It was really nice to put into practice everything I had read. I learned the growth of veggies.

Corn will right itself if weather topples them.
Potatoes are a great vegetable to start a new bed with! That spot is still bare. Cole crops love my soil and grow with little assistance.
C. Pepo will not survive the bugs!
I have an abundant micro climate with oodles of beneficial bugs.
Buckwheat is a great cover crop.
Wheat is allelopathic to bermuda grass (in my case).
Bind weed will always be a problem!
Alfalfa is extremely picky on soil texture and difficult to start.
Cow peas are easy to grow!
My irrigation methods suck!
I need trellises and to go vertical with vines. My back hates bending over.
And what I learned the most is: I need to spend more time working on the soil.

I planted TONS. Most everything I planted was in a spontaneous method and intentionally neglected. I really got to see the difference between amended soil and not. The corn was in readied soil. This was my success and, thus, most are pretty drought proof:

Corn
cow peas
cabbage (bug prob, tho)
carrots
parsley
some tomatoes
okra
sunflowers
pumpkin
birdhouse gourds (boy, they look great!)
Potatoes
molokhia
buckwheat

Gollies, it's so good to see this list. I sat for a very long time unable to do anything more than READ about gardening.

Yay!

bon

I could write a book about what I learned.

Bring the tomatoes in before ripe so critters don't get the first bite.
Plant purple podded snap beans so you can see them to harvest.
C. Moschata will grow longer than you think it will.
Wasps will eat a bug.
You can cut a grasshopper in half with scissors.
Cucumbers, tomatoes and squash hide.
Don't plant big plants in buckets.
Icicle radishes will get MASSIVE when left to go to seed.
Basil likes being shaded by other plants.
Cherokee Purple and Black Cherry are delicious.
That teeny tiny plant will get way bigger than you can imagine when you put it in (I always plant things too close together.)
Summer is over before you know it.

I learned that it is time for an 8 ft fence because the deer repellent with rotten egg solids didn't work at all.

I learn the same thing every single year: Gardening here is hard.

I have to learn it every year because when next year's seed catalogs start arriving, I forget all about last year's problems.

Seriously, I think the best thing I've learned is that my garden will probably be dead by August and I just need to be okay with that. It's going to stop raining and I won't be able to water so everything is going to die. For a long time that drove me crazy and I tried everything I could to keep it alive longer, but I think this year is the first that I've accepted that that's just the way it's going to be.

Leslie

I learned that I can grow a pretty good watermelon.
Purple Hull peas will grow and produce well on sorry un-amended soil.
You can make your soil "too good" for some plants to have peak production.
That if all years were as good as this one I could grow a pretty good garden "Dry Land" method.
Getting old is not near as much fun as I had planned.

I'm laughing (except at Larry's last statement...sorry :( )

C. Moschata will grow longer than you think it will. sooo true. Mine was in the neighbor's tree. I think someone must have retrieved the squash, or the vine died in the next door neighbor's lawn guy massacre.

Hmmm.. So much...where to start. I learned:
* That if you even SUSPECT your beans may be runners, stake them. Never say, you don't t suppose these are runners do you?
* Even if the package says they aren't runners, if you SUSPECT, stake 'em.
* Never ask your siblings about runner beans...they will tinkle all over themselves laughing
* Never think a grandchild will not pull up ALL the labels in the tomatoe bed and say "Here, Mimi. You left these"
* Never think you will remember what is planted where. In May it seems like a good plan, come August all you'll say Is "I wonder which pepper that was? It was awesome"
* Never say "I'll get that cucumber tomorrow". It will grow into Godzilla and take over the entire garden.
* Never say "What a cute little bunny" if he is inside the garden fence. He isn't cute, he's hungry. Ok, he is cute, but he is STILL hungry.
* Comfrey does not stay small. At all.
* And above all, do not think to yourself "Was that a squash bug?" YES IT WAS, AND IT IS EVVVVIIIIILLLLLLLLL"

Thank you

I learned that Scott has the power/authority to overrule Mother Nature and declare that summer is over just whenever he wishes. So, here is my request for Scott: If you are going to declare summer has ended, could you please make that declaration around mid-July next year? Thanks. Also, while you're declaring the seasons to be either on or off, could you declare that winter ends at the end of February so we won't keep having freezing nights until May?

I've learned that voles (a fairly new arrival/problem in my garden although we have seen them around the yard and pastures for years) will not eat the same thing every year. Last year they devoured perennial flowers, Irish potatoes, the roots of young trees, moss rose and florence fennel. This year they focused almost exclusively on southern pea plants and their favorite one is the variety "Mackey". They also ate one or two moss rose plants (last year they ate dozens of them) and one nasturtium. They didn't even touch the florence fennel (yet) that is growing in a raised bed in the front garden Hmmm. Wonder what they'll eat next year?

I learned that if you lose your glasses in the garden, and the garden is a wild and crazy jungle with plants mixed together very thickly in great abundance, it is hard to find your glasses. The first time I lost them, it took me 5 days to find them. The second time? It has been 2 weeks and I haven't found them yet. I feel confident that as I tear out spent plants this fall and add them to the compost pile I'll eventually find my glasses. I just hope I find them before I step on them and break them.

Larry, I'm laughing with you, not at you. Getting older is painful at times, but it sure beats the alternative.....

Finally, I've learned that with the use of very heavy row cover (3.0 oz.) in conjunction with 5-gallon buckets of water used as solar collectors, I can put tomato plants in the ground in March and just not care if we keep having freezing cold nights until the first week of May. I'm through watching the weather and trying to decide when to plant. From now on, I plant whenever I want in order to suit myself and I don't care what Mother Nature throws at me and my plants after I've put them in the ground. So, watch out Mother Nature, because next year I am going to ignore you.

Dawn

Larry, amen on getting older. Right there with you! Have to agree with Dawn that it is better than the alternative - but still frustrating.....

Mary

I can grow potatoes just fine! Figs off your own plant (can't really call it a tree, to short and bushy) taste AWESOME!

But it is time to plan a path through my jungle.

Moni

I learned I need more sun. As I have struggled to get production up this lovely shade tree gets bigger.
Herbs and flowers did great absolutely stunning. next year I will focus my main garden at the property in town and probably limit my backyard to a small flower herb area.
I learned huge fast hailstorms can take out 50 cucumber plants, 10 tomatoes, all my squashes summer and winter, and most of my marigolds in less than 10 minutes. Sad truth. Still haven't ripped all the damage out from 2 weeks ago too sad. But I will tomorrow and plan my new big huge full sun garden for next year
Kim
and I learned no matter how fast I grow and pickle cucumbers it is not fast enough for my son and his friends.

Awesome posts ! :D

I learned that Sycamore trees grow faster than Chinese Elm! The Silverleaf American Sycamore that was a little twig last year when my son and I planted it has already grown as big as the landscape specimens of Dynasty and Allee Elms the builder planted in 2012.

I learned that a volunteer Zucchetta Trobocino Rampicante squash plant without care or addition water can produce a 14 pound squash. Now that I am back home, it is still providing a steady supply of squash, but I pull them a LOT sooner. LOL

I also learned that I missed having a garden and am looking forward to Spring.

Kim, How awful that hail damage was the worst lesson learned in your garden this year. If it is any comfort, we have had that kind of hail damage here only once since 1999, and all the other times it has hailed, we've barely had any damage at all. So, I hope you have the same kind of luck we've had.

As for pickles, I'll quote what my son always says about Annie's Salsa because I think that it also applies to pickles as well: "No matter how much you make, it isn't enough". We still are getting cukes, and I still am making pickles, but the big cool-down later this week might be the nail in the coffin of the cucumber plants. They've done so well this year, but they are getting tired and the foliage is looking ratty, and I'm about to run out of pint jars, so pickle season probably ends here this week. I likely won't miss it as much as I think because I've just about OD'd on canning.

Carol, I wondered if you were climbing the walls without your garden. At least you have the squash. Spring will be here before you know it.

I'm always amazed at how quickly time flies between the first frost of autumn and onion-planting time. It flies by in a flash.

Dawn

I should add that I learned that the procrastinator should do EVERYTHING earlier. I may take a tip from Dawn and plant early and prepare for bad weather. I REALLY have to start some tomato plants in early July, so they are ready to go when the main crop stops and I need to plant fall seeds earlier. Sept really snuck up on me. We bought a couple of frost blankets Sunday. And putting hoops over the 2 new beds. We will see...

Carol..we need pics! I had one that was on it's way to 14 lbs...but unless it is hiding really well in the tree, I suspect it died when all the other vines died.

I learned not to plant zuchetta on the fence line so that it grows into the neighbor's yard. The neighbor didn't care. But her lawn guy shredded it when he got mad. The rest of it died when I went on vacation. :( Next year I want to use cattle panels.

I learned that regular irrigation (rain) and lower temps make a BIG difference in production. I got more of everything- tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos, green beans, cow peas, etc.

I learned that throwing a little money at the issue can sometimes make a big difference. Due to gall bladder surgery in Feb, I didn't start a single seedling. Transplants cost a little, but this year it was well worth it. I also hired a few teens to help move the horse manure compost and dig it in.

I learned what a big difference one more bed- even a small one can make in spacing.

I learned that cattle panels DO work for trellising tomatoes. Just don't wait to long to tie up the new growth.

I learned that there will always be a problem (2nd year in a row) with the stove at the height of peach and tomato canning season.

I learned a camping stove will work for canning. If you leave the lid on the water will boil, but not if you leave it off.

I learned I need to learn more about maintaining a camp stove and how to id problems.

I learned it is much easier for me to do canning in small batches. I learned that straining the peach solids out of the peach mash for jam and cooking down the liquids, cooks the jam much faster and tastes AWESOME. My neighbor thinks it is awesome too- which is really good since I really like getting his peaches to can.

I learned it takes a daily survey of the harvest, but it is possible to minimize the fruit flies from the produce I haven't had time to process going bad.

I learned keeping all my miscellaneous garden items in good organization makes me a lot happier and lot less stressed. I learned to get much better at putting things away. The morning and evening strolls to survey my "queen-dom" (as my DH says) are much more fun.

There were some ups and downs this year, and a few crop failures. Overall though it is the best gardening year yet.

Andria

1. My unamended soil will actually not grow anything except crabgrass and bermuda. i tried to get some rattlesnake beans and Seminole pumpkin to grow some of my native clay, and I got nowhere.
2. Home grown potatoes are delicious, but horrible to dig. Still, I'll probably do it again next year because they were so good!
3. A "fall garden" sounds delightful, but involves too much time outside during the hot weeks of August and September for me. I'm going to stop calling it a "fall garden" and just call it "a few plants that I was able to get planted in the morning before it got hot". That way I won't be so disappointed in myself when I can't get a full garden going!

I learned that well amended soil will lower your water bill, but if it is to amended some veggies will not grow. I watered about 3 times this year, and last year about 4-5 times. And most of the plants have grown great.

I learned that not watering will show you Oklahoma's drought resistant varieties.

I learned that I will give up on yellow and patty pan squash. Next year I will try bug resistant varieties. Can you fry or grill immature winter squash?

I learned to keep sticky traps in the cellar if your storing veggies, because the bugs down there love spaghetti squash.

I learned that I need to plant more peaches so the deer will actually share a crop with us.

You can fry or grill immature winter squash and they will taste the best and most tender if you harvest them just 1-3 days after the flower was pollinated and the fruit begins to enlarge. I use Seminole in its immature state all the time. There's also a C. moschata type of squash that is grown as a summer squash and not a winter squash. I've been growing it for two or three years now. I'll link a description of it below. It is the first C. moschata I've found that is cultivated mainly for use as a summer squash instead of a winter squash. My experience with deer and peaches is that if you plant more peach trees and leave them unprotected, you'll either get more deer or the deer that you do have just will eat more peaches. We have a lot of deer here and they are hard on all the fruit crops if they can reach them. Bird netting placed over the tree and tired down securely so the deer cannot work their way up under the netting will save your peaches from the deer and other critters that walk on the ground, but may not protect them from the birds. I'll share a lot with the deer, but I'm not overly fond of sharing peaches, plums, figs and berries with them. The fruit trees we planted here in the early 2000s are not fenced in to protect them from deer, but all future fruit trees we plant will be inside a tall, secure fence.

Here is a link that might be useful: Early Bulam Summer Squash

Thanks for the link!

You're welcome.

So yesterday I learned not to make sauce out of overripe tomatoes. I would rather use slightly underripe. The overripe tomato sauce tasted like...well, it just was not good.

So yesterday I learned not to make sauce out of overripe tomatoes. I would rather use slightly underripe. The overripe tomato sauce tasted like...well, it just was not good.

Thanks for that, Scott! I will remember it.