2024 was a challenging year for gardeners worldwide, and since I had some time off at the end of the year I decided to reflect on the successes and failures. Here in NY the toughest environmental challenges were pests and lack of rainfall.  Last winter was very mild, with barely any snow, and I think that led to an increase in pest pressure.  I had to water a lot more than in previous years, and my sandy soil was a detriment to moisture retention. Some plants thrived and were very productive but many struggled.

My only ripe snacking sized pepper of the season

Pests 

Problems: 

1. I saw slugs and snails everywhere, and I tried several different deterrent methods which were only partially successful.  
2. Voles ate a couple of my dahlia tubers and tunneled under and killed my butterfly bush.  They also burrowed under and killed about a dozen heads of garlic.  
3. We caught and released many chipmunks, but they ate some of my tomatoes.  
4. Rabbits and slugs ate two rounds of climbing bean sprouts, so that delayed harvests.  
5. Caterpillars on brassica plants and apple trees cause significant damage.

Lessons learned:

1. Beer traps for slugs are more trouble than they are worth in my opinion.  Wool wrapped around plant stems worked better for me.  I also used plant covers/domes to protect young plants from the critters.  Whenever I saw snails and slugs I killed them.
2. Dahlias will produce when grown in pots.  This was my first year growing them so I wasn’t sure.  I dug them out of the ground as an emergency measure (one of which was almost blooming) to save the remainder from being eaten.  I got a few very pretty flowers once I moved the pots to the greenhouse.
3. I started using mesh bags to cover the clusters of tomatoes while they were still green. This helped protect from chipmunks and slugs.
4. I purchased a mole sonic spike in the hopes that it will protect my garlic crop from the voles, especially over winter.
5. We chased a bunch of baby rabbits out of the garden, since they were small enough to fit through the chain link fence.  One remained inside, and moved in beneath our deck, where we couldn’t reach it.  It became a nuisance once it was too big to get itself out of the garden.
6. I need to be more active in preventing pest infestations.  Next season I plan to check the apple trees and brassicas more often for pests.  One apple tree had severe caterpillar damage before we noticed it and sprayed it.  Hopefully the tree survives, but it will be set back because 80% of its leaves were eaten.  I lost a few brassica plants entirely to cabbage white caterpillars when I was away camping for a week.

A blueberry harvest from the potted plants

Productivity

Problems

1. My squash plants barely produced anything before dying off.  The only winter squash I harvested grew itself from the compost pile.
2. I sunburned my container figs and cost myself an entire growing season.
3. I did not weed the herb bed and it was completely overrun by grass and chocolate mint. 
4. I only had a couple of very small indigo plants, which did not provide very many leaves for dye.  I did manage a couple of hammered leaf towels from the handful of leaves that I got from each plant.

One of only 2 figs I harvested last year

Lessons learned: 

1. The compost pile grew a ton of tomato plants, which I allowed to grow.  Free produce from an out of the way corner.
2. Next season I will harden off the fig trees and provide shade cloth once they are ready to be moved outdoors in order to combat the chance of sunburning the leaves.
3. I want to start more seeds than I have space for so that I can fill gaps or have succession crops ready to go after I harvest.  I have homesaved indigo seeds from 2 years ago that I will be using to see if it grows better than freshly purchased seeds.
4. I need to stay on top of weeds, in the late fall I started to fix up the herb bed and planted a few more perennials to fill in some of the gaps.  Coreopsis, sage, lavender, chives, delphinium, and thyme were all added.

Greenhouse jungle, in the height of summer

Garden Successes

1. Tomatoes and pole beans were prolific last year.  I grew multiple varieties and once they got going they did really well.  I made tons of pasta sauce and blanched and froze a lot of beans.
2. Herbs: I was successful with herbs such as oregano, thyme, basil, chamomile, lavender, sage, and lemon balm.  The lemon verbena and rosemary were less productive, but I still got a few harvests.
3. I added a very large gardening bed in May which allowed for a lot more growing space. I threw a lot of plants in it but didn’t necessarily put them with the best spacing in mind.
4. The sunflowers were gorgeous and a couple of them were huge.  Very satisfying to look out and see them towering over the garden.
5. The blueberry plants are finally in the ground, so I’m looking forward to better growth and productivity going forward.
6. Straw mulch on one raised bed helped preserve some of the moisture in our sandy soil, and also in the potted figs.  Helped to keep down weeds as well.
7. Grew strawberries for the first time in a vertical tower planter.  They were a fun success.
8. Carrots finally worked out for me.  I grew both orange and yellow and got some nice big ones.
9. Grew a ton of marigolds, harvested and dried several different colors for future dye projects.  Moderately successful with growing and harvesting cosmos flowers.
10. Even with the voles, my garlic patch was a success, and the new batch went in the ground in mid-October.
11. Self-sown chamomile allowed me to get a huge harvest, enough to make a couple of different tea blends. I’ve learned that sometimes it’s a good idea to leave “free” plants to get in some bonus harvests.
12. Grew my first ever watermelon, and 2 tiny cantaloupe melons.
13. Saved a nice variety of seeds from the garden, mostly beans and flowers.  About half of the garlic I planted was from homegrown heads.
14. Purchased 3 pear trees and planted them in the garden.
15. I made my second ever batch of slow compost, and have a very large pile going for next year.  I do a combination of bokashi fermentation for the kitchen scraps and a throw everything else in a pile and forget it for a year method.  Garden waste, grass clippings, small branches, and fall leaves mostly, with a tote of chicken manure from my sister’s chickens.
16. Dahlia flowers are gorgeous.  This was the first year I’ve ever had cut flowers on the kitchen table as a decoration.  Sunflower, zinnia, and nasturtiums were also included.
17. We dug up and divided the canna lilies to overwinter in the basement, and ended up with 19 pots, some with multiple bulbs.
18. I grew enough calendula to collect and infuse in oil for herbal salves and balms.
19. I planted one Chicago Fig in the ground to see if it survives the winter.
20. I grew a total of 139 pounds of produce last year. 50 pounds of that was tomatoes!

Looking forward to more of these types of harvests!

As I enter my 6th season of gardening, I thought it might be fun to track the growing season through more than just random Instagram photos.  I have been a hobby gardener since the pandemic lockdown of 2020.  I live in upstate New York and my native soil is straight up sand from a former glacial river valley.  This provides benefits and challenges: it drains well but dries out quickly and it does not contain enough nutrients for annual plants.  I have an 8×20 foot greenhouse and use a combination of in-ground, raised bed, and container gardening spread across my backyard.  I also make extensive use of my basement for overwintering frost tender plants like fig and citrus trees, and canna lilies.  I have grow lights, heat mats, and shelving units for seed starting indoors. 

Over the years I have converted more and more of the backyard from grass into garden beds.  We had a few trees removed from the backline of the property last spring and this has increased the sun exposure for the garden.  I have a container fig tree orchard; they live on the back patio during the summer months.  Two years ago, I planted 3 apple trees, and this past year I added 3 pear trees. I enjoy propagating figs and houseplants by cuttings, so those projects will be shared as well. I grow many herbs for homemade teas and herbal infused oils, and I also grow flowers for use as natural dye and printing on fabric.

We may be in the depths of winter right now, but I am looking forward to this year’s growing season and am already taking steps to start off the season. I can’t wait to fill up the greenhouse with seedlings in the spring, and each year I look forward to seeing the magnolia tree in full bloom.

I see my garden as a place to grow food as well as flowers. I like to use it as a way to slow down and enjoy being outside; as a space to walk, observe the plants, and see what pollinators might be around. I want my garden to be both productive and relaxing.

I will be utilizing this space to showcase garden successes and failures, plant propagation, natural dye projects, dehydrating/processing harvests, and home made herbal remedies.