Feeling very discouraged...

Well, my first year of gardening has definitely not gone as well as I'd hoped. However, I started my garden BEFORE I found out about SFG and so, I simply have raised beds with top soil/compost. Nothing has done particularly well. My carrots are beautiful and appear perfect, but they are not very good taste-wise. They really don't have a lot of flavor, despite their deep orange color and strong smell. My green beans have been on a roller coaster and were doing GREAT, then STOPPED and the leaves looked HORRIBLE and the "garden guy" from the local nursery made a housecall and said they needed to be pulled. They had mosaic disease. Well, I let them go and now they are taking off again. LOTS of buds/blooms and the leaves are perking up and lots of gorgeous deep-green new leaves. We'll see what happens. My bell peppers have all wound up with either BER or sunburn. The onions appear to be doing ok for the most part I guess. The zucchini won't budge. I have only gotten two little zucchinis to start and both have wound up turning yellow and dying. The tomatoes won't grow at all.

I'm guessing our crazy weather this year has played a part in it, but also my inexperience. I just hate that I went from excitement and optimism at the beginning to almost dreading walking out to the garden at this point.

I just keep trying to tell myself that next year is going to be completely different and hopefully much better by using the SFG method and MM. I guess I'm just one of those people who doesn't accept failure too easily. Lol. Any way...thanks for letting me pout.

Hang in there !! Lots of folks have had weird garden luck this summer. My beans have done very little, the pole beans are just now getting a few blooms, most of the bush beans did nothing. I have yet to get a single eggplant altho the plants are big. Its just a crazy year. Just remember its an ongoing learning experience!!

hang in there - at the beginning of the spring, I couldn't even grow a radish - I don't know what was up with that since I have always been able to grow those - this year they were nasty woody things - the carrots were toothpicks and tasted yukky - whats up with that - then the deer broke into my garden - then summer heated up and the japanese beetles ate what the deer left behind in my been department - next year will be a better year - and then we still have the fall growing season to come - funny year weather wise here - coldest feb on record and the hottest june on record, and 2nd hottest july - rain has been spordic for us too. At least here we can share in our frustrations and our triumphs - we are never alone

AliSmith13, are you gardening in a high altitude? I was looking at the Idaho Extension manual and noticed that it recommends certain varieties of veggies. Are those the varieties you've been trying to grow?

In any event, if you've had major problems with scorching on peppers, I humbly suggest that you might want to try a different variety next year. I don't know how Rainbow would do in your climate, but it has become my absolute favorite bell pepper.

Did your radishes take a long time to bulb up? That's usually what creates a woody radish.

Keep on keepin' on. You will learn so much from experience, and there will be many successes and you will be so proud of them!

Thanks for all of the encouragement. I try to keep my head up...especially when I hear from people who have been doing gardening for decades and still have managed to have a rough year and lost a lot of crops. I guess the weather is just not cooperating this year.

You know...I really didn't pay attention to what varieties work best in our area at all. I just bought what was available at our local nursery. I will DEFINITELY look into that more! Makes all the sense in the world. And yes, my radishes were very woody and took a LONG time. I couldn't believe it, considering everything I'd read said they were quick to harvest.

I just look so much forward to next year and getting to try the true SFG method. I am hoping that will make a huge difference, especially with the blossom end rot problem due to my soil not draining properly.

Again, thanks for all of the encouragement...and yes, it's nice to be able to come here and vent frustrations and get support....

This is my first year too!! I am way north of you (Coeur d'Alene area)...but I too experienced such a slow start to the growth in my garden. I don't know what your June was like, but mine was like an April....It rained like 22 days in June and was still in the high 30"s at night. The last 2 weeks have seen amazing improvement. And I am hopeful I will get to eat a few things out of my garden.

My beans are taking off too all of a sudden. And my Zukes did the EXACT same thing but now are starting to grow rapidly.

Last summer when I moved to Post Falls EVERYONE had sunflowers in their gardens and they were open and beautiful and just brought me so much joy. No one has any this year, they are growing but very few are opening. This last 2 weeks I have started to see many open and I actually have my first one open yesterday. ANd I have 10 planted around my SSFG.

Hang in there...I really really really think the weather is playing a HUGE role in our failures...but I have learned so much and next year is going to be AWESOME!

Jennie