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Greatest obstacle

878 views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  caddomike 
#1 ·
Wondering what is your greatest challenge in gardening. Mine is a short growing season. Most years I can plant outside by Memorial wknd. I start my tomatoes and peppers inside early April. End of growing season is late Sept. So 4 months and its a wash. Plus we have lots of nights in the 50’s so its always a race to see what finishes 1st, the garden or the growing season.

Long
 
#2 ·
The biggest challenge where we live in the Texas Hill country has been keeping the deer out of our garden. The Axis and Whitetail populations are out of control. We have an eight foot electric fence around the garden which helps but still manage to slip through it on occasion.
 
#3 ·
Wondering what is your greatest challenge in gardening. Mine is a short growing season. Most years I can plant outside by Memorial wknd. I start my tomatoes and peppers inside early April. End of growing season is late Sept. So 4 months and its a wash. Plus we have lots of nights in the 50’s so its always a race to see what finishes 1st, the garden or the growing season.
Long
You are up in the low moutain area.
People down here mid-Minn. often have no idea how that changes a growing season.
It gets colder where I am at but it also gets hotter and odd seasons can be six months or less than four months.

One of my late cousins lived up in Finland, Minn. When I last talked to him he had been there forty years and was able go grow tomatoes that produced fruit for only two of those.

In the past twenty years my biggest problem has been drought, or very late winter.
Earliest I ever put a garden in , successfully was March and the latest June.
Drought and the high dry heat is the nastiest.
Disease comes with humid heat but I can deal with that fairly easily.
Only other thing that is a real pain in the buttocks is Colorado Potato Beetles.
Never had then till about ten years ago, ever, nasty damned things.
 
#4 ·
The biggest problem where I live is the undependable weather. The last two years haven't been too bad, but I have had frost one time or another in every month of the year. Not uncommon to replant once or twice on a bad year. Fairly safe June - Aug. May and Sept. can be iffy. I have switched to mostly frost hardy plants and built a 8'x12" green house. Wish the greenhouse was bigger. I still like to grow tomatoes, beans and corn. They can be a challenge. Last year was my best for tomatoes ever.
 
#7 ·
Nobody trapping anymore, prices are too low. I use the SSS method on the ***** and possums. Deer we cull the does the best we can during season, but in my zone we are only allowed one per season. Try to get friends to come out to help, but most of folks around here think it is sacrilege to shoot a doe. They will kill the limit of 1-2 year old bucks and wonder why they don't see any big bucks.
 
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