IME any first year garden will be less productive since it doesn't have years of added compost. Be patient with yourself and your garden, and enjoy what it produces for you knowing that it's healthy.

Thanks! I will hang in there! and in 3+ Years, she better watch out! Haha

It's not just about what you add during the growing season to boost your plants (even if you say they are all organic). It's also about your soil and growing medium, sun exposure, watering schedule, microclimates, etc

My parents have an east-west garden exposure, and their plants start earlier in the spring, and grow bigger during the summer. I have just a southern exposure, and shady backyard in parts, and I grow close to a fence, so really I have just some limited sun between 10am and 3pm. My parent's yard gets exposure from about 7am to 7pm at least.

But the good thing is that you'll learn more as you go, and if you do stay on top of the amendments needed for your garden, you can have some similar results as your mil in a few years.

This post was edited by gardenper on Fri, May 9, 14 at 12:52

I consider Tomato & Garden Tone a slow release fertilizer that I mix in the row when planting/transplanting. i don't add more of that all season. I do also rely on rotted organic matter, finely mulched leaves, and quicker acting fertilizer too.

Thank you all for your replies!

My garden gets full sun from 11:45 til sundown and filtered sun before that. I know hers gets more than mine so that may be an advantage she has as well.

Here's my plan for after the growing season...

I'm saving up chicken manure from my parents coop and adding it to the soil. I plan to till it in a little and wait til next spring to plant anything else. I also will acquire or build some sort of compost bin and begin ASAP filling it up! A good soil test from the LSU Ag center will also be completed before I plant anything next season as well.

My plants this year aren't horrible, just much smaller than their commercial fertilizer fed neighbors in my MIL's garden. So I'm actually excited that I've gotten as far as I have with the little preparation compeleted before I planted. See I'm kind of an instant gratification kinda a gal, but I'm working on that :)

I really appreciate all of your help and advice! I've definitely learned tons of valuable information from this forum!

Unless you have a magnesium deficiency - which that much-needed soil test would verify - skip the continued application of the Epsom salts. Contrary to popular thought, Epsom salts does nothing for improved plant health - everything you read is pretty much just anecdotal and frequent applications can lead to magnesium toxicity.

Really the only thing you need to concern yourself with is continued applications of organic matter (compost) which will enrich your soil going forward. And judicious applications of the Tomato Tone will supply any needed nutrients for this season.

I know of many gardeners with first time gardens that produce magnificent harvests with less than you are starting with! Patience is a gardening virtue :-) And I bet your produce will taste much better than your MIL's.

Here is a link that might be useful: the myth of Epsom salts