Most all of ours was from seedlings too. 7-8 Pepper plants, all doing well, purple cauliflower, 3 heads of cabbage (one harvested) 2 cantelope, 1 zuc, 2 butternut and one acorn (I think I have another acorn seedling) and tomatoes and beens. Family of 4. When I realized the tomato seedlings were not growing fast enough to put in the ground, I bought a few plants, and now i have all these seedlings that are about ready to plant as well! Our tomatoes I planted too close together, and have both end blossom rot and early blight. (Im treating them naturally) I also planted late, and this is only my 3rd year but I am doing an entire cardboard garden, and its working well so far (cept fot he cuc's - all 3 plants died, but they had plenty of uncovered dirt around them. I think they got the wilt disease. I got some great bush bean seeds from our sister up north. wow, they are huge and keep producing. I also have some lettuce, one eggplant and hopefully some spinach seedlings on the porch.
blessings, thx for posting.
KP

I know what you mean, NancyJane. I've been gardening for decades, but there's always something to be learned. This year I got a firmer handle on container gardening. My four big pots of bush beans are producing beautifully, and if I didn't know better, I'd be tempted to be impressed with myself. :-)

I also learned that it doesn't have to be difficult to recreate a good idea taken from one of these forums. That's what I did last month when I bought my very own cattle panel and (with my son's help) made an arch for growing pole beans and cucumbers.

If we're running out of things to learn we've either quit learning or quit listening. No one "masters" gardening even if a handful of people can come pretty close.

I learned no hard lessons this year besides some varieties I'll never plant again and a few I plan on giving more chances. I'll settle for that. The pests this year have been nearly non-existant since early spring. The beneficials are out in full force this summer around my garden.

Nancyjane, I know exactly what you're talking about. I've been growing tomato for two decades but I picked the wrong year to try many things from seeds. Our unusually cold and wet spring (or like you said, no spring just a very long winter) killed third of my seedlings and slugs took the other third. So I only started harvesting cucumber two weeks ago and my gourds will probably never make it before the frost.

The good news is, I've learnt a lot this year and will do much better next time!

I learned peas, lettuce, turnips and some kale does not like heat and will not survive until August even if planted in late May. Spinach and cabbage seeds do not like two solid weeks of rain and soggy grounds, neither does basil.

I've learned one CAN grow cotton, sweet sorghum and rice in OH, though seeds need to be started quite early!

I found out Square Foot Gardening is fine for some plants: peas, beans, carrots, turnips, herbs, greens; so-so for peppers and cotton, corn, sorghum and broccoli; not very good for eggplants and squash; and needs to be 1/2-Square Meter Gardening for tomatoes!

Contrary to common folklore, aged horse manure, creek-bottom dirt and finished compost do not lead to weeds - if anything I had practically no weeks.

Found out it is possible to build a raised bed on an asphalt parking lot, even next to a concrete block building with a south-facing wall painted white and grow plants.

Discovered the theory of Daily Light Integral and found that it is a fact, not a theory!

Am finding that MH lights are much better for tomatoes and cotton than LEDs or HPS and that Tomato-tone works great in dirt but not in hydro.

Yep, I'm 55 and still learning a bunch!

Well, it's been a discouraging year so far, but living in Sonoma Co CA gives me the privelege of a very long growing season. I'll be going into October and even November sometimes.
I'm guessing the weather will warm up and I'll get EVERYTHING as soon as I go back to work in the fall! LOL
If not, there are always a BUNCH of local farmers markets in the area.

I'm in Sacramento, and I'm hoping for a VERY hot, long autumn. I have some brandywines that are just now flowering up as they should.

That cold spring put us off for at least a month. :(

Once you stop learning gardening isn't worth doing anymore.
I am a newbie so everything is new, I am still learning what to plant when.
Oh, and label your seedlings-I don't know what some of the things I planted are.

We made the cattle panel arbor this year, too, and plan to add to it this fall for next spring. Love it! A few other family members have made them after they saw ours.

I learned that spaghetti squash runs like a mother and will try to take over everything it comes into contact with if you let it, for me, at least, more so than any other vining squash I've planted.

I'm getting ready to plant a fall crop of mustard and collard greens which will be new plantings for me, so I'm sure I'll learn something here.

Judi

When I was growing up, we had a garden that was the same every year. Nothing new. Ever. Everything was always planted in the same spot. And it grew a lot of vegetables. There was lots of canning and we grew most of the vegetables we ate. Finding what works and sticking with it works if all you want is vegetables.

I've been thinking of starting a thread of "What I learned this year" and realized I have about 50 different things I learned. That would be too long. So I'll pick one.

Using beans as an example. I planted about 48 sq. feet of beans on Apr 1st. Surprisingly, they sprouted, made it through a few frosts as they were popping their heads up and then prospered. I had too many beans. Then I had no beans for a bit as I was late planting the next group. Then I had too many beans again.

Now, I plant 3 feet square of beans at a time. As soon as they get their first true leaves, I plant another patch. Right now, I have 9 patches of beans in different stages of development. Some are inter-cropped between things like brassicas and corn, so they don't take any space. As soon as one patch starts to produce well, I pull out the oldest patch and plant something else. I also have 2 little spots with pole beans.

I've started using a similar approach to most things now. The exceptions are long season crops like potatoes and tomatoes. Rather than planting a week apart, I prefer to let the plants tell me when to plant the next crop. It's easier to keep track of.

I think that there are some of us who don't recognize food. There may be something psychological to it.

I've learned to really focus on plants. Get down on their level to see if there is something wrong. If there is some knowledge and experience to draw from - then I do that. Otherwise, submit to the art of gardening and see if I can learn something.

Experience? I've got decades in the garden. Maybe where I don't have decades is in the kitchen. I mean, when does a veggie get too old to eat?? Okay, I can recognize a flowering lettuce plant but that's nothing.

DW is often giving me that look, "Are you still bringing that stuff in here!"

Mostly, I go by size to know when to start picking. That isn't always wise, tho'. With melons, smell plays a part. With corn, I hold it . . . if it feels right, I husk the ear and eat it right there - raw, standing in the corn patch (always carry the cob out; don't want to attract coons). If it tastes good, the ears can come off the plants.

But, when do I stop harvesting?

I seldom get bored with veggies so boredom doesn't help. Hate to take it to the point where strings are getting stuck in my teeth . . . DW seems to know but I put in a little extra work to no avail, sometimes. And, I still don't get it. It could be that I know the plants but don't recognize food . . .

Steve