My first bad gardening season in nearly 30 years of gardening. I’m over it. Okay, so I’m really not. But I’ll show you what’s been happening in my garden of despair and then maybe if you’re having a bad gardening season too, you won’t feel so bad.
Because mine is worse. 🙂
So far we have…
One pear growing on the pear tree{s}.
And a 5,000 square foot garden full of weeds.
And now grass. The HH threw down a bunch of grass seed last week and what do you know… It’s growing like mad {because it rained. Of course it rained!}.
By the way, that is tomato #2 growing on the vine in the religious family sized garden. I’m not even going to pick it though {because I wouldn’t want to damage the new grass}.
I will say this though, every single thing we planted in the 2 raised garden beds, is growing like mad! Just look at those tomatoes. They are the size of baseballs. It’s wonderful.
And check out my Market Express turnips!! Aren’t they beautiful? Even the parsnips, carrots and basil I planted in the raised garden beds are doing great. And the funny thing is, I haven’t even watered them since I first planted the seeds.
So. What have I learned from this year’s garden of despair? I have learned that hands down, raised beds are the way to go.
I may not be able to control the weather, but I CAN control the drainage in my garden beds by raising them up.
I’ve learned my lesson. Next summer… All I’m going to garden in is raised garden beds.
And that’s all I have to say about that!
~Mavis
Joely says
This has been a gardening year for the record books and not in a good way.
Dawn says
The weeds and some flowers were all I got this year, I didn’t have to water a dang thing. Stupid rain (I’m in northern MA). Last year I was watering 3 times a day.
Another Nancy says
So sorry the big garden was a bust. But I think you already have the answer – redundancy. The kitchen garden and raised beds are producing. If you want to add a greenhouse next year, you’ll be in even better shape.
But yeah, it’s disappointing. Wishing you and everyone here a much better season in 2024!
Lana says
Ours has been horrible, too. We have beautiful plants but no harvest. It is so frustrating to keep caring for them when they are giving us nothing. We have even had bees galore pollinating the plants but still no harvest. I keep hoping that if it cools off they will do something but we may not have enough time now before frost.
Jamie says
Seems like every year I have something do better than expected and something do worse….. I always blame it on the weather that year!
Linda Practical Parsimony says
I had no garden this year, but in years past, I have gardened in buckets or raised beds or flower pots. Those always worked.
eliz says
My garden has been doing fine here in MT. The garlic was especially big this year.
However, the voles are going to town on my carrots and I’m sure the beets will be next. I might have to pull all the carrots even though they aren’t full size and would get much sweeter into the fall. Plenty of greens to eat! Can’t have everything I guess.
Those raised bed tomatoes look great! Which I had some tomatoes.
Leslie J Honcoop says
What a frustrating year! I’m so sorry for all the work that didn’t yield what you hoped. I know how much you love gardening.
We’ve had years in farming that were like this. We’re retired now, but for 35 years, we kept going. Not all years are bad. Glad that this is your first of this magnitude.
Yep — there’s always next year,
Cheryl Soe says
Look at it this way, at least you won’t starve because we can go to a grocery store.
Mainer says
Don’t feel alone. I’ve been gardening/farming here in Maine for 50 years and have never had a more disappointing year as 2023! Even my peppers that were in a raised bed grew but never set on fruit.
Angelia says
Washington state has been very hot this year as well. I started using a olla type watering system so learning curve was there as well. I had to chalk it up to learning how and where to place the new watering system. Thirsty Earth is a great one. I will have to buy more of the watering canisters and put one per plant for next year. It is a drip system with a watering bucket for the reservoir. It beats having to water in the heat for sure. I go out every three to four days at night and put water in the bucket. I will be schooled for next year. I like above ground planter easier to weed and manage and control soil. I think I would use weed cloth to even minimise the weeding. I have nothing but above ground. My front yard has 17 inch tall.ones and the back has water troughs. Hugs for all of the frustration.
Tracy says
That photo of the entire garden and one tomato hanging on for dear life should be the next cover of Yankee Magazine. Because much of New England is in the same boat. (Or swamp…)
Suggestion: Use this fall to build a proper fenced, raised bed garden. Smaller than 5,000 sq ft, for heaven’s sake. It’s only the two of you. Put a fence up 8′ high. Nothing else will deter deer and they may even try to jump that, but you can always add a hot wire if you need to later. Make sure your gate is tightly fitted enough to keep out groundhogs; they’re unlikely to climb 8′. Build proper raised beds of 4″ X 4″ timber, not just mounded earth; buy the best you can afford; obviously cedar would be ideal. Make them 12″ high, at least. None of us is getting any younger. Over time, as you can afford it, fill them 100% with the best compost/raised bed mix you can afford, laid down over a bottom liner of hardware cloth. No hugelculture nonsense, (it settles sumthin’ awful and never drains right), no empty plastic bottle ‘fillers’, no styrofoam peanuts….just fill them 100% with the best compost you can find, not just soil). Make your paths at least 3′ wide and put down high quality landscape fabric, over which you’ll lay down locking gravel. You and your husband will live in that house for many years; take the time and money to do this project right and you’ll love it forever. Plan a garden shed at the far end, even if you don’t build it now. Don’t put your greenhouse there, instead, build a lean-to greenhouse against your home on the south side if you can– it’s the most efficient and sturdiest and can be built with a high pitch to the one roof. Close to the house so you can get to it easily in snow.
I know this will be expensive. Do it in stages. But if you don’t do it right, you’ll just be revising forever. Start to invest in your gardening future and fall in love with the future seasons again!
Ca in Northern California says
After 30+ years of gardening, this year my son built me a 16’x16’x10’ fully enclosed garden (totally critter proof).I have always used some form of raised beds with pretty good success but with it enclosed, oh baby! I’ve even harvested a bumper crop of 60+ tomato horn worms. Raised beds are the way to go.
Kim says
Mavis,
Will you be looking for end-of-season sales on raised garden beds?
Here is a suburb of Dallas, TX, we have been frying……….temps in the 105-109 range many days. Our garden produce up until July was really good. Okra is the only thing that is producing right now. Sweet potato harvest will come end of September.
We lost a beautiful red maple tree and I am heart broken. Trees are splitting here in the area, due to the heat. It seems that city water cannot do what God’s wonderful rain can. We are 8 inches behind thus far.
I know you love gardening and you are bummed!!! Rightly so.
Kathy says
It would be worth the expense to have the new garden soil tested. I’m betting its high in salts from the proximity to the water and application of seaweed.
Lori says
You’re lucky your raised beds did so well. With all the rain we got in Vermont and all the flooding around us my raised beds did horrible! I have picked 6 cherry tomatoes, a handful of Swiss chard, 1 cucumber, and 3 zucchini. That’s it. Very bad year!
Amanda says
I know this is probably weird but we use old trash picked kids plastic swimming pools as raised beds. Anything we plant in a “garden” dies or does poorly every year. But anything in the pools? Grows beautifully! This year I didn’t even try the real garden. (I’m in PA near Lehigh Valley)
So I agree with others that raised beds seem a great idea.
Gwenn F says
My gardens are rather….meh. I live in Eastern Wisconsin, about a mile from Lake Michigan. My poor sweet cherry tree and green bean plants have been destroyed by Japanese beetles. I’ve gotten a couple of zucchini, not near as many as I should have gotten. Zero butternut or spaghetti squash although the plants looked great until a few weeks ago. We have standing raised beds, I don’t love them and likely will get rid of them next year. I love the metal ones you got this year, I’m saving for a few of them next year.
Upside is your kitchen garden is beautiful!
Nancy says
Wish I were in close proximity and could persuade you to sell me some of those gorgeous hydrangeas! We need blue ones for a baby luncheon tomorrow and everything here in Tuscaloosa has baked. Yours are absolutely beautiful!
SueD says
In my 60+ years of gardening, this year has been the worst by far. I’m growing in fabric grow pots, which usually work well. I have yet to harvest a ripe Early Girl tomato (usually by 10-12 July) and forget about the beefsteaks. The paste tomatoes, I’ve picked 2 and there are 4 more. No aubergine- the 2 tiny ones dropped over the weekend. I could go on, but….
I did take advantage of an end of season sale on raised beds and bought 4.
Karen says
My six year old is reading this comment and just wondered “how do you grow pots?”. Haha
Sandrine says
I’m sorry for your garden this year! I live in Italy and it’s the worst summer too but the opposite of yours. Here we have no rain at all, we had an invasion of popillia japonica who ate absolutely everything (flowers too!!!). Everything is so dry you have no idea! Hang in there, hoping next year will be better!
JennA says
Playing a bit of devil’s advocate here….if this is the first bust in so long, maybe don’t abandon tried and true methods. It was a wonky year for sure. Maybe it will be the same next and maybe not. If you usually have success with in-ground, I wouldn’t completely reinvent the wheel for one bum season. I know your lasagna garden was so successful last year. I’m pretty sure that was largely due to the seaweed in it. I’d diversify, but not completely abandon just one garden type. I’d also fertilize more with the seaweed like last year. But, really…it was probably just all that rain and wonky weather.
JennA says
My garden this year: ugh, first year gardening in north NJ after a move from TX. Also my first year ever of in-ground gardening. I used raised beds in TX due to clay. I have a huge, lush, beautiful garden with almost NO produce. So disappointing. Very little is producing. What is producing is being stolen by Buba, my backyard ground hog, and a band of thieving chipmunks. Just harvested 11 pounds of green tomatoes. Going to try your green tomato curry and hope for a better year next year. And. I will probably add in some raised beds in case the problem wasn’t just the bad weather this year and our soil is garbage.
Dianna says
I’m sorry. That’s the pits. We had a terrible gardening season last summer here in TN, but this year was much better. I grow in raised beds and containers almost exclusively now — Birdie’s metal beds, Earthboxes, a Greenstalk, Garden Tower, and random pots that I’ve bought at yard sales here and there. We had cooler weather than we’ve ever had, and just enough rain to keep things going. Also, a friend gave me several bags of rabbit poop which I put in the raised beds. My zucchini plants grew over 5 feet tall!! It was crazy. They produced for 3 months before finally breaking in half from the height, and then still finished with a few zucchini. The squash bugs barely touched them (usually they’re having Thanksgiving a month after planting). I was very grateful.