This is a blog post published on Homestead on the Run.
If you’ve been gardening for any length of time, you know every season brings its own challenges. Lack of rain. Too much rain. Tomato hornworms. Freakishly strong deer that break through the fence. Mother Nature has a way of testing us and teaching us year after year.
Reflecting on 2021
In my typical idealistic fashion, I planted seeds anyway, thinking I could keep up with it during weekly trips back to clean the house between vacation rental guests. While working full-time. Plus freelance projects. And the whole project of tearing apart a mobile home and rebuilding a house on our new land.
Last year, I had no one to blame but myself. Brett and I decided to make a life change that involved living an hour and a half away from the homestead.
Reality set in by early July. With little rain and not keeping up with watering or weeding, the wild was steadily overtaking the garden beds. Thankfully some kale and other greens persevered as best they could, the garlic came out unscathed, and the rockstar perennial herbs held their own. It wasn’t a total loss.
Where do we go from here?
This year, I’m going into it with a realistic view. Leaving my job will provide more flexibility and time, but we’ll still be living an hour and a half away. If it’s going to be successful, I need to keep it simple and strategic.
My “keep it simple” plan is to:
- Focus on VIPs – very important plants that produce very important products
- Get the annual beds back in business
- Rescue the suffocating perennials
- If you’re feeling defeated after last year’s efforts, or also attempting to manage a garden from afar, maybe you’ll find this approach helpful.
1. Focus on VIPs
I’ve read the books. I know we’re supposed to plant gardens based on what we plan to eat and preserve for the year. But when I sit down in a chair by the fire with a Baker Creek catalog in the dead of winter, something irrational takes over me. “Planning” becomes buying every mesmerizing seed that catches my eye.
It is time to exercise some self control. That means not planting just anything that strikes my fancy and assuming I’ll figure out what to do with it come harvest time. It also means no plants that cause unnecessary stress for short-lived enjoyment (looking at you, zucchini).
Working backwards, here is my list of foods we can realistically produce and want to have available throughout the year.
Very important products
- Pesto made with various greens and herbs
- Chopped red peppers
- Canned tomatoes
- Canned tomato sauce
- Red sauerkraut
- Fermented green beans
- Onions
- Potatoes
- Dried herbs
- And, here are the plants that will achieve those products.
Very important plants
- Kale
- Red peppers
- Paste tomatoes
- Red cabbage
- Green beans
- Storage onions
- Potatoes
- Herbs including basil, oregano, thyme, chives, lavender, mint, and lemon balm
- Having this list on-hand will keep me focused and accountable when the summer frenzy kicks in.
2. Get the annual beds back in business
The photo on this post shows the garden in April 2021 as I was getting it ready for planting. You can already see how quickly the weeds start moving in. I wish I had a picture to show the state of it by the end of the season. It was the epitome of lost hope.
Luckily, there’s nothing like a long, cold winter to get the motivation to fight back against weeds.
Here’s my plan of attack as soon as the ground thaws.
Clean out the beds
My beloved garden weasel is going to be no match for these weed roots. It is going to require use of our electric rototiller, which I only use sparingly. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Add compost to the soil
Adding nutrients in the form of compost should be on the list every year. It feels especially important after disrupting the soil through tilling.
Although we sadly lost our chickens last summer, it brings me comfort knowing they’ll be giving back to the earth through their droppings that were added to the compost.
Re-build the borders
Since starting the garden in 2016, I’ve worked to create permanent beds for ease of planting and walking, and in hopes of working toward a no-till system. Some of the walkways are made from a heavy black rubber matting that is still in great shape.
On the other hand, several of the rows are made of black plastic from a silt fence that isn’t holding up so well. I’ve only used repurposed supplies from items we’ve had lying around, but I may end up buying heavy duty landscape fabric this year.
Use cover crops and grass clippings
In previous years, I’ve had good success planting crimson clover and buckwheat to cover the bare soil around the plants. Grass clippings from our yard also help to suppress weeds and maintain moisture.
This will be especially important this summer if I’m only going to be in the garden a day or two each week.
3. Rescue the suffocating perennials
Once the VIPs are taken care of, it’s time to move on to the next mission impossible: rescuing perennials.
The poor asparagus I planted in 2020 is still trying to get established and I’m not even sure if the young aronia berry bushes survived. The raspberries are multiplying, but they’re competing for space with wild parsnip (which I vowed would never enter the garden). The strawberries? Cross your fingers they’re not a lost cause.
This approach will have to be more delicate than the annual beds.
Use cardboard and rock weights
Another favorite (and free!) weed solution is using flattened cardboard boxes. In early spring, I’ll carefully weed by hand and then surround the perennials with cardboard topped with rocks to keep them in place. This will buy some time between trips to the garden to keep the weeds in check.
As a bonus, the cardboard will slowly start breaking down into the soil throughout the season.
Bonus: Remember to roll with the punches
It’s nice to feel prepared, but there’s a good chance my good intentions will go awry. The simple act of taking inventory of leftover seeds already has me mentally planting pink okra, yellow melon, and mini eggplants. S.O.S.!
The good news is if just some of these plans work, we will be in a better position than last year. That is what we call progress over perfection. Can you relate?
