The Experiment
Last season’s garden was for the most part an experiment. I wouldn’t say that it was a failed experiment, even though the yields were not really good. As with any experiment the purpose is to learn, and since there was plenty to learn, I’d say it was a successful experiment.
Living in a forested lot entails a great deal of challenge in finding a good, or even adequate, location for the garden. Having just purchased the property, I didn’t really know the locations with the most sunlight. Since there was an existing garden surround by stones, I thought I’d give it a try.
Since it was getting late in the planting season, being in a hurry was the root cause of the biggest mistake. I purchased the plants before working the soil. After I brought home the tomato and pepper seedlings, I only then attempted the turn the soil. What I found was deep rooted weeds in a thick clay soil with absolutely no possibility of drainage. Being a complete novice, I proceeded in ignorance and dug holes with the aid of an auger drill attachment. It was hard going even with the auger as the soil was a rocky clay. So much so it was only good for pottery making.
Sometime after planting, I began to worry about the soil condition and promptly consulted the web. My concerns were indeed valid. There was little chance this garden would be successful. In a hasty attempt to save this doomed project, I purchased a pickup load of soil and composted manure mix and subsequently heaped it into the garden raising it about 4 inches. My hope was the recently planted tomatoes would root into this new soil from the newly buried stems. This did seem to help some as soon after I did notice a spurt of growth.
What I Learned
The lesson learned here is a garden can’t be just thrown together in a few days with the hopes that it would be possible to patch it up later. What I needed was a solid plan from the very beginning coupled with diligent preparation and execution.
The first step is to find the locations in the yard that get the most sunlight. I found that areas where the grass grows the greenest and the thickest are good starting places. Then I would watch these areas and take note of the shadows from surrounding buildings and trees at various times of the day.
The next step would be to either condition, or replace, the soil in the ground, or better yet, build a raised bed filled with a good soil preparation. Such soil can be purchased at the local nursery or locally sourced from your property and then conditioned with compost from household yard and food waste. If, like me, you have a clay, rocky, or otherwise poor soil it may be necessary to purchase a load or two of good topsoil to serve as a base. Then prepare the topsoil with the addition of as much as one third compost. This was the recommendation of the nursery owner.
Finding Helpful Information
I found it helpful to find folks that have the know how and skills needed to be successful gardeners. The internet is useful but your mileage may vary. Some folks are really good at making videos and may not actually be good gardeners. This is where I’ve found people like local growers and nursery owners helpful. They may not be good a editing a video but their results in growing plants are real and proven. Although I personally haven’t availed myself of this, I’ve heard that the local university extensions are also a good resource for gardeners.