Here in Minnesota, zone 4. It's October and the temperatures are starting to fall and the last of the produce is being harvested. Here are some of the lessons I learned from my garden.
Tomatoes
I still have a few cherry tomatoes I'm picking off the vine and eating my way through. My two year old son loves to pick the tiniest green ones off the vine and carry them around in his pocket.
My larger beefsteak tomatoes struggled this year. I've determined two factors came into play.
1. Watering- I have an automatic watering
system setup to run daily in the garden. This year we had a very raining early summer too. The rain and consistent watering slowed down the ripening process and I didn't start getting ripe tomatoes until the end of august. A little stress like less water can help force plants to start ripening fruit.
2. Sunscald- The Twin Cities had a few large storms than knocked down some of my plants and exposed the tomatoes to more direct sunlight. This can lead to sunscald. Blisters will develop on the sides of the fruit that are facing the sun. With continued exposure to the sun, the damaged areas may become papery, flattened, and grayish white.
I wasn't sure at first if this was the problem but I joined a Facebook group for gardening in my zone. I posted pictures and asked for opinions. Their input was helpful in confirming the problem. Look for groups for your zone or area to start building a network of gardeners like you.
Broccoli
I put a few plants in the garden this year. Broccoli has plenty of health benefits and it's no surprise that garden grown taste outweighs anything store bought. Maybe because of the plant type but I didn't get any large center heads. I was also surprised how quickly hot summer weather lead to bolting. The were plenty of shoots to grab for a snack though. So I'll definitely be trying again next year.
Some changes I'll try is more mulch to keep the roots cool and moist during hot summer days. I've also heard suggestions to find a co-planting partner like corn or a trellis of beans or cucumbers to provide partial shade.
Peppers
I love hot sauce! My go to favorite is chipotle tabasco. It's great on everything from eggs to pizza. I decided this year to wait long enough form my jalapenos to turn red before harvesting. I'm planning to make my own chipotle tabasco sauce with the peppers I harvest.
My jalapeno and habanero plants were loaded! I probably got 2 gallons of each! However, by mid October, only about 50% of my habaneros had turned orange and only about 40% of my jalapenos turned red. The habanero plants still had a lot of flower buds too.
I think one area I went wrong was not pruning my plants. Pruning plants and culling some of the pepper diverts the plants energy resources to your harvest. I know I was supposed to do it but I tried skipping this step. Lesson learned I guess.
Lessons Learned
Every gardening season there will be the repeat challenges and possibly a few new ones. Taking notes on your experiences and finding a gardening community can help you overcome any obstacles. Enjoy the lessons learned and the knowledge of experience you get to carry with you.
Question for You
What lessons did you learn from your garden this year?