Domestically Sustainable Agriculture - Construction, Planting, and Harvesting

Step 21 Conclusion

This whole gardening experience has been a learning year, so here are some tips that we are going to be implementing next year to ensure the best crop.

• Get some rabbit barriers to put up around each raised bed. I saw a groundhog this morning (7/8) in our garden, and also some rabbits! I don't trust the spray repellents. It is better to install some physical barriers so that you are positive that nothing will hinder your crop.
• If you don't want to be eating zucchini all summer, just plant one or two crops. Believe me, we planted four or five (we actually pulled some in the beginning of the season) and we have been eating more zucchini than we can handle!
• Put some bird nets over your raspberries. Once the birds were done with our cherry tree, they went straight to the raspberries. Not next year.
• Separate the big plants from the small ones. Put the zucchini and potatoes in different plots than the small plants like the carrots and the strawberries. They just take over. We actually had to trim down our zucchini to give our strawberries some light!
• At the beginning of the season, keep in mind what you will want a lot of. We had more zucchini than we wanted, and less strawberries than we wanted. So we will probably plant more strawberries next year.
• Don't use store brand soil; try compost! You will see a much bigger yield!
• HAVE FUN!