DON'T MAKE MY MISTAKE - and post your newbie mistake as well...

I thought this would be a fun way to learn from each other.

When making the transition from row gardener to SFG I was in the habit of letting everything die off and lie there through the winter. Everything gets plowed under the next year and no big deal. Don't do this. End of season clean everything up and GET RID OF THE SEED HEADS. I let a basil go to seed, and I have been pulling this "weed" hundreds of times the past 2 years.

On the flip side, I also had many many tomatoes that "volunteered", and were welcome. Still had to pull about a hundred.

What was your newbie mistake?

Squat_Johnson wrote:What was your newbie mistake?

Filling out the plant tag marker; sticking it in the square; not planting the seeds!

Something that simple, I had to develop a routine for myself to follow everytime I planted.

My biggest mistake was not mulching around my plants once the soil warmed up.
The weeds can take over in the blink of an eye.
Mulching sure keeps down those pesky things but also keeps the soil moist so they don't require as much watering.

See the grass and weeds around my Gretel eggplant? I didn't mulch soon enough to prevent that mess.

I've got three. 1. Trying to plant peas close to summer time. They really aren't kidding whey they say they are a cool weather crop. 2. Letting my romaine head of lettuce go to bolt. I made the hubby research online how to cut the bitterness and it worked. 3. I pulled up all my radishes when they were weeeeeee tiny little things. I have enclosed beds but I still get those darn crabgrass seeds in them, so I just pulled like I normally do. I had my SMH and badmouthed moment afterwards.

boffer wrote:Filling out the plant tag marker; sticking it in the square; not planting the seeds!

Well.. at least you prepped well? I'm bad about not doing tag markers at all, so I update my spreadsheet now instead.

Not putting up a high enough fence to keep a 4 month old boxer puppy OUT! Everytime I looked out the window last summer, she was digging in her "sandbox."

I missed the part where a 3cu ft bag of peat moss was really compressed and actually counted as a 6cu ft - I couldn't figure out why things werent quite as vigourous as they could have been - and ended up fertilizing lol

After one season I actually bought the book and figured it out, now when the MM thaws out I will remedy the situation and no longer need to fertilize. On the flip side, my new gardens I made a couple of weeks ago with the correct proportions of goodies look wonderful:)

My other newly discovered mistake was planting my beets in the shade (or lack there of) of my pole/runner beans. In researching companion planting a little more in depth that apparently I did last year (well I probably skipped that part knowing me - see my next mistake) - pole beans and beets inhibit each others growth. Being that both are soposed to be so easy to grow, I couldn't figure out why neither of them took off. Once I took out my (pathetic) beets my beans did actually recover some - but that combined with my poorly read recipe above meant for a sorry pole bean harvest lol

My other mistake that I remedied a few weeks ago was when I put in my first sfg I was apparently too excited to notice the wooden stake with fluorescent pink tape that the surveyor so kindly placed about 3-4 ft from where I was installing my sft, and the actual garden was ~6 inches over the property line. Fortunately the lot is empty (but for sale) and it didn't sell for the entire season and I made it to winter so I could empty the MM and move the entire garden - lol no harm done, but apparently it empitmises my over eager rushed excited miss-steps into sft. All that said, I had fabulous successes and I am in the process of installing 4 new beds this year - 2 down 2 to go - you live and learn I guess

This caused me some amount of aggravation- I used wooden plant marker stakes. They were cheap. They were "green". Too Green for here in Texas heat and humidity, as they dissolved. So I was left like Ward with "tomato, pepper, etc" that I could identify, but no idea what was the best of the 3 tomatoes I planted, etc! Now, I'll have to admit I should have noticed the stakes going bye-bye sooner, but I was spending my time loving the plants.

Jane

Those sad plant markers stories can happen, so I want to tell you how I deal with it.
I make markers on venetian blind slats with a permanent Sharpie but I angle them so the lettering on the markers is a little under the angle so the lettering lasts longer in the rain, etc.
But I also make a garden plan of each raised bed and number it.
Then, with pencil, I put in each square what I plan to plant. If it changes at planting time, I change the plan. I carry it on a clipboard into the garden. I also add the date I sowed seed or transplanted and the variety.
If the plant markers are beyond redemption due to Mother Nature, I still have my garden plan.

Some of my plant names washed away last year. I discovered Sharpie Industrial markers, which are supposed to resist extreme heat and steam, chemicals and cleaners. I just bought some, so I don't know how well they work as yet...

http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/836924/Sharpie-Industrial-Permanent-Marker-Fine-Point/

say to yourself... "I do not have to plant every variation of every type of seed in the first year "

also... "I will write down where I planted what so I do not have to post pics asking 'what is this plant' on SFG "

and lets not forget... "less is more" :!: .

Number 1 ----- HAVE FUN

(Don't post when your exhausted and about to go to bed (Accidently placed this post in the wrong spot last night )

quiltbea,
Thanks for the idea about blinds markers! Duh on me! I have excess blind pieces from building grids and I work in a lab (Sharpies are our pencils!)

Selandra,
Yes, you are on target! But it is so invigorating to plant those experiments


Jane

janefss2002 wrote:
Selandra,
Yes, you are on target! But it is so invigorating to plant those experiments


Jane

I know, I know.... you should see the box full of seeds I have... of course... there's that jelly mellon I'm dying to try

I am definitely a newbie - my biggest mistake so far is waiting so long to read All New SFG! A friend told me about it at least a few years ago but I just bought the book last month. Now that I am getting ready to build and plant my first SFG, be prepared for LOTS of mistake posts from me!