Things I plan to do differently next year/season

OK, I have a couple things I am going to do differently next year, and here they are!

1. Start sunflower seeds inside and transplant out as plants. My volunteer sunflowers from the birdfeeder are bee magnets! I almost never look out there and don't see bees on them! And they are pretty. I planted 3 packets of really pretty, different varieties of sunflowers, and only 1 plant made it! Birdfeed, I guess lol

2. Work my spring crop early! Couldn't do that this year, since my beds weren't even made or ready until mid-June. Therefore my radishes and spinach were not the greatest.

3. Put more basil in! I think I will luse containers on my patio for this. I love fresh basil, pesto, everything about it! And it is very expensive to buy.

Good idea on the basil. It's pretty easy to grow, and crazy expensive at the store. Great crop to grow at home.

Some things I'll do differently next year:

1. I think I'll finally try some sunflowers too!

2. Plant a full spring crop. I think I was just burnt out on a lot of things over the course of this last year, and missed out on a lot of good fresh eating because I couldn't be bothered to plant spring crops. Next year I'll plant, at the very least, snap peas again.

3. Turn more of my 5-gallon buckets into self-watering containers.

4. Plant more flowers generally.

5. Plant more kale. As much as I love the crop, I didn't plant very much of it this year, which was a mistake.

6. Plant tomatillos again. I was very successful with them last year, but turned over that planting space entirely to tomatoes this year. I need the occasional big success story to keep feeling positive about the garden day by day, and tomatillos are one of the few plants that loves full sun every day through our superhot summers. (Even though they seem to go through water at least as fast as any other plant if not faster.)

7. Plant more herbs. Last year my herbs were swarming with bees for months once they flowered, and I'd like to help the bees out that way again next year. The oregano, especially, got big and healthy and produced thousands of blossoms for months on end.

Marc Iverson wrote:
5.  Plant more kale.  As much as I love the crop, I didn't plant very much of it this year, which was a mistake.

Marc, it's not too late on the kale.  Plant a cold hearty variety in the fall, and you'll have a steady winter supply if you like.

I did plant some kale seeds for fall.

I am going to plant kale this weekend. I think one SF of potatoes are coming out, so carrots and kale going in.

Working on a new drip & mini spray irrigation system for the raised beds & fruit. I was using soaker hose but it started to burst after two years of use.
Craig

Scorpio Rising wrote:3.  Put more basil in!  I think I will luse containers on my patio for this.  I love fresh basil, pesto, everything about it!  And it is very expensive to buy.

I second that!  Pesto is one of my favorite things in life.  Basil is so easy to grow and pesto is so easy to make 10 times better than anything you can buy.