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Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/15/2008 5:56:52 PM
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joyfulmn
Posts: 343
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From: not as small town MN as it used to be
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Have you tried any new experiments in your veggie garden this year?
What have you found to be successful and what has been unsuccessful?
Successful - I had read a tip to crush eggshells and mix them in with the dirt at the root ball of tomato plants to help prevent blossom end rot. Aside from tempting the raccoons to keep digging up my plants, this worked! Even my Roma tomatoes which are extremely prone to blossom end rot showed not one sign all season! I didn't use quite the "dozen eggs per plant" the tip called for. Maybe about 9 eggs worth. And, of course I had to be a bit creative with keeping the raccoons from digging.
Successful - Another experiment I tried this year was using landscape fabric across my row, cutting two lengthwise slits and planting my lettuce, beans, carrots, and beets in the slits. This worked very well save me from some very tedious work weeding those crops.
Successful - We tried an electric fence around the garden this year. One wire about 6 inches off the ground for the rabbits and such. One wire about 3 feet off the ground for the deer. This was very successful. The critters learned very quickly where they can eat in the yard and where they cannot. The last two years, especially, had been a real battle to get much of anything form the garden. Moreso since they have been building up around here and the wildlife have fewer places to forage. (I have "tested" the fence several times myself and found it to be nothing to fear.)
Unsuccessful - I know I had one or two unsuccessful experiments I wouldn't bother with again but, presently, I can't think of them. I'll have to leave that for another post.
Please give tell us what worked and didn't work for you.
_____________________________
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Hebrews 10:24 (NIV)
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RE: Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/15/2008 9:55:07 PM
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joyfulmn
Posts: 343
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From: not as small town MN as it used to be
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I remembered another
Successful - My beans would never survive the rabbits until my neighbor suggested covering the row with tulle (fabric) untill the plants got big enough to fend for themselves. My bean plants did very well after that - even before the electric fence went up.
Unsuccessful - Putting tulle over the cabbage plants didn't keep the butterflies/moths completely out so there were still some cabbage worms. (Maybe not as many though.) I might try covering individual plants instead of the whole row next year.
_____________________________
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Hebrews 10:24 (NIV)
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RE: Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/16/2008 2:14:54 PM
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MrsTracy72
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Every one of my garden experiments were unsuccessful this year.
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RE: Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/16/2008 3:27:09 PM
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laura...
Posts: 2846
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From: NE Ohio
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Unsuccessful: hanging tomato plants. We cut holes in the bottom of 5 gallon buckets and planted the tomatoes hanging upside down from the hole. The plants curl up toward the sun and you don't need to stake them and they take up less space (an important feature for our tiny yard). Unfortunately, as the plants grew heavier their weight pulled their roots out of the bucket. I think it might work better with a burlap sack.
Successful: Planting zucchini in a different spot than last year.
Unsuccessful: Using plastic orange fencing to keep our new puppy out of the garden. We picked pieces of chewed orange fencing up from all over the yard and mourned our broken and crushed celery...which leads to:
Unsuccessful: trying to grow celery.
Successful: Letting the rogue tomato plants from last year's droppings grow. They did better than the ones we bought this year.
_____________________________
This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’ Jer 6:16
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RE: Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/17/2008 1:04:23 PM
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flowerz
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Unsuccessful: Growing tall runner peas up a 5 1/2 ft. bamboo tepee. The tepee kept falling over because the peas were just to tall and too heavy.
Successful: Letting the potatoes grow into plants that were left behind in the soil last year.
Unknown: I'm letting my lettuce go to seed for next year. I'm not sure when to harvest them, though they have flowered already.
Unsuccessful: Growing indeterminate Tomatoes in a Very Large Planter Box. They have grown too big and are taking too long to ripen. Only this month, have we been able to start eating tomatoes.
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RE: Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/17/2008 7:12:49 PM
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Auben
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Me too flowerz. I think it was the late spring.
I'm in Wisconsin (US) and I got only 2 tomatoes before September.
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Tamara
~Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time~
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RE: Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/17/2008 9:39:12 PM
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ta_mosquito
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Have you two tried the "tomatoes in the paper bag" trick?
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Tricia
"There's a fine line between being open-minded and empty-headed." ~Michael Coren
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RE: Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/17/2008 9:58:45 PM
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Auben
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They taste better when they ripen on the vine.
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Tamara
~Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time~
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RE: Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/18/2008 10:04:10 AM
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Auben
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Yes, I think averages are based on the 80th percentile. Frost still comes earlier (or later in the case of spring) 20% of the time.
I have 4 mostly ripe windows on my windowsill so I may get to make tomato sauce for the first time this year.
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Tamara
~Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time~
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RE: Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/18/2008 10:11:38 AM
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laura...
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quote:
I have 4 mostly ripe windows on my windowsill so I may get to make tomato sauce for the first time this year.
I've never grown windows before. Where do you get the seeds for those? &:)
_____________________________
This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’ Jer 6:16
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RE: Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/18/2008 11:33:05 AM
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flowerz
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I'm going to leave my tomatoes on the vine to ripen as many as possible. We don't get our first frost till late October or so, but still, once the cooler weather & rains come, they don't want to ripen very much.
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RE: Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/18/2008 3:20:05 PM
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agapetos
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From: This side of the lil duck pond!
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quote:
ORIGINAL: ta_mosquito
Have you two tried the "tomatoes in the paper bag" trick?
I have... and I've kept them on the vine when I'm doing it too...
I've heard, but not tried, that you can cut the main stem and then hang them upside down in a light, airy place and they'll ripen that way.
_____________________________
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not using them in fruit salads!
My blog
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RE: Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/18/2008 10:38:21 PM
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agapetos
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I confess, I'm not too worried about them this year, I've got into jam and chutney making, so if they don't ripen, I'll make something with 'em!
_____________________________
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not using them in fruit salads!
My blog
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RE: Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/18/2008 10:44:23 PM
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joyfulmn
Posts: 343
Joined: 5/21/2006
From: not as small town MN as it used to be
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I have never gotten around to trying chutney. This year my big experiment was Corn Relish. YUM! Someday I'll work into chutney. Do you use lots of it?
_____________________________
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Hebrews 10:24 (NIV)
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RE: Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/19/2008 10:24:59 AM
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uncabeeil
Posts: 5775
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: Joisey. Got a problem wit dat?
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My whole garden was an unsuccessful experiment this year. Critters ate my bean plants not once, but twice, so the total number of beans I got was around a dozen.
I was late starting my tomato seeds. So late in fact that they didn't get in the ground until July.  So I bought some plants at Home Depot, planted them the first week in June, got lots of cherry tomatoes, but the beefsteaks got a fungus that has now spread to everything else.
So I've already ordered seeds for next year, five different heirloom varieties that I already know will grow well here as long as I start them early enough.
_____________________________
In loving memory of all who gave that we might be free
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RE: Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/19/2008 11:01:40 AM
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laura...
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Joined: 3/1/2005
From: NE Ohio
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quote:
got lots of cherry tomatoes, but the beefsteaks got a fungus that has now spread to everything else.
Just about everyone I know who's planted tomatoes this year had bumper crop of cherry tomatoes and the regular tomatoes fizzled.
_____________________________
This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’ Jer 6:16
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RE: Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/19/2008 11:07:32 AM
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uncabeeil
Posts: 5775
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From: Joisey. Got a problem wit dat?
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I got some small ones off the beefsteak vines, but wasn't too happy with them. They looked and tasted like supermarket tomatoes. Around here that's unacceptable.
_____________________________
In loving memory of all who gave that we might be free
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RE: Successful / Unsuccessful Garden Experiments - 9/19/2008 3:51:31 PM
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laura...
Posts: 2846
Joined: 3/1/2005
From: NE Ohio
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quote:
Critters ate my bean plants not once, but twice,
quote:
uncabeeil, I highly recommend covering your beans with tulle (toole) - the fabric used for wedding veils etc. I am definitely using it on my first planting next year because it was so successful on my.... third.
I'm really impressed by your diligent care for the critters of this world by feeding them such tasty and nutritious bean plants.
_____________________________
This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’ Jer 6:16
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I think my little garden space just doesn't get enough sunlight. I had planted them in the other end of the space, but I was still unsuccessful. However, I did learn just how well tomatoes ripen in a paper bag on the kitchen counter!
My family doesn't really garden. 
) My veggie garden has become way too shaded over the years without me realizing it. I guess that'll be my first experiment for next year. 
