So, my vegetable garden is finally dying because it's getting colder. I feel kind of sad because I didn't utilize it much. A lot of good crops went bad and were wasted. Also, I had a hard time keeping pests away and preventing my squash plants from rotting. Anyone have any tips to share that I can keep in mind for next year as far as utilization and pest/mildew control while keeping everything organic?
make a tent and use some fertilizers for good crops
No magazine, no website is going to help you to start a vegetable garden, this comes with trial and error. To think about starting a veg garden you first have to think about the climate. Then you must consider veg to suit that climate. You must also consider the ground conditions, whether acid or alcoline. Think about soil drainage too. Once you have fathomed all of these aspects out then by all means come back to Y/A and ask the question again with this knowledge. The website you quote, does not tell you anything about the aspects I have mentioned, it is idealistic.
Think about what you grew that was over kill and plant less of that. Weather is a killer. If you are getting to much rain tent up some clear poly over the plants. Make sure your garden is located in an optimal part of the yard and each of the plants is growing far enough apart to get the full effect of the sunlight. When the ground is very moist lift ground vegetables with a Styrofoam florist ring. Planting marigolds and putting trays of hot pepper around plants deters bugs..As does a daily spray with dish soap and water. Don't pull but rather till in the dead plants and add lime to prep the bed for next season. Do not plant the tomatoes in the same spot they need to be moved every year. Compost the leaves and grass cuttings it will make great mulch for next year.
get out in the garden at least once a day and look at the plants and hand pick any bugs you find (I do this on several acres so anyone should be able to do this in a much smaller home garden), Mulches will keep moisture in the soil, prevent lot of soil born diseases and keep the weeds down. You will never succeed in keeping pests away unless you completely enclose your garden in a dome or something (and even than there will be things like aphids) but if you learn how to encourge beneficial insects and other critters into your yard you will have fewer and fewer problems with pests over the years. Know that it takes 7 to 15 years to get an Organic garden balanced and where it should be. So over time as you learn what you are doing, your soil gets healthy and you eco-system in better balance your pest and disease problems will go way down and your yields way up. A milk water solution works very well on Powder mildew but does have to be sprayed daily for at least a week.
