Gordon wrote:
Hi group,
Newbie here. Two years ago I moved into a new house and
for the first time in a long time, I have room for a garden.
So this summer I planted a garden just to see how things
would work out. Well, we didn't get steller results. But we
got something. Based on the results of or first season,
I have a bunch of questions.

Where are you, what is your climate?

For those who are currious; I planted:

Corn: The sqirrles ate about half the corn seeds out of the
ground before they could sprout. The stalks never got higher
than about 5 feet and the ears were very small. I had one
ear that had fully developed kernls but the ear was only a
few inches long.


Corn needs full sun, long warm or hot days and plenty of water. It is a
heavy feeder, requiring fertile soil rich in nitrogen, this does not mean
burying them in urea or ammonium sulphate. Failure of any of these
conditions will give reduced plants and cobs. Incomplete cobs that have
"bald patches" instead of kernels is due to inadequate fertilisation. There
must be one grain of pollen for every kernel. Corn is wind pollinated so it
is better to plant in blocks not rows to make the precess more efficient.
If you do get a good crop of corn you will discover there are many birds and
animals that like it very much and they will race you to the ears unless you
exclude them.

Tomatoes: 4 types, All did reasonable well.

Zuchinni (harvested 4 vegitables), Egg plant (3), Yellow
crookneck (3), PattiPans (about 12), Lemon cuces (about 12).


Those are fairly poor returns on cucurbits, I would expect to get a dozen or
two fruit from a zuchinni or a cucumber. Are they in full sun, well watered
and fed? Did they have room to get sun and full root development? Do you
have bees active?

Sweet pea pods and Bush beans (both did well)
2 kind of Lettuce (continuous crop, not too big leaves.)

Radishes and carrots (did not develop well).

Strawberries: These just showed up. Squirrls ended eating the
berries before I could pick them.

Currently I have all the leaves from the yard raked into the garden
to provide weed control.

I think I'll ask my questions indiviually.

David