Lessons Learned

What I Learned Last Year

• Prune Basil sooner. When it grows 6-8" (hands-width) and has second set of leaves, prune the tops of the plant.

• Do NOT use Lowes straw- too many seeds! Tons sprouted this year and will probably be a problem next year too!
• Use DRIED grass clipping for tomatoes and Pine straw for strawberries.
• Compost should be 2/3 brown, so every time you add kitchen scraps, add a couple handfuls of leaf mulch (make a pile behind compost bins). Also add a scoop of wood ash every other time.

• Start tomatoes and basil later, plan on planting Memorial Day weekend. 
• Pinch off the bottom suckers.
• Go out every day, even though nothing is happening and tie up the plants to the trellis several times. Don't wait until there is a lot of growth, too hard to manage a tangled mess.
• The velcro tie up tape works well!
• It's difficult to weed and harvest strawberries in the asparagus bed. Consider moving the strawberries elsewhere. 
• The metal garden arches worked well to hold up the asparagus fronds for the season, but they need to be more firmly anchored in the spring