In the comment discussion of my previous post, it occurred to me I never explained that most of what I do in my garden are trial plantings.
I have been gardening the same bit of land now for 2+ years. The first year I didn’t know what would grow there, so I planted a bit of everything. What grew well were beans, peas, cole plants, beets and chard, carrots, leaks, celeriac (celery root) and garlic.
The next year, I did more trials with things like turnips, rutabagas, wheat, and spelt. I also did expanded plantings of some of the things that had done well the previous year. I planted about 30 different cole plants, 5 different carrots, 28 different kinds of garlic and related plants, 10+ kinds of beets, 10+ kinds of swiss chard, and so on. What did well were the garlic (but it’s not yet harvested), the purple cauliflower and red brussel sprouts I posted about before, several carrots and peas.
At this stage many things are not clear. Many things that did well the first year, didn’t do well the second like the cole plants and beets. I also had problems getting my wheat seed to germinate. Many of these things can be attributed to weather, weed infestations, planting depth or distance problems, watering issues, soil fertility, pest or other problems. Some of these things are just not clear what went right or wrong. In any event, more future trials will probably shed some light on these things.
There are many goals in these trials. What grows well in my garden, what tastes good, what has pest and disease resistance, what has high yields, what fits well in rotation schemes with other plants, from which plants is seed saving practical and so on.
Often there are goals unrelated to the type of plant that can change the outcome, such as a new mulching or weed control technique. Although it’s not usually on purpose, I frequently end up with a complex set of variables in a trial. There is almost never a clear outcome to a trial.
In any given planting trial, I am happy if 50% of what I plant grows into something interesting. In the end the idea is to figure out what works best for me, then do expanded plantings and seed saving from these crops. What doesn’t do well is just discarded.
Since seed saving often means protecting plants from cross pollinating, it’s often easier to either plant many varieties in a trial or plant one variety for seed saving, but not both in the same year.
When dealing with heirloom vegetables, you are always dealing with huge numbers of varieties. For example there are thought to be 4000 different kinds of tomatoes! That’s 100 tomatoes a year for 40 years without ever planting the same one twice. It’s the same with almost all types of heirloom fruits and vegetables. There is no point wasting your time with anything that doesn’t work well for you, but at the same time half the fun is continuing to try different varieties or retrying varieties that you think deserve a second chance. When you find the right variety, you can then work on improving it by roguing out undesirable traits and not saving seeds from those plants.
So, what’s coming next for this year? In progress I have a garlic and related plant trial, and I plan to expand this with even more varieties. I have several kinds of peas, beans, carrots, beets, chard, corn (maize) and other things either planned or already planted. I’ll post pictures of whatever does well.
I love gardening. I have yet to try growing all the plants that interest me, but I know it will be a lifetime pleasure for me. My garden started off being clay and weeds. I decided to change it piece by piece because looking at the whole job was an impossible, discouraging task. I am taking it over piece by piece. Over the years I’ve been reading alot about gardening and putting theories into practice, testing different plants, different locations, it is a constant learning process.
I have the same garlic I plant every year for many years now. I couldn’t believe you actually have 28 varieties of garlic?
The best experiment I had so far was when I put in a greenhouse last year, I would recommend that for everybody. It is incredible how plants love to grow in the heat, my tomatoes and cucumbers are thriving in this environment. Plus as a bonus, you can go out to your garden in any type of weather, you are not at all limited by rain, you have to go and water you plants yourself. I have a rain barrel outside, I think the rain water is better for your plants, better than town water.
I just love my greenhouse. It is so nice listening to the rain fall as you are picking weeds, it rally seems so less of a chore. Gardening gives me a peaceful outlet in my life, it is a great destresser.
It was so nice hearing about your experiences in your garden. It is sure that no two gardens are alike. We are getting unusually hotter weather for the last couple of years, we live in the north so it is not un-pleasant for us. Except for the infestation of grasshoppers this year. Luckily my cat is very interested in hunting them so I am very, very happy my cat keeps a good eye on my garden. Without him, I am sure most of my garden would have been eaten by now!
Hi Lisa,
It does indeed sound like we have similar gardens. I too have been considering getting a greenhouse. One of the major diseases we have here is potato blight, which also kills tomatoes. There is no cure, and there are very few tomato varieties with only limited resistance, but if you grow them in a greenhouse it is not a problem. I also have a lot of wind, too much for some plants, and a greenhouse could help with that too.
I too use rain water when I can.
Since you are in Canada, you should have a look at Salt Spring Seeds (link on the right). Among other things, they have a lot of garlic varieties. The guy that runs it, Dan Jason, is a really nice guy.
Take care, and best wishes with your garden.
I had lots of seed packets that didn’t produce any plants, or grew only a few plants per packet. Why? I figured out that I could have been mis-managing my seed supply. Every seed has its shelf-life. So I learned to take the time to find out how long I can safely store every single one of my packet of seeds. Now, I put a date on every seed packet. I didn’t like missing out growing certain plants because the seeds were too old.
I’ve got 8 types of tomato plants in my greenhouse now and they are all starting to ripen. I can’t wait to do the taste-test between varieties. I think what I have learned from last year was to pick the biggest tomato and use it’s seeds for next year’s crop. Last year I experimented with only one tomato, the biggest one that grew, dried its’ seeds. Those are the biggest tomatoes in my greenhouse this year.
Like in the old-days maybe, I think those old-time farmers must have done the same thing, biggest vegetable (use its’ seeds). I would recommend everyone try that experiment.
Lisa