far I think it's pretty much failed. I didn't get the garden completely cleaned up until about October, and I was holding off on sowing the cover crop until we could till up the soil. However, the weather and our schedules seemed to be working together to make sure the soil didn't get tilled. When I saw that the tilling wasn't going to happen, I hurriedly bundled up in my sweatshirt, took my seed packets, and scattered the seed on the garden, not even bothering to cover it up. I haven't seen any sprouts that look like they could be the cover crop I've sown, so I'm thinking the birds probably ate them or they blew away or something. I still have a small hope that it will somehow come to life and sprout in the early spring, but that still wasn't the point of the cover crop. I wanted it to grow a good, thick cover to feed the soil and prevent weeds early in the spring. This year I plan to get the garden cleaned up earlier and be more intentional about planting (and covering!) the seeds earlier. Those are all the goals I have so far for this year's garden. I'm currently working on planning the garden, so perhaps soon I'll be able to post my ideal layout, which crops I'm planting, and perhaps even the varieties I intend to plant this year. In the meantime, don't be afraid to be creative! Nicole
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AuthorI am a college student who loves being creative and resourceful. I have passions for knitting, subsistence farming, Scripture memory, and anything creative! I hope this blog will prove to be a good creative outlet for me, and inspiring for you! Archives
January 2018
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