8 Things I Learned From Home Gardening

When I was about fourteen I used to grow tomatoes in my parents backyard. There were only a few vines but I was proud of them. I remember picking a ripe tomato and bringing it to my mom. She carefully sliced the tomato and some mozzarella cheese, added Genoa salami and then with fresh Italian bread made the best tasting sandwiches ever. Wow. Were they good. This was one of those’ “We had it better in my day stories”, I often told my children. It was true though. Vegetables today just don’t have the same taste.

Three years ago I saw a video that revived my interest in having a vegetable garden. The video was on urban homesteading. This family had taken their 1/8 acre in the middle of a major city and turned it into a small farm. They were 100% self sufficient in vegetables and produced an abundance to sell to local restaurants. The video was not simply on gardening. It conveyed another message. Growing your own food was empowering and liberating. It was a path to becoming free from control by others.

We decided to give it a try. We started with two, 4’ x 8’ x 12”, raised boxes. To see how to make a raised bed click here. We used 2 x 6′s and stacked them. Our local local nursery gave us suggestions for 100% organic, soil and fertilizer. click here. After a weekend of carefully deciding the right placement of the boxes (full sun), and then building them, we were ready to go. Barbara cautioned me, “Not so fast”. Its best to wait until after Mother’s Day.” She was right of course. It still was a little cool. Any way our organic seedlings weren’t doing that well.

Its wise to grow vegetables you are going to eat. We chose tomatoes, beans, zucchini, bell peppers and cucumbers. Growing and caring for 5 different varieties in 64 square feet might seem like a big undertaking but at the time I figured how hard could it be. Put them in the ground and watch them grow. I was in for a surprise. By the time planting time arrived only the beans had survived. Fortunately our nursery was well stocked with organic seedlings so we substituted these. Below is a picture of one of our raised beds.

After putting them in the ground the learning process began.

Lesson 1) You can use theory as a guideline but its not always a substitute for experience
There turned out to be a lot of questions that had to be answered before those little plants went in. How many plants would be sufficient for the space we had and the out come we wanted, how often would watering be necessary, how would pests be dealt with? Books can give theoretical guidelines but until you do it yourself you just don’t know exactly what will happen. We planted the zucchini as directed but we didn’t know exactly how prodigious the zucchini would be. Within a short time it was taking over the box. Its yield was terrific, but the peppers were in danger of being overwhelmed. The next year we decreased the number of plants and still had a great yield.

Lesson 2) A good plan will increase your desired result
The cucumbers were doing ok. We installed a net from the box, to the top of our fence (6’). The fence was about 18” away from the box. They were growing vertically away from the zucchini with no problem. That was planned well. In the other box, after a month the tomatoes had taken off. They were about 3 feet high and lush. This was great. However they were beginning to block the sunlight from reaching the beans. Tomatoes vines can reach 6’ high. Eventually the beans would have no light. Duh. Our beans did ok, but not great. We should have realized this from the start. With two large boxes we were constrained for space. No matter where the tomatoes went they would have blocked some other plant. A little more planning before hand would have shown us that we could have built a smaller box in another area just for tomatoes. We did this the following year.

Lesson 3) Use what your given
The net technique for cucumbers and beans is a fabulous idea. In urban gardens where there is not a lot of space vertical growing can be an efficient means for increasing yield or growing vegetables you wouldn’t consider. I’ve seen tomatoes grown in compound buckets. Don’t be limited by space. I saw a Discovery Channel program on how they grow tomatoes indoors in Mexico. They supported the plants by dropping a wire down from the ceiling of the greenhouse. It was a brilliant idea. I was able to do this with some old wire and my fence. It worked wonderfully. Use what your given.

Lesson 4) We cannot control every outcome
The tomatoes started out great. It looked as though we would have a bumper crop. However at about 4’ high they began to look a little odd. Their leaves were turning yellow. We tried to save them but it was futile. Within a month our entire tomato crop was destroyed. They had contracted a tomato blight. It destroyed over 60% of the East’s tomatoes, including ours. It was a helpless feeling watching our food wither and die day by day. Concerning tomatoes our labor was in vain. We did gain a new respect for farmers though. They sow but they are never 100% sure they will reap. They may be able to control nature in some aspect (irrigation and fertilizers) but they can’t control the weather. At any time their crop can be destroyed by tornados, floods, droughts etc. Like them we are not in control of the growing and sustaining process. We couldn’t control the late frost or constant rain which probably weakened the tomatoes. We sowed faithfully in good soil but God was in control of the rest. I would have to wait another year for tomatoes.

Lesson 5) Be optimistic and persevere, there will be another harvest
Overall, except for the tomatoes, our crop was a moderate success. We had an abundance of zucchini and peppers, enough for the whole summer. The cucumber yield was about one every week, but the beans were sparse. That wasn’t so bad. No tomatoes, but not a total failure. We would try again next year. Maybe the harvest would be better. We had tried something we had not tried before. We weren’t farmers and didn’t come from farming families. We did see produce though, and that was encouraging. We had started to take back the land. It was a small beginning, but a better harvest lay ahead.

Lesson 6) Be patient, good soil and good seed will produce a good harvest
Last year we added the separate 4’ x 6’ box for the tomatoes. In our other two boxes we again went with organic seedlings. We chose lettuce, Brussels sprouts, beans, bell peppers, zucchini and cucumbers. The weather was perfect. We used a drip irrigation hose to water when it was needed. There were no pests and no diseases. We were totally self sufficient in vegetables for the whole summer and early fall. A harvest cannot be rushed, it cannot be predicted, it cannot be manipulated. A gardener must submit to the elements and to the One who is in total control. Grumbling, complaining or cursing will not make the crop grow any faster or better. After he has done his, all he can simply bow and give thanks.

Lesson 7) Use your produce to be a blessing to others
Last year our garden produced so much food that we gave basketfuls away to our neighbors. The Lord blessed our efforts, but he also used us to be a blessing to others. Our neighbors were so appreciative to receive organic food. Fresh organic produce is rather costly. However it meant more than this. It gave us an opportunity to build relationships and to provide each other support when needed. It has given us a sense of community. We continued to do the same this summer.

Lesson Enjoy your produce
This year our yield was also a success. It was not as good as last year’s due to a very damp spring and fungus problem. We had a problem with bean beetles early on but we dealt with them. Overall we continued to be 100% vegetable sufficient. The cucumbers were great. The Zucchini as usual was too much to handle so we were always giving it away. I love beans and they are still going strong as are the peppers. We tried broccoli. It was a little sparse but Peter loved it. While we didn’t have as many tomatoes as last year, we still ate and enjoyed 1-2 a day. Oh, and the taste. They were the best tasting tomatoes I have ever had. Wow. Perhaps even better than those I had as a teen.

…Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest. Jeremiah 5:24

To see how to protect your seedlings from frost or get an early start to planting click here.

For ideas on vertical gardening for the urban gardener click here.