The thing that I think needs to be communicated more often is that my balcony garden ain’t perfect And you know what…who cares?
Everything that I plant, grow, sprout, whatever doesn’t look great and doesn’t always work. I’ve been having problems with my cucumber containers.
I think this needs to be said and said more often for a few reasons. The first, and most important, is that one of the biggest excuses that I hear from people is that they always fail when attempting to grow things. I have three containers right now that look like death.
The second reason is that when you look at most (not all) gardening websites everything is perfectly manicured and looks amazing. That ain’t life and for some people it’s not attainable, so why try?
Some of my latest failures are one cherry tomato container that is beyond sad looking, though I have been able to harvest a few tomatoes from. I have the remaining cucumber plant that the leaves are starting to turn brown and die. There is also another tomato plant that was transplanted recently that has browning and yellowing leaves.
I’ve been regularly adding compost and manure tea, but no luck. Lots of advice has been given to me to help remedy the leaves, but nothing has worked yet.
The fact that the balcony is east facing and gets direct sun until about 1030-11 am is likely a big factor. So I’ve decided to pull-up the plants and grow something that can survive without the direct sunlight.
I just wanted to express some of my failures to show that it’s not all perfect, but I learned my lesson and will continue. All good.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o014gQzGNU4
I like your new look ~ Tks for posting a new video! I look forward to the next, video garden topic.
Thanks. I let it grow out every once in a while.
Good idea mike… people need to know that not all will look like the perfect pictures they see online/books. Gardening is trial and error.. My year on a 2000 sq. ft garden.. was so many mistakes… I call it my gardening university! Keep up the good work.
I’d enroll in Stoltz U
Amen! I’ve killed more things than I’d ever admit to, but you’re right, it should be communicated. Successes are great, and you learn a lot–but you learn a lot from failures, too!
Tomatoes are definitely not as fruitful in low-light situations, but I have found that you get a few more cherry tomatoes, if you want to keep trying! (Still not as good as out-in-full-sun-not-in-a-container, but ya work with what ya got.)
I def think it should be communicate more. It doesn’t seem to be communicated at all. I got a few cherry tomatoes, but have now ripped them up for something that will do better in the given circumstances.
ya you definitely need to learn what your area can support. it’s all trial and error. I’ve given up on tomatoes and peppers as without a greehouse it’s very hard to get good results in the pacific northwest. tomatoes sometimes, peppers rarely from my experience.
you can over fertilize stuff which is much easier to do in pots and containers. gf added some of our worm compost directly to some plants in pots which burned them good.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….
i lust after the perfect garden….
i grow mostly weeds and inedible green beans…
i do have some seminole squash that put on three (what may be edible squash)
and i can grow eggplant…but they don’t get bigger than my thumb
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Who needs perfect?
Hahhaa. If anything my plants would be malnourished and not over nourished.
Hey Mike, quite right about the fact that some veg must have sun and about sharing failures. You should have seen my sweetcorn – huge plants and almost NO cornsat all !!
Keep up the great work.
Mark
Thanks Mark. Will check out.
Quite right Mike. I make lots of gardening mistakes and my garden definitely looks nothing like something out of a magazine. It wasn’t until I realized that nature is not perfect, and neither am I, that I began to enjoy gardening. I think of it as an adventure, an experiment. Whatever comes out of my garden that is edible is a very nice bonus! I just keep trying and learning.
It’s a journey not a destination. I love that quote.
Thanks for that. What a tough spring it’s been for seedlings. Birds got my Kale. Squirrels got my peas. Weather got my beets.
And you still got your health and desire. That’s what matters. This kind of stuff makes you appreciate food that much more when you eat eat. Keep me updated.
Thanks for posting this! i really had good time reading this.
LOVE this idea. I try to think of the garden as a big experiment. Maybe it’ll be a delicious dinner, maybe it’ll attract a pollinator or two, or maybe I’ll learn something not to do next time. It’s all good. I try. I learn. Sometimes I eat the experiments too.
Just don’t eat the yellow snow, know what I mean?
This is cool! And so interested! Are u have more
posts like this? Please tell me, thanks
Hey,nice post.Well written article.Its really a fantastic idea. I will try this to my garden.You have done a great job by sharing this post with us.I like this post.Keep sharing with us.
When I first tried gardening it really made me frustrate at first but with the right techniques that most I’ve got from the internet, I’m now have a wonderful outdoor garden at my house and it really makes me feel proud.
The term “garden” in British English refers to an enclosed area of land, usually adjoining a building.This would be referred to as a yard in American English.
In January 2011 the White House oil spill commission released its final
report on the causes of the oil spill. They blamed BP and its partners
for making a series of cost-cutting decisions and the lack of a system
to ensure well safety.
Outstanding work yet again! I am excited for your upcoming post!
Appreciate.