The Garden Lessons We Didn't Expect: From Dead Dirt to Thriving Veggies
The Garden Lessons We Didn’t Expect: From Dead Dirt to Thriving Veggies
With our beautiful new vegetable beds in place, I was so excited to dive into the planting phase. There’s something about the promise of a new garden—the dreams of abundant harvests and the joy of planning what goes where—that makes your heart flutter. But if there’s one thing we’ve always known about gardening, it’s that the learning never stops, things rarely go perfectly, and family wisdom is worth its weight in gold.
Our first big lesson? Soil matters.
The company handling the details, like getting our new soil, apparently didn’t distinguish between dirt and soil. (Yes, there’s a difference! I learned that from one of my sons, who knows his stuff in this area.) So, what we got was “dead dirt” instead of rich, organic soil. We thought we were planting into nutrient-dense earth, so we didn’t amend it with organic matter. Big mistake.
The result? Our first round of vegetables just… languished. Easy-to-grow staples like lettuce and Swiss chard barely made an effort. I planted so much that I was already planning to share with neighbors, but we didn’t even have enough for ourselves. And with all this new space, I optimistically tried growing a few new vegetables I’d never attempted before—and they all failed.
But gardening is all about patience and hope, right? I’m not giving up! I’ll keep adding a few new things each year, but this time, they’ll get the nutritious soil they deserve.
Then there was the lesson passed down from my mom: Don’t plant your vegetable garden until the May long weekend. I didn’t listen. Instead, I planted early and watched as my poor seedlings struggled through cold rains and low-light days. Lesson learned. Our growing season from May to fall is more than enough time to produce a bountiful harvest. No need to rush!
The photos tell the story: one captures the stark difference between the 4 thriving potato bags and a couple of the sad vegetable beds right beside them. The potatoes, planted in organically enriched soil, have been growing for just one month. The vegetables in the neighboring beds have been struggling—“growing” might be too generous—for three months. “Barely surviving” is a more accurate description.
Of course, my meticulous planning didn’t go to waste. I carefully drew out each vegetable bed to scale, marking what was planted and when. But despite my best efforts, if the soil isn’t right, nothing will grow. The one place where we did have success was the big center planter. Why? Because my husband, being the wise gardener he is, amended that dirt and turned it into enriched soil before planting. The veggies there flourished!
So, here are the biggest lessons we’re taking forward:
Don’t rush. There’s no point in planting too early. May long weekend is my new planting mantra.
Soil is everything. We’ll put in the extra effort to make sure every planting bed is enriched with organic matter so our veggies have the best chance to thrive.
Gardening, like life, is full of lessons, surprises, and second chances. And even when things don’t go as planned, there’s still so much joy to be found in the process. Here’s to learning, growing, and the promise of future harvests. ❤️
These lettuces have been ‘growing’ for months!!
