Only firs years huh? I should be an expert by now, I've had so many failures. Took me a decade to realize the reason my gardens failed was because I was born with a cerulean thumb, and as we all know, those types cannot direct sow anything, they have to start all their plants indoors.

And of course this year I coulda opened a gourmet frogleg restaurant - oh wait, there's still time :)

Patience and Fortitude

This is my third year, and I'm doing a little better. Although I composted and gained half way to my goal. The first 2 years without proved to be much worse, so keep at it.

I planted a lot of things I'm unfamiliar with this year, so a gardener with 20 years of experience at only growing a few vegetables however successful will still have failures if trying something new. Don't think it's a newbie thing.

I direct sowed several times for some things, had a bad seasonal start because of flood rains. Weather may have played a good part in why your garden didn't do well.

Rain slowed down the growth of my brassicas, they don't do well in the rain is what my garden hardware center says and will stunt the growth of cabbage, broccoli, etc.

I haven't got the direct sow thing down yet either, I keep sowing next to things that didn't grow until I see a full row of plants, but they thin themselves off for what ever reason and aren't growing well. Beets, carrots, and turnips are what didn't do well.

You'll hear a lot of advice on growing what grows well in your area in your garden. Each one is different for different reasons. My orange carrots won't sprout, but my cosmic purple carrot is thriving. You may have to give up the normal things, find something of the same, but not the normal variety you would like.

I started some of mine in paper towel, but not on top, in between, had really bad luck with it. Started some in pots, still did bad, started too early in season, and I'm filling holes this year right now.

The bugs got me! Squash vine borer and squash bugs killed my biggest treasure, squash and pumpkin. I planted a bunch more and have some bt to put down, I now have yellow crooked neck, butternut, cushaw, white patty pan, watermelon sugar babies, cantaloupe, and sweet dumpling, some are similar to pumpkin. They tore the pumpkin plant to pieces, I'm still tearing out pieces of them.

My sorghum did great, so did my cucumbers, tomatoes seem to be flowering just now, doing good considering last year I got 30 tomatoes from 11 plants. This is definitely better and I can really tell the difference. Did you use Miracle Grow? I wouldn't recommend it, did really bad the first two years using it.

Go the route of planting flowers with your vegetables to attract beneficial bugs, I've seen a lot of insect activity this year I didn't see last year. That is usually good, especially when you see spiders! They are great in the garden, didn't have many last year, but they started off strong this year.

I wouldn't give up, but you can plant a few of each thing you are not sure of, plant a lot of what you are sure of, and when you find something good, grow more next year.

I hope you won't give up. It's an artform if you get it right. I'm amazed at how easy it is for some people.

Sounds like you were really ambitious growing so many different things. Why not next year try less different veg and easier ones. My experience radishes and tomatoes are really easy cannot go wrong tho you said you had difficulty with tomatoes. Potatoes as you mentioned are also good. Did you find a local farm supply or gardening store to give you advice?
Failures I have had are innumerable including
Growing things way too close together so they are massively crowded.
Growing enough of one veg for the US army despite fact family not that into it.
Growing things so they end up shading each other for exampl losing my little eggplant in a tomato forest. On and on its a matter of learning as you go.

We've been gardening over 20 years and expect at least one major disaster per season (although it's running a lot higher this year, because it's our first summer in this climate)

Some memorable disasters:
Our first year--it took us the whole season to figure out that everyone else at the community garden had much bigger veggies, and much sooner, because they were using fertilizer as well as compost

The brussel sprout debacle--ground hogs LOVE brussel sprouts, especially just as they start to ripen

The potato tower fiasco--we got very few potatoes out of it, but the field rats sure enjoyed the multi-story rat condo

Enjoy the journey! :-)

I killed all my raddishes and lettuce.
I am doing well with zuchini, and I have had a few cucumbers, lots of melons are starting to produce small melons.
Even my peppers are starting to bud.

This is my first year.
I also killed all my broccoli seedlings.

Just keep at it. This is my 3rd year. Still lots of mistakes. Too numerous to list here. One big screw up is I have to change all the wood bed borders as I used too wimpy wood.

So will be doing that this fall....lots of work there. I hope to be slightly half-ass knowing what I'm doing by my 5th year...and don't forget to plant some rasp / blackberries and fruit trees!

I still can't get spinach to do very well. My first year was good, but it's never done well since. I had one of two tomatoes last year decimated by disease, so now I spray, and the difference is night and day. My herbs this year bolted way too fast thanks to the heat here, so I barely got anything out of them. My eggplants this year have been a spectacular failure, I attempted two Ichiban plants, but they both got killed by the weather (way too cold and rainy for them), and then the four Duskys I replaced them with have been eaten to nearly nothing by flea beetles.

Basically, something does poorly every year, and something else does fabulously. I have the luxury of not relying solely on my garden for food, so I can afford a few screw ups. If the situation was different, I'd probably experiment less than I do now. But the experiments are where the fun is, so I'm going to keep at it for quite some time! :-)

I learn something every year, and every year has its successes and failures. Sometimes the weather is perfect for one veggie, but others die out. Sometimes a hail storm will take out your entire garden. Sometimes you get bugs or diseases and other years not see a one. Sometimes you realize your soil is off or maybe your family doesn't really like that veggie you put such effort into growing. And some years you get a beautiful abundant harvest that makes you proud and happy and ready for more!

So the next year you try something a bit different, and the year after, and the year after that. The nice thing about gardening is that there's always another season to look ahead to.

whiteapple don't be discourged as with anything its a learn while you go thing, make notes if that helps like I had to make a very strong mental note not to make up my own solution to kill bugs, I made up this totally organic stuff that burned the tar out of my plants I thought I was going to loose my whole crop of tomatoes, but they rebounded thank goodness. I also have a problem with under fertilizing so I need to work on that. Last year was my first at veggie gardening and the only thing I really had to much of was peppers but this is my second year and with all the help on this website I have too many tomatoes too many eggplants and soon too many cucumbers its a nice problem to have. Good luck and keep digging LOL :o)Deanna

Thanks everyone for the encouragement! I guess not everyone or in reality is anyone born with a green thumb?

I tried all different varieties with veggies to see what I can do and can't, those things I can do are going to have a front row in my garden - potatoes, broccoli, lettuce, turnips, kale, peas, and mustard. I am going to invest less time with the others. I am already devising a plan for next year. Next year I will try melon, corn, and shelling beans because I was thinking Indiana is one of the top producers of the listed. I will definitely invest less in my community garden and put it there and hope it works - its not so good soil and tons of weeds because it basically just used to be a swampy forest just maybe a decade ago. And I will probably get a plot somewhere else too the place I am at now was just free so I had too!

I think the main aggravation for me is the money invested in it and not getting the money back. I wish it was giving me back money because money is tight in my house and me finding a job has proved impossible so I am doing yard work in the neighborhood which is getting me enough to buy food, fun, and gas barely. Like gardening I still haven't given up with looking for work!

Today I am pulling my dead pea vines up and transplanting my cole veggies there and hopefully they transplant well and produce in the fall then replacing the cole with green beans which I can grow - last year I was able to grow some in pots!

THANKS!!!

I look at failure as a learning experience. I've got a ton of it!!!

You've got the right spirit, WhiteApple!

It has been so many years back, I can't remember the failures in that 1st garden that I took full responsibility for.

I do remember that I had LOTS of turnips! I don't even much like turnips. My rabbits were delighted with them!

My pole beans did really well! They were grown on a low but sturdy trellis I built. It was only about up to my elbow. The only thing I can think of was that the plants were few and widely spaced - maybe the seed didn't come up very well.

But once up and growing, those bean vines went UP and DOWN and UP and DOWN . . . I had LOTS of beans!

Concentrate on your successes this first year. Be inspired by them, as I think you are. Build on those successes. And, build . . . and, build.

Steve

Well this is my first year of gardening - square foot gardening. Usually my wife does that (and don't tell her) it worked.
I started with a raised bed and I made one 3*16' and about 7" deep. I made another 4*4Â.
In the large one I planted some green onion, beets, carrots, bush beans, some vine beans (from Romania), 3 tomatoes, 3 hot papers, sweet peas and 3 squares of potatoes.
In the small one (4*4) I have about 6 plants of tomatoes, green pepper and egg plants.
Tomatoes, egg plants and hot peppers I started from seeds.
My egg plants came up very nice until I moved them outside. All of them died...so I went to HD and bought the last 2 black beauties (1 is yellow and I think it will die).
Tomatoes started from seeds are all ok and are growing.
Sweet peas are almost dead. I did pick some peas but not too many. My bush beans are great, still producing.
Now I'm waiting for my tomatoes (my wife's tomatoes are bigger that mine and have fruits, little but tomatoes never the less).
I'm looking forward for my next year when I'm planning some more veggies and different once.
My big problem is that I don't know how to replace the veggies I took out with for a continuous grows and a plastic cover for early seeding.
What other soil can you use beside MG?
Hope I didn't put anyone to sleep with my adventure in the gardening world.

Michael - outside Chicago

Oh,, so many stories to tell but not enough text to fit in a single post.
Starting with this last year.. I just had moved into a rental.. thanks to the economic collapse,, blah, blah,, lost job, house, fortune,, .. still have my family,, that is what is important.. back to the subject..
Planted a very, very ambitious garden with over 150 plants with 80 of them tomato plants.. only to find that half of the garden gets shade for over half of the day.. those tomatoes did not do so well... as well as soil.. sandy, barren soil.. not one plant made it over 3 feet tall. and the tomatoes were sour.. gaaaahhhhh.. I spent over 150 bucks on that garden... at least the squash did well.. untill the squash beetles infested.. soo,,, the tomatoes sucked, the lemon cukes,, sucked, the peppers,, sucked, oh well live and learn.. This year, i planted all the lettuce, spinach and potatoes on the shady side and all the HOT plants on the sunny side...but still have problems. but i still enjoy the heck out of it.

Happy Gardening,,

Robert.

First year failures?

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Our first year failure happened in 2004. Our frost free date as published by every source we could find was May 15. On May 14, the long range weather forecast predicted nothing below 40 F. until late September or October, so we planted most of our garden on May 15, 2004.

Our 8 tomato plants and 6 pepper plants got hard frozen on 5-15-2004 (frost free date). Luckily our seeded crops and transplanted cruciferous vegetables survived, and we replanted new tomatoes and peppers a few days later.

Third or fourth year failure story: I planted out 33 tomato plants on a Wednesday around the 15th Of May, 2007 or 2008. The next night, Thursday, 1/2 of them were totally destroyed by a hailstorm, the rest severely damaged.

Luckily, I always end up with way more seedlings than I can plant, so I had replacements. Due to the mud caused by the hail and rain storm that destroyed my plants, I could not replace them until the next Wednesday.

Yep. The next Thursday night we had another hailstorm that wiped out an almost identical portion of my newly transplanted tomatoes and peppers. Luckily, I still had some replacements, though not exactly the varieties I needed to replace.

This year's Failure? Two feet of rain between spring thaw and recommended planting date for most of my crops.

I finally got the last of my 3' tall tomato seedlings planted about three days ago. Will they produce by fall frost? Who can predict KS weather?

You all are scaring me. This is my first year trying vegetables. I put in a small 12x12 garden with 4 raised beds. Filled them with mostly composted cow manure, some peat and turned it in to the sandy soil. I planted cukes & zucchini in one, cukes and peppers & brussel-sprouts in one, tomatoes and broccoli in one and bush beans eggplants and sweet peas in one. I got it all in about the 1st of June. The 3 tomatoes (purchased in 3 inch pots) are over 4 ft., lots of flowers and a few fruit so far.The broccoli is producing, some of it almost ready for harvesting (I think?) The cukes (from seeds started indoors) are starting up the fence, flowering and a couple of fruit. The zucchini (from seeds started indoors) are huge and producing. Peppers (from seeds started indoors) are just starting to flower. Eggplants (purchased in 3" pots) are growing and producing fruit. Brussel-sprouts have quadrupled in size (purchased as a 4 pack) but are just leaves. Bush beans (purchased in 3" pots) have produced 3 beans a piece but have been attacked by insects numerous times and are smaller than when purchased! Sweet peas (purchased in a 6 pack) - which I built a lovely bamboo teepee for them to grow up - haven't grown a bit! They are alive, and I dont see insect damage but they just sit there. Next year I'll grow everything from seed. The sweet peas and bush beans are the only disappointment so far. The real kicker is that after building the raised beds, fencing them in, and filling them with so much good stuff - the leftover cuke seedlings (I had close to 50) got planted in various other spots in the yard, in beds with very little soil amendments and some with none, most of them planted 2-3 weeks later than the ones in the veg bed - and they are generally looking bigger and healthier that the pampered ones. So far the rabbits, chipmunks and squirrels aren't interested, so maybe I didnt even need that fence!

I had two failures this year before I had success at all! My sister signed up for a community garden plot and I thought I would too. I started by planting some purchased tomatoes and peppers and then the floods came. All my tomatoes and peppers washed away. So back to the drawing board. By then the weeds were starting with a vengeance. I would try to hoe the most of the row, dig a trench and plant. My 16 yo daughter helped and my second attempt... Absolutely nothing came up - no green beans and no zinnias. Then I planted Okra and peas. No one in my house really likes okra. I have a lovely stand of okra. Just as I got my garden planted the weather turned hot, we have had a HEAT wave and no rain. Had to start watering. I did know to fertilize, so I threw some 13-13-13 around and watered. Scorched some where I got it too close.

I must admit, even tho this is my first year. I'm not entirely handicapped, having grown up on a Mississippi farm. I have a respectable first year garden. Stay at it and use some Miracle Grow. I have already harvested squash and I should have a 'mess' of peas in another week.

I know you asked for first year failures, but I have enjoyed gardening so much this year, I wanted to say how rewarding it could be too. I have stuck with it and everyday when I get off work I am so excited to go to the garden. Even in 100 degree weather. I have kept at the weeds and the rows are actually identifiable. I have peas, okra, squash, peppers, lima beans, green beans, corn, watermelons, cantaloupe, pumpkins and peanuts. Not a lot of each, and they are not producing yet. But I know I'll have something. Because of the pleasure I am getting out of my little garden, it won't be a failure.

Hope your rewards of your first experience is worth a little failure.

This is my 3rd year and I've had more failures this year than the last two! I did plant things too close together my 1st year, but they still did pretty well considering. Although I can't seem to grow cucumbers b/c of too many beetles, and squash died from bugs last year.

This year my garden is bigger, so maybe that's why I'm having more problems. Here goes:

-I planted two sets of pole beans and only a few of them germinated so I had to buy new seeds and try again. Finally now all of them sprouted and just reached about 4 - 6 inches tall. So the 1st two plantings must have been bad seeds. Maybe I'll get a small harvest out of these in September.

-The spring lettuce crop was terrible - only maybe 5 or 6 plants grew when I planted more like 20. I have no idea why since the past 2 years the lettuce grew wonderfully.

-My mustard greens got completely attacked by white flies this year, so they were pretty much inedible and ended up in the compost pile.

-The oregano and marjoram are covered in little white spots, and the sage and tarragon have some too - I just learned over in the herb forum this is probably leaf hopper damage.

-The chard is getting pretty severe leaf miner damage, although if I pick those leaves off I think there will be enough left for a couple harvests hopefully.

-My tomatoes have early blight. I cut all the yellow bottom leaves off 2 night ago, on some of the plants it was 30 - 50% of the leaves! Boo. 2 of the 6 plants are still huge and healthy, so I think I'll at least get plenty of cherry tomatoes, but not so sure how much of a harvest I'll get from the rest.

Sigh.

It has been a long time but I recall well the biggest mistake I made was not knowing my soil pH was over 8.5

Getting a Lab Soil test and following their advice was the
best thing I ever did, gardeningwise anyway.

My first year of gardening was in my mid teens (I was given a fairly sheltered life and still prefer it). I had made two 2Âx4Â raised beds 12" high, filled them with topsoil harvested from an out of the way location (on the property) and a few bags of store-bought manure. My parentÂs place happened to be where a full grown bodybuilder would be lucky to get the tip of a shovel 3" into undisturbed ground , so the filling of the beds was an ordeal. I planted each of the beds with 3 rows of red bush beans (I donÂt know why anymore, I was just a kid). I watered and waited, watered again the next day, and again the next. Then at one strange moment the next day I looked upon my creation and just happened to notice the five 18" tall tomato plants growing in each of the beds!

You might think that at this point I was very excited about having plants in the garden, or that one of my parents was being nice, making sure that their child had a successful first garden - I tell you now that this was NOT the case! First, I was 15ish - not 5ish! - I knew there were differences between plants and had a bit of a grasp on the concept of time. There is no second point, but what I tell you now is that I had awoken a sleeping gardener who had coveted my land and claimed it as her own (sure she is my Ma and technically maybe it could have possibly been her own, but anyway). I listened to her excuses and cleverly concealed my rage eventually salvaging a bit of a "crop" from my remaining shaded/stunted red beans.

Long story short - The next year I grew a 98 lb. pumpkin(who knows why? I was just a kid) - I was aiming for a 100+ but oh well ( IÂm still waiting for the "Pacific Giant" pumpkin) Oh, and I also had probably about 10 Roma tomato plants... :) Many years have passed... I have a garden at my own place now but continue to garden with Ma in the same spot (that has expanded quite a bit). It has been rewarding beyond words (even though the scars from that first year have left me a bitter, bitter husk of a person.)

Pep talk time: Get back out there and garden! The fall crops of many vegetables are said to be better than the spring crop - especially root crops. The link below seems to be a good one for your state - it is from an interesting college called Purdue (where it seems that they are famous for making train parts in addition to gardening calendars). Check out Table 2.

Too bad that you donÂt have a piece of ground that you could garden regularly for a while - IMO the ground improves quite a bit during the first few years. Maybe you could make raised beds and take the soil with you ? - I read somewhere that this was a French tradition.

Best of luck to you!

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/hort/ext/Pubs/ho/HO_186.pdf

I think there is only so much the brain can absorb at one time and there is a LOT to know about gardening. I hadn't gardened for a long time with a particularly frantic work situation and when I got back to it - it really washed over me how much stuff there is to know. Seeding and planting and what is a weed and what isn't and amending and staking and bugs and cutting back and varieties and fertilizers and sequence of bloom and variety nuances how how tightly to plant, when to thin and when not to, how to build supports do you grow pole beans or bush beans, how much and when to water, mulching and soaker hoses, and well you know. It's no wonder that we can't get it all right in the beginning (or even in the end...).

My advice to new gardeners is to start small so you have time to figure out what you are doing and have some success and not battle with too many weeds. But with that said I never started small and then you tend to have more lessons learned.

Man it feels good when the stuff finally grows, though.

I can hardly remember all my mistakes and of course you never stop making them.

This is my 5th year gardening, and I thought I really had it down. However, my failures include:

1. Over pruning my Pruden's Purple Tomato, and accidently bending the main stem. And it was my favorite. I think its a goner. I may have to play Taps on my ukulele for the poor thing.
2. Planting 120 onions in overly rich soil. My, what lovely stems they have!
3. Putting one of those fancy-schmancy GS pop up bug nets over my broccoli... I forgot to lift the cover & check on it , so half the brocc crop ended up blooming. The remaining plants will going to be one expensive crop.
4. Planting peas and garlic right next to each other, but they're not duking it out, so, maybe they've worked their differences out after all. :)