A note from Ellen about the end-of-season gardening recap:
What will you do differently next year? Please let us know by commenting on this post!
This is a good time to make some notes about what worked, what didn’t and what you might want to do next year. Believe me, it is a great idea to jot these things down now because you will forget by next season, take it from me.
A case in point: Last year I purchased enough tomato supports to stake all my tomato plants. I stored them neatly in my garage to use this year. But, for some reason, this year I “forgot” how important it is to stake my tomatoes and had to re-learn that un-staked tomatoes are a mess and very hard to harvest. So number one on my list of things to do differently is:
- Stake my Tomatoes!
Other things I want to remember:
- When buying seeds and plants, pay attention to disease resistance. Choose varieties that have some resistance to mildew and blight.
- Add some kind of organic fertilizer to boost the nitrogen in my raised beds. Since I mulch with leaves and hay I had too much “carbon” and not enough nitrogen and things did not grow as well.
- Be more vigilant about insects. Try to catch them before they become marauding hoards.
- Keep a record of what seed (plant) varieties I plant and how well they perform. It’s fun to try new things, but if there is something I particularly want I need to have a reliable variety.
- Plant something new each season.
- Did I mention staking my tomatoes? Oh yeah, I want to remember to stake my tomatoes…..
Wagon Hill Farm Community Garden 
Posted by CGFA Web Cultivator on October 26, 2012 at 11:18 am
Next year, I will stick to annual veggies only (no more strawberries/ lemon balm), start seeds indoors in March, mulch with seaweed.
Posted by Sarah on October 26, 2012 at 2:16 pm
No beans this time! Our plots need to take a year off so the mexican bean beetles don’t build a permanent home.