| 3rd year running my veg. garden is a disaster. I h ave a lot of HUGE plants, lots of blooms for most, but almost NO fruit. Tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, eggplant...nothing. What to do for next year? Also, what to plant and care for for winter garden? |
| If your plants thrived and flowered but did not produce fruit, you can blame it on the weather. Summer vegetables need all day sunshine (they love the heat) and they rely on insects to transfer pollen from flower to flower. If you got few fruits, there may not have been enough insect activity in your garden. You can help things along by having lots of colorful plants near your garden to attract pollinators. Try surrounding your summer vegetable garden with colorful annuals. You might also concentrate on planting short season vegetables (those with the fewest days to maturity). Hope this does the trick next year. Winter gardening has rewards you won't find in the summertime, including fewer insect pests and the need to water less frequently, due to natural rainfall. For best success choose cool-season crops, such as lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, beans and peas. There's an enormous array of salad greens, usually called Mesclun mixes, with various leaf color, texture and flavors, which can add interest to any fresh salad. Plant your crops at two-week intervals to extend your harvest as far into the season as possible. |
