our garden

I'd like to say that this year's garden was a sight to behold, because we said that every year we would tweak it, making it more efficient. I think our failures came with excuses like: we moved, and we thought this or that would be a good idea.

I'm not saying our garden was a complete failure. We were drowning in okra and tomatoes, we had corn, squash, watermelons and canalope that were so good I'll never be able to look at another piece of fruit without drooling, but there were a few mistakes made.

The first mistake was choosing not to have raised rows. We've always had raised rows in the past because it is so much easier to pile the prepared soil up 6-8 inches in about 3 foot wide rows. Then all we would have to do is drag our hoe down the row making a ditch for planting our seeds. The ideal thing is to pile mulch up around the sides to help reduce weeds and to hold moisture in the soil. Here in South MS pine straw serves as the best mulch.

The other mistake we made was to put down this black cloth to help with the weeds. It did, but now that we need the change the direction of our rows (because of water flow) we are having to rip up the ground cover.

We were planning on planting lettuces, broccoli and spinach in our Fall garden, but we have entirely too much rearranging to do to get everything done in time.

Next spring I'd like to try companion planting. If you don't know what that is, it's simply means putting plants together in the garden that like each other. An example would be to plant corn with beans, cucumbers, or melons. Keeping in mind that corn does not need to be planted with tomatoes. Planting this way can have an impact on the health and yield of your plants.

So here's to next year!