I wouldn't say I have a green thumb. I make mistakes and have my fair share of failures in the garden. I do still end up with a lush and healthy garden, regardless of disaster. I rarely have an empty plot, and always have extra seeds and transplants to fill one in an instant. Even when blight or insect damage wreak havoc on my garden, I always have the backup waiting to go. Without a real green thumb at work, what might I be doing right?
What may benefit me here is that I am ultimately not the gambling type, and I have learned this foremostly through my work in the garden. That feels oxymoronic to say, because gardening is gambling. What I have mastered through years of trial and error in the garden, is that I prefer to buffer my gardening with several layers of insurance -- and not the kind you pay for.
Any gardener of any skill level certainly knows that failure is an innate factor in gardening. There will be failures, it's mostly a question of when they will be. A wetter-than-normal season may result in blight for susceptible crops. Other pest invasions can wipe out an entire crop in a matter of days -- this could even be your own goats!
Here are some methods that gardeners can use to reduce the losses when disaster strikes, and the gamble is lost.
Succession Sowing: Don't sow all your seeds in one place! My rule of thumb is to never sow more than half a seed pack in a single sitting. Either I sow it again later, or I go to a different location in my garden to sow more from the half I reserved. As a result, if seeds fail to germinate in one area, there are more possibilities for success in a different location or safely in your seed packet. For tomatoes and a few other susceptible crops like cucumbers, I will sow indoors several times throughout Spring and Summer. I do this so that if there is a June frost (yup, it happens here) or a mid-Summer blight, I can plant out more seedlings to replace the compromised ones, and still get a steady yield in the end. Any extra transplants are easily gifted to friends or sold.
Polyculture: Disburse species within your garden spaces to slow down or confuse incoming pests. If a swarm of insects -- or diabolical goats -- gains access to your crops, they may overlook some of their tarte plants that are hidden within the mix. In the end, this could mean the difference between you eating garlic bread, or just plain boring bread 🍞
Crop Covers: No, not cover crops. At times, coverings of various sorts will be required for the survival of your plants. It is imperative to have these covers on hand, as even 2-day shipping won't save your plants if a frost is that night, or if the insects have already begun feasting on your eggplants. I keep sheets, large-ish plastic containers, and glass jars to delicately place over plants on the evening before a potential frost. I am always sure to propagate frost-sensitive seedlings in places that can be covered and uncovered with ease. In addition to frost covers, insect barriers may become necessary during the hotter seasons. Having these on hand will serve to protect your investments in the garden.
Between all this, I have a whole system down where I am able to maintain a steady yield of even the most susceptible crops. Pictured below is my office window full of green tomatoes on a cold November day. Even indeterminate tomatoes lose their steam after a few months, but thanks to a second planting I did in July that year, I was harvesting tomatoes even after the first frost.
I have never agreed with the idea that there is a right way to garden. Many folks in my area plant their garden on Mother's Day and leave it at that. In my view, these folks are putting all their eggs in one basket for all the marbles. Try some new ways of insuring your garden this year, by succession sowing, applying polyculture principals, and having life-saving equipment at the ready!
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