A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2006 Gardening...The Thrill of Victory...The Agony of Defeat

I just thought, being the gardening novice that I am, that I would start a topic of the best and worst of gardening experiences...hopefully for the humor of it.
It rained the first day we tilled the garden spot. Lesson #1...don't till in the rain. Till depth??...less than 2 inches, most of it sod and a thin layer of clay-like muck.
It rained for three days. A week later, we tilled again...Depth??...4 inches.
We added a pickup bed full of fine sand to the garden...on one end. Lesson #2...don't dump all your sand in one spot.
Now, our tiller was borrowed, so we had to give it back. I waited and waited to till some more, but after three weeks, I knew time was running out. So out came the shovel. Not just any old shovel, mind you... this one was a long, narrow spade on a three foot handle. Lesson #3...buy a REAL shovel for a garden...note to self: remember a rake while your there.
Out to the garden I went...First, I spread the sand out to the other end of the garden. Here's where the rake would have come in handy...had I possessed one. It was very much like shoveling snow. Having done all the sand spreading I could, I started to turn the soil. Thrust, step, push down on the handle...thrust, step, push down on the handle... I worked my way across that garden in 3 foot wide sections. (The garden is 20 x 40, mind you) On the second strip of dirt, I took a break...partly for a drink of water...partly for the blisters I now had. Lesson #4...buy stock in first aid items.
Three days later, my garden was turned a depth of 8-10 inches. I had a great tan, new muscles that I didn't know existed in the human body, and I think I even lost a few pounds. I was soooo proud of myself. And then the pickup truck rolled into the driveway. The borrowed tiller was being returned so we could finish tilling the garden. Lesson #5...they have telephones now...even out in the country.
This is a true story...I'm a creative person and I couldn't have written a comedy better than this. Thank goodness next year will be easier...Lesson #6...don't count on it

Oh goodness Connie, that is a great story! Love it!

That sounds oddly familiar!

Oh Connie I can relate to your story I remember my first attempt at making a garden about 30 years ago. I lived in town and wanted to plant some store bought tomato plants...I had no garden tools. I dug what I thought was a wonderful little garden for these 6 tomato plants using a big spoon, a fork and a butcher knife Boy was I proud of my little garden. Hubby does all the shovel work around here...I am no good with a shovel. We have had many gardens with no tiller. We finally have one (I think DH got tired of all the shovel work when our garden increased to 50'x50') and I also have a little row cultivator. So Connie you are not alone

COmfrey, now THAT is determination!!!

That is so true..where there is a will there is a way...Look at all the hard work Connie went through. So it goes to show you if you want to do something even without the tools or right tools, if you work hard enough you can do it.

That is so very true!

With fall coming, you should be able to find a good deal on a tiller, I bought a used Troy-bilt for $300.

I had quite the struggle with this garden, with rabbits invading it and munching three rows of beans, 12 pepper plants, 4 cucumber plants, a dozen cucumber sprouts, 5 tomato plants and 2 rows of corn...and the carrots and green onions not even sprouting. But what I have out there is beautiful and more than bountiful. I'm giving away squash and cucumbers. IF the tomatoes ever ripen, I'll be canning until I drop. I LOVE IT!! I've never lived where the soil is this rich! It's no wonder the crops do so well around here. One more lesson I've learned...Invest in chicken wire fence!

Oh! I was going to mention...my wonderful and extremely smart husband bought me a REAL garden rake, a hoe and tomato cages...after I got done digging the garden, but it's the thought that counts. Now he has new things to pick on me with...you should have seen me struggle with the cages. But that's another story. :rolleyes:

Thats too bad Connie, while they didnt eat my veggies, they did eat all of my sunflowers right down to the ground...i know some people are against them but i cant do anything to them...those little bunnies are too cute..but your right...chicken wire is a great investment!

Good post!!! My first garden I ever did, many moons ago...I had to leave out of state for awhile and my cousin took care of my place, and put up sticks with coors lite bottles on them and left a note...look what popped up in your garden...lol otherwise not to bad, some floods etc...

Connie one thing I learned the hard way...With tomato cages they really need to have at least one stake two is better holding them down. One summer a big storm came up and I stood on the back porch and watch as the wind just blew cages and tomato plants over to the ground. After the storm my son and I went out and was able to stand them back up and very little damage to the plants....these were huge full sized plants, my cages had little wires that stuck into the ground also. So if you didn't do this, you might consider finding some sticks to put down in the ground and tie your cages to the stakes. And I have a fence around my garden, learned that the hard way also, the deer can make quite a mess of your garden in one night. Last year we had a groundhog that dug under the fence and wiped out all of our cantaloupes. My mom has an 8' fence around her garden and a skunk climbed the fence and made a mess in her garden what it didn't eat or destroy it sprayed on last year. So even with a fence you can still have critters in your garden, but a fence helps keep it down to a minimum. Oh and congratulations on getting a real rake and hoe!!!!

Chenno, your cousin sounds like a hoot ! What a fun idea ! I'd have cracked up too !

So far after a year I have a hand spade, the little hand held 3 prong thingy, and pruning shears, small ones. And the three prong thingy in long form. Everything else I still borrow from my landlord. I also have a collection of different sized pots, clear plastic juice bottles for mini green houses, the back of a big a/c unit that works as a shifter for the compost. A 2 by 2 table that is my potting table. And oyster shell lime, alfalfa pellets, green sand, orchid potting soil and fertilizer, general purpose plant food, a spray bottle, 4 milk jugs for my house plant water and plant food, window shelves for the winter indoor sowing extravaganza, florescent lights for the same reason, plastic tubs to keep everything in (that didn't work lol). And all of this in a 525 sq ft apartment. Did I mention that my dinning room table is covered with harvested seeds, seed template making supplies, and boxes and drawers to store them in until they can be used. Well other than the ones I am currently starting indoors for the cool weather crops come september or whenever it cools off lol.

Ok I admit that it took a fair amount of time to make a place for my home teachers to sit down the last time they arrived unannounced. But what can I say it's an addiction. We've even discussed sowing wild flowers on my floor instead of taking all that time away from the garden to sweep and mop the floors. lol.

Yes, I know I've not only went around the bend but down the river when it comes to the gardening addiction.

Well, I left my garden to go out of town on a 4 day rodeo trip. I was so worried that it would get over grown with weeds, but when I returned I found that those worries were well founded...it's gonna take me a week to get rid of all the weeds I now have. On the up side, it will look great when I'm done.

It does take long for weeds to sprout up and get out of control quickly. So yours must not be too bad if you can take care of in a week. Mine is beyond taking care of the weeds, but almost everything has been harvested that I want, so I'm letting the weeds have it until Fall.

If it would quit raining, I might be able to get into the garden. Otherwise, I'll just have to get muddy...maybe I can talk the kids into it. They love getting dirty!

oh, fat chance...my son just walked by and read it over my shoulder...I don't think so - that's his response...lol!

My grown sons won't even come around if they think I might have garden work to do...They know I will put them to work...and the "I don't think so response" doesn't work with this mom, But they will find reasons why they have to leave after working for 10-15 minutes They just use a different tactic is all.

Well that rain even if you get in there when it is muddy, will really help those weeds along as far as growing...But the muddy soil will make it easy to pull them out.

I'm finding that I like wet gardens much better than when the sun is beating down on me. Note to self...when I come in from a muddy garden, STAY OFF THE CARPET!!! Lesson #6 - invest in a carpet cleaner!

so true there Connie!

In my case I have no carpet.... And I am happy about it, DH doesn't care what he tracks in, nor do my big dogs, nor does my grown stepson. My two grown sons are the only ones who seem to pay attention to mud or worse on thier shoes when they enter the house. I have a pair of those heavy duty rubber boots, like they wear in milk barns..which I wear them when going into a muddy or wet garden, then I can slip them off at the door, where i left my shoes.

Fortunately, when it dries, it will vacuum off of the carpet...gotta love that Berber. I think I'll take a picture or two of my very first garden and share it...even if it does have 4 empty rows. Just as soon as I figure out how to post them.

I planted the tomatoes 18 inches apart, just like they told me to. I think that's too close. I could probably have gotten away with one good cucumber plant per mound and 2 squash plants. I had no idea that they would produce so much. I'm definitely going to check into a farmer's market for next year.

Even though I have gotten a lot from my garden...I have to say this has been the worst year of gardening here for me. It rained for 2 months in the early spring before my potatoes could sprout up and over half of them rotted in ground The first row of beans were washed out of there row and when I could finally get into the garden they were sprouting laying all over the top of the soil, so I took handfuls of mud and placed on top of them. I am glad I had planned another row of beans to plant after the first row sprout up...Because I got bean rust, but was able to get as many as I had planned to can, but would have liked a few more. My squash was taken over by squash bugs and all my repeated efforts to save both plants was a total waste of time. I planted way to many cucumbers Then we have the melons which I started out placing some cardboard under the vines as they starting spreading out, but didn't follow through on that and have to look for melons in the weeds My tomatoes had aphids early in the season and it effected my tomato production, even though I still have plenty of tomatoes, there should have been more. The only things that have done really well are my sweet peppers, my hot peppers & my okra was huge this year, with big stalks that produced side shoot with okra also, but of course since it produced good, I have way more then I can use or give away also. Now I have allowed the weeds to take over and what a mess I will have to clean up. Oh well there is always next year..hopefully it will be better!!!!!

I have been thinking about planting some cool weather plants. So far the only response I've gotten from my husband is "Didn't you learn anything yet?" He's such a card. He teases me alot, but he doesn't mind eating the fruits of my comedy in motion. He works at a pet store and is bringing our extra cukes and squash with him. He gives away the cucumbers to costumers, who want more...yeah!!, and feeds the squash to the critters. They like it too. It's usually the squash that have gotten too big to taste as good as the smaller ones. My tomatoes have bugs...we're going to take care of that too...but they are still slow in turning red. The corn is doing great. My daughter, who's 9, picked 4 ears before they were ready, and by the looks of them, I will have alot of corn to freeze.