A year of garden failures - and lessons in prevention!

[British Red]

Its been a horror of a year. Wet days mixed up with rain.

Maybe thats a good thing though. It teaches me to innovate, experiment, diversify.

I thought a list of all our garden hardships - and perhaps more importantly what we plan to do about them - might be interesting to anyone else fighting frustrations and failure

Our failures.

Problem
Blighted potatoes - and we fear its spread to the toms.

Lesson
I'm hoping that the Oca we are growing will act as a blight resistant alternative. Oca has much more delicate foliage though....susceptible to wind damage


Problem
Carrot failure

Lesson
Keep plenty of seed. Seed save enough for three to four annual needs. Sometimes seed will rot, sometimes the crop to be seed saved will die. When all the seed is gone you are royally hosed. I'm on my fourth carrot sowing this year.


Problem
Sundry crop fails

Lesson
Keep plenty of seed for "catch crops" = short time crops that can occupy a space between major re-planting. I have sown peas in the potato bed - I will at least get something this year

Problem
Pigeon damage on young peas

Lesson
Eat more pigeon

Have net frames ready made and available to set up over young crops. Really saved us this year


Problem

Birds getting through the netting on the strawberry bed

Lesson

Bird net that keeps pigeons off peas (two inch mesh), is too wide to keep small birds off berries. I have bought 1" mesh to keep the blackbirds off the berries. A lesson that cost me a lot of early berries


Problem
Bad weather in blossom time meant many insect pollinated fruit trees will bear no fruit this year

Lesson
Diversity! The wet weather has given us a great rhubarb crop. No apricots - but plenty of rhubarb crumble.


Problem
Something is eating my seed on my second year parsnips

Lesson
There is a critter called the parsnip webworm...my first year seed saving parsnip and I have learned this. The real lesson - practice all these skills now - when failure can be got around.

Problem
You can get through vast amounts of water - not so much this year, but in general. I have found a good drench in a 100 square foot greenhouse takes 50 gallons (200 litres). I have two of them....400 litres. 10 beds around the same size......2,000 litres. Plus a rhubarb bed, gooseberry bed....2,500 litres. Throw in the seedlings and fruit trees. 3,000 litres (say 750 gallons).

I am currently holding 6,500 litres in overground tanks for gardening. Its okay for day to day use, but not in a drought. I'll try to take it up to 10,000 litres in the next building foray.

Overall...

Monocropping is a bad thing. Keep a mix and every year you will get some success and some failure

Experiment with the new and unusual...I only found out about Oca recently - but it may be a cure for blight problems

Learn the ongoing ways to manage pests and problems - and understand the pests you face - including the weather. When it comes to seeds the old verses are true.

'One for the mouse,
One for the crow,
One to rot,
One to grow

Its not all bad though - we will get a crop in

The parsnips are doing great - having been re-sown a second time


Parsnip by British Red, on Flickr

The Swede (rutabaga) planted where the blighted potato was removed are germinating fine

Swede by British Red, on Flickr

The catch crop of late sown peas where the onions and garlic were lifted are doing okay - no pigeon attacks this time as its later in the season


Second sowing peas by British Red, on Flickr

Our experiment in field beans seems to be doing okay


Field beans by British Red, on Flickr

The Trail of Tears beans seem to be very reliable - I'm delighted with these as they were "seed saved" last year


Trail of tears beans by British Red, on Flickr

(these were last years beans - this years seeds)


Trail of Tears Beans by British Red, on Flickr

The netting over the first pea sowing seems to have paid dividends


First pea sowing by British Red, on Flickr

Happy again - as this is what they came from


Peas Drying by British Red, on Flickr

I had to leave the corn late - the soil was so cold and wet it would have rotted. Its growing...but whether it will make ears, I don't know


Corn by British Red, on Flickr

The brussel sprout netting has worked like a charm! Companion planting with calendula has eliminated whitefly too


Brussels by British Red, on Flickr

The courgettes have done really well this year - the flowers in salads as well as many courgettes!


Courgette by British Red, on Flickr

I have hopes for the third carrot sowing!


Carrots by British Red, on Flickr

We have also found that Sugar beet is fantastic - the leaves are great in salad or used like spinach!


Sugar Beet by British Red, on Flickr

Oh yeah - this little beastie is a parsnip webworm


Parsnip webworm by British Red, on Flickr

Red

 

[Wook]

I like the raised beds. Are you practising a variation on square foot gardening?

 

[tomongoose]

You may already use it but I find scaffold netting great for keeping birds out

 

[TurboGirl]

What a brilliant thread and how great to see the trials and tribulations of whats gotta be a demanding year for many, many crops! You're overcoming the adversity admirably too, look at all that fine, lush foliage and they'll grow on real strong when the jet stream takes its rightful place, shouldn't be long

Do you accept 'weeds' in your garden? I've found companion planting with natives can really help... my poor garden is living with my experiment in indiginous weeds this year so its a right royal treat to see and hear about yours

 

[Kepis]

Lovely job mate, we have had mixed results here too, albeit on a smaller scale

Carrots - still pulling our first crop, second crop doing well
Peas - Just about to pick our second crop
Beetroot - first crop, devoured, second crop growing well and will be pickled for Christmas
Courgette - absolute disaster, planted 6, two survive, two didnt germinate, the other two just disappeared
Runner beans - looking strong & healthy
Tomato's - Greenhouse ones, just starting to turn colour, outside ones are for making Chutney with
Salad leaves - more than enough for us and the snails
Herbs - trying to escape the herb garden
Corn/Maize - doing well, have 10 acres of it, oops, thats not mine, thats in the field down the lane

It's certainly been a challenge this year

 

[British Red]

Thanks for the comments guys -

To answer the questions - not "square foot gardening" - too intense and demanding of imported stuff for my taste - mor "Self Sufficient Gardener" (John Seymour) in design

I do use scaffold net - thats the cover on the Brussels - trouble is its too fine for the pollinating insects on the strawberries to get in. A 1" mesh should give enough room for bees - but none for blackbirds!

TG - I try to keep weeds down in the veg plots. That said I spent most of today sewing weeds (well native grasses, wild flowers etc.) on a bank that I have removed debris from. I will probably put a few heritage variety fruit trees on it in November and just scythe it once a year

Red

 

[TurboGirl]

It sounds heavenly, Red And its a pleasure to look at! I'm having super karma with redcurrants and loganberries keeping the old cauldrons busy, the herbs are going mental with foliage and the garden prunings are providing plentiful added value to meals but I wish I had the room for the veggies too... we're quite close to Ryton on Dunsmore which homes the seed saver library and geoff Hamiltons kitchen garden but time and room is against me for veggies so seeing yours is a real treat

 

[British Red]

Call in for a look if you ever drive eastwards mate - its nothing fancy or big - but its ours by the sweat of our brows

We need the wildflower bank for the voles.

We need the voles for the barn owls that we watch

We watch the barn owls because...they are just flat out cool

 

[TurboGirl]

Oh yes please!! Must be great to have the owls as neighbours... and the pigeons for pies

 

[British Red]

You should try my neighbours pigeon burgers. Shoots about three a day, breasts them and puts them through an old cast iron Spong mincer with garlic and onion.

All killed with an air rifle - head shots only to preserve the meat.

Oh yeah she is a retired district nurse with a dodgy hip. Looks great in camo dodging through the hedgrows though

 

[EdS]

Congo spuds are pretty blight resistant and keep well. And are an amazing colour. One of the few varieties I never had a problem with

 

[santaman2000]

Congo spuds are pretty blight resistant and keep well. And are an amazing colour. One of the few varieties I never had a problem with

I've had blueish-purple potatoes from South America that were fantastic! Didn't grow them though and know nothing of their reslience.

 

[British Red]

Congo spuds are pretty blight resistant and keep well. And are an amazing colour. One of the few varieties I never had a problem with

Interesting - do you have a source Ed?

 

[TurboGirl]

....she is a retired district nurse with a dodgy hip. Looks great in camo dodging through the hedgrows though

Top chick!