Mistakes in the garden are going to be had. How you handle them and move forward is what matters though.
Since I’m only 25 years old, I haven’t been gardening on my own very long, about 5 years. Each season though has taught me many lessons, sometimes ones that are very costly.
This season, I really expanded my garden area. I got a greenhouse and more than tripled the size of my in-ground garden. The in-ground area was a last-minute idea, like beginning of May. We got it fenced and tilled quickly. This is where I screwed up big time. I thought because we had never planted there before the soil would be good and I wouldn’t need to fertilize. I knew the logic wasn’t there, but it made sense time wise.
This one mistake cost me my whole crop, which was 400 corn seeds, 50 watermelon seeds, and 40 cantaloupe seeds. We should have been drowning in produce, instead, only a few corn stalks made it to the proper height and tasseled, and the few melons that we did get have zero taste.
The melons look perfect. Thats the confusing part. They had everything else going for them. They were juicy and the texture was there, just no flavor. Frustrating to say the least. All because I didn’t want to take the time to fertilize it. Costly mistake. But I learned!
Never again will I put effort into a gardening plot that hasn’t been fertilized. A complete waste of time, effort, and money. Seeing my giant garden being filled with inedible food flat out stinks. The key though is not giving up. Gardening is all trial and error. Some things that work for others might not for some. That’s okay. Figure out what works best for you and your plants and stick with that!
I’m excited to try again next spring and adjust from what I learned this season. Going to rearrange where i planted my crops and make sure to get plenty of cow manure. Cheers to the failures for making us better!
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