- Stupid garden mistakes -

[Loopeend]

I only started this year with gardening. I made some mistakes. I would love to hear anyone else's mistakes (cough, learning opportinuties )

OP starts because it is the polite thing to do.

I planted 3 gherkin seeds. None of them came out. I told my mom. She said; you should always plant more seeds then you want in case some seeds don't come out.
I followed this advice.
Every hole I made to plant a gherkin seed I put 6 seeds in, 'just in case'. And I made a lot of holes 'just in case'.
They all came out.
I have now 84 healthy gherking plants..in a yard that is not made for 84 gherkin plants.. and what on earth do I do when they start giving gherkins...
I guess my friends can expect sour gherkins in a pot for the next 2 years as a birthday gift, wedding gift, baby shower gift, at funerals, etc...

I also learned that I need to finger plants if I want healthy zucchinni baby's. According to my mom. I have to put my finger in the flowers and then in an other flower, and that is how you get a lot of healthy big zucchini baby's.... But the terms she used makes me quite uncomfortable everytime I'm doing it (is it sercretly a really late sex-ed with the message that she wants grand-children? )

Your turn!

 

[KikiLeigh02]

Don't mind me, just over here
My husband always plants to many, especially okra and beets and then we just weed them out. If you don't you may not get any that produce well because they won't have enough room.
Never heard that about zucchinni's....I usually just plant Zinnia's nearby so I guess the bees violate the blooms so I don't have to....

 

[Loopeend]

so I guess the bees violate the blooms so I don't have to....

That's exactly how I feel eveytime I'm fingering the plants... I think I even whisper to them 'I'm sorry, i'd also wish we had more time to get to know each other and got some dinner and wine first...'
MOOOOM!!!

 

[KikiLeigh02]

You should probably at least name each bloom....

 

[Deblett]

Haha, Yes I have made quite a few my first year. I live in Northern Portugal and have inherited/part bought off other family members a small quinta (farm) that has not been used as a farm for many years. I have never gardened before and never grown vegetables. I have a very friendly neighbour - Maria who has been helping me tame everything and has been attempting to impart her knowledge on me, which is pretty damn difficult as I do not yet speak portuguese and she doesn't speak a word of English!!

Maria has farmed her own land her whole life, she does not buy any groceries from stores, she is entirely self sufficient, so a mix up in translation has ended up seeing her plant maize, potatoes, beans, tomatoes, courgettes, etc etc, which sounds great, but there is only 2 of us and I wanted a little garden sized veg plot not whole terraces of corn and potatoes etc as I do still buy lots from the supermarket! I don't intend to be self sufficient, just want to dabble and feel a little proud when I can produce a salad of my own home grown lettuce and tomatoes!!

So I had to very quickly learn canning and pickle making and preserves etc etc as I couldn't dare let her see any of it go to waste!
This year however I think she took the hint and has planted a lot smaller an area up and has been showing me when to plant and when to dig up potatoes etc, she brings me loads of manure and dumps it right outside the back door! Hmmm.

SO yes I am on a bit of a learning curve myself, but it is encouraging me to learn the language as I did happen to understand her when she offered me rabbits to rear for meat which I most definitely did not want. I have instead bought myself some chickens, again I had to turn down her offer of supplying them for me as I wanted pretty chickens as pets, which just makes her chuckle. As her chickens are scraggy no name broilers that only get fed maize to fatten them up asap. She often gives me a chicken for our dinner but she has finally understood after much hand signals, and face making etc that I need them oven ready, not hung by their feet still covered in feathers!!

 

[Loopeend]

You should probably at least name each bloom....

Poop no, then they start wining like 'meh, why does your finger smell like belinda's pollen!'

 

[Redhead Rae]

That's exactly how I feel eveytime I'm fingering the plants... I think I even whisper to them 'I'm sorry, i'd also wish we had more time to get to know each other and got some dinner and wine first...'
MOOOOM!!!

I just plant extra Anise Hyssop and Basil. Bees LOVE those plants and the pollinate everything while they are there.

We finally have a real garden this year, though I keep having to break out the weed whacker to knock down the grass. Two years ago, a flood washed most of our seeds away and we only had one bean plant and one tomato plant in a garden full of weeds. Last year, our Anise, basil, potatoes and tomatoes did really well, as did the weeds. The weeds choked out our potatoes and we couldn't harvest them. We got a mess of basil and tomatoes. But the chickens slugs and box turtles got almost as many tomatoes as we did.

 

[Redhead Rae]

As her chickens are scraggy no name broilers that only get fed maize to fatten them up asap. She often gives me a chicken for our dinner but she has finally understood after much hand signals, and face making etc that I need them oven ready, not hung by their feet still covered in feathers!!

LOL I've been teaching myself over the last year and a half how to butcher my chickens. I couldn't imagine before I moved out here having an intact, headless bird dropped off at my back door.

Ask for the feet though! They make the BEST broth.

 

[lazy gardener]

I finally figured out why they call it Dill WEED! It has completely taken over my garden.

 

[henless]

One thing I've learned is just because the seed is 2 or 3 yrs old, been sitting in a sandwich bag on the hutch, does not mean they may not sprout. I have thinned my okra 4 times now, and need to thin it again. I think every single seed came up.

Next year, I will plant my tomatoes closer to my trellis, and my peppers further away from it. My tomato plants look like they are playing a game of twister as they twist/climb up the lower part of my trellis.