I had a message from some one saying that they were giving up growing food as they were useless at it. Seeds hadn’t germinated, pests had destroyed crops, things had been slow to grow. and she had come to the conclusion that she was useless at growing food. That is not true. It happens to all of us, even the most experienced growers. Nature is un predictable.
Every year I have crops that do well and ones that are failures, even though my growing techniques are the same. Weather conditions play a big part in this. That is why I always preserve. I might have very few red currants this year as the pigeons ate them all before I got them netted. However, last year I had a massive harvest and I still have a lot in the freezer for my winter smoothies.
This has been a particularly hard year for growing, probably the hardest that I have ever known in my life time. What is important is that you don’t give up. Some thing will do well. Look for solutions and keep sowing. Most seed packets have more seeds in than you will ever need, and they only last a season or two. I had to sow my beans 4 times this year before they did well. The pigeons and slugs and snails ate them, it was too cold at one point, and another place that I planted them had too much shade. I didn’t give up as I knew that they would add a valuable source of protein to my winter meals and that I would need some fresh beans to dry as seeds for the following year.
I admit that a month ago I was wondering if all my hard work this year was worth it. I was feeling a bit down. I had nurtured the seedlings just to provide a banquet for the slugs, things were rotting in the soil from the constant rain, or it was too cold for plants to grow, or seeds to germinate. I was worried that I would not be able to feed us through the summer and next winter, and hated the fact that I had needed help from a community fridge during the Spring. I then looked in the freezer at all the produce that I still had from last year, and the jams and pickles in my cupboard. I remembered that something would produce a bumper crop at some point, even if it was in the wild for me to forage.
I took action. I covered things with glass, I germinated things by hand with a cotton wool bud, I moved things around, and I had faith in Mother Nature. At last the garden is thriving. I may not have bumper crops as I have had other years, but the garden is feeding me now and I have been able to half fill a freezer with what I have harvested so far. I may just have to think outside of the box making new meals over winter and adapt to what has grown. I am also adapting by sowing more winter vegetables as I usually rest over the cold season. I am not useless at growing food even though my garden might have indicated otherwise earlier in the season.
Gardening isn’t just about the product produced at the end. It is good for your physical health (bending, stretching, digging, lifting pots), and good for your mental health. It is also not a race but a destination. My garden is thriving now as I persevered and didn’t give up. Anything that is worth achieving is hard, and has set backs.
The feeling that I get from feeling self sufficient when my meal is mainly home grown food, and the reduced anxiety I feel from knowing that I can feed myself if prices increase or there are food shortages, is enormous. So if you are thinking “I am useless at growing food,” just know that you are not. We have all had crops that have failed, and we have all felt the same at times. This is one of the last weeks for sowing many seeds for winter crops and so why not have another go?
I have felt the same this year, seedlings eaten as soon as I planted them out. Slugs the size of bike inner tubes, more snails than I’ve ever seen, not to mention the pigeons and squirrels!
The peat free compost that I had to buy is awful. It has no water retention at all. Every pot has been like a sieve. I tried standing my pots in trays but the compost seems unable to draw water up from the bottom.
Yesterday evening I harvested a tomato, a tiny cucumber and a lettuce that resembled a lace doily.
I do have some runner beans that are flowering and the spring onions I planted in April are slightly bigger than blades of grass but this year has been the worst year ever and I’ve been growing for nearly thirty years.
Still, there’s always next year (providing I can sort out the compost issue!).
I had heard that the peat free compost was bad and so I used my own for outside and bought part peat compost for inside to avoid bugs. I am sorry that you have had a hard year growing. Thanks for sharing. Fingers crossed for next year
I love gardening to not only feed my husband and I but to help my 3 grown daughters be able to preserve food for their families. I have problems with bore worms and squash bugs but try to plant seeds every 2 weeks so I have more chances of getting squash and zucchini throughout season before the vines are killed off. I am trying my hand at a bigger winter garden this year. With prices going up I want to be able to grow more and purchase less. Plus home grown always taste better. I’ll always have failures in the garden but successful crops outweigh those that fail. I grew tromboncino squash this year since bugs and bore worms usually leave it along. It’s been a big success. Early picking its like a zucchini. Let it mature and its a butternut squash!
Home grown does taste better and has been proved to have more vitamins and less chemicals. Touch wood I have never had those squash bugs, touch wood. I grew those tromboncinos by accident when I had an allotment. I think they cross pollinated. They were massive. Thanks for sharing
For me at the moment it is trial and error, but I’ll get there, it’s all a learning curve and your advice is invaluable 🍅
I am still learning and I have been gardening since I was 3. Thanks
Every year is different, everything is really late this year
I look at other gardeners harvesting their beans and courgettes whereas mine are barely out of the starting blocks. I have moaned about peat free compost, dry at the top so nothing germinated. I bought blocks of coir and mixed it with normal compost 50/50. I added vermiculite and blood, fish and bone fertiliser. What a difference. The seedlings looked much better and continued to thrive whereas the ones in peat free stayed stunted even after potting on. Pigeons here are a nuisance, my peas all have a distinct lack of foliage at the bottom and the kale seedlings are looking a bit skeletal. Hopefully they will flourish now I have covered them. It is so disappointing for new gardeners to find their crops not looking a bit like the seed packets, but don’t give up. Next year will be different.
Yes a lot of my crops are about 6 weeks behind, especially the tomatoes. The ones that have done well, like the courgettes. I kept inside for late in the season as it was too cold to put them outside. The slugs therefore left them alone as they were already large. The pigeons have been pecking everything. I am going to string up some old CDs next year. Thanks for sharing your positive outlook
The pigeons have been a real nuisance this year. They have eaten almost all the leaves off my lilac tree and have now started on a large flowering cherry. I have never seen this before.
I think I have found this year to be the hardest to grow things of all the years. Firstly the cold meant seedlings were sown later, put into greenhouse later and generally nibbled at faster than they could grow. Any compost indoors seemed to be full of those fungus gnats. In the greenhouse the compost was the rubbishy bagged expensive type of it weren’t on offer mixed with my husband’s home made compost. Most things were planted out later and I used everything I could think of to put around the plant bases such as coffee grounds, wool packing, crushed egg shells and dog fur. Most plants survived but some got eaten.
Only the tomatoes in the greenhouse have started ripening. Cucumbers grew like mad once the sun appeared but my gherkins seemed to be very slow this year. I still pickled the few we had and hope to do more and added some cucumbers as we had so many of those.
Rhubarb got off to a bad start but has caught up. We have made chutney twice from rhubarb and courgettes and some raspberry jam and no doubt will make some more either from blackberries we have frozen if we get any apples from anyone or gooseberry jam from the frozen gooseberries.
We lost our red currants to the pigeons but at least they didn’t get the other fruit as it was all netted. We also have some things I froze left from last year and every day I add more French green beans. Runners haven’t done as well but more are growing and some Edamame beans for the first time ever.
It sounds like you have had some good crops. It has been a hard year but things have definitely improved this last month. It is weird as my tomatoes in the green house are not ripe and only just setting fruit and yet the peppers have done really well in the same conditions. The outside tomatoes are ripening. Thanks for sharing. Yes the large harvest from last year is definitely going to be a help this next winter. Fingers crossed for next year
Yes, I was worried for a while but things are doing well now. My out door tomatoes are doing better than my green house ones which seems mad. Thanks for commenting and sharing. Fingers crossed it will be an easier year next year
It’s the first year I’ve started growing my own veg and fruit it seems to be taking for ever to grow though I did start seeds late due to not knowing, I’m not getting much and I think is it worth it, but thanks I will carry on it is good exercise, and it looks as if I’ve started the wrong year lol.
You definitely have, but things are catching up now and so hopefully your things will grow soon. We all learn from our mistakes as well. Thanks for sharing
I have to admire you with your determination & dedication with the growing my downfall is we go away for 1/2 of July so watering dosent happen so veg dosent survive. Lovely post Toni
Yes I must admit it has been easier this summer as we have not gone away. I always look for teenagers in the area that might help and want a bit of cash. I contact the Scouts etc
Thank you for the encouragement.
I usually dabble at best and have intended to be more serious about it next year (after I have moved) but my dabbling this year has been pretty disastrous. It’s easy to get deflated.
I won’t give up though.
Brilliant. I hope that your move goes well