Nearly four years in - lessons learned

When I first started this blog, I thought I would have stories and insights to share on a regular basis. At the very least I hoped to document the evolution of the Little Red Dirt Garden. Here it is, nearly four years later and I'm only just writing my second post. It only seems fitting that I share some of our lessons learned as newbie gardeners. I hope it won't be another four years until the next post.

Lesson #1: Buy seeds for your location

I love looking at seed catalogs like Baker Creek Seeds (now called Rare Seeds), especially all the beautiful varieties of tomatoes. And while I have had some successes, I found that these plants were highly susceptible to bugs, no matter what I did to protect them (short of using chemicals).

Instead, I've switched to using seeds that are adapted to Hawaii's climate and conditions. I have two main sources of seeds. Hawaii Seed Growers Network offers seeds produced by a group of local farmers that are adapted and tested for the local conditions. The University of Hawaii's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) also offers a variety of seeds through its Seed Program.

A variety of (mostly) local seeds

Lesson #2 - Know your climate

While Hawaii does not have the extreme seasonal shifts that are seen in northern climates, it does have defined seasons. We've found that the growing season in our area of Oahu does not follow the traditional growing calendar. For example, our dry season can begin as early as April and will extend through October. August through October can be particularly brutal for growing, especially if the island is experiencing drought conditions.

Instead, for us, the best time for growing tends to be November through April - which encompasses the winter rainy season and extends into spring. We have adjusted our planting schedule to take advantage of the natural seasons in our area.

Snow peas like the rainy winter months

Lesson #3 - Success one year may or may not mean success the next

In the first year of the garden, we grew a Japanese cucumber plant that just wouldn't quit. We had to keep adding new trellises for support and it took over its area of the garden. We gave away cucumbers to our family, friends, and co-workers, and even shared some with neighbors out on their evening walks. The following year, we could not get a cucumber plant to grow or survive, no matter what we did. We haven't figured out what will ensure success from year to year and that can be both frustrating and exciting.

Our prolific cucumber vine

Lesson #4 - Let the birds do the work

Not sure if this will apply to a lot of gardeners but some of our best and strongest plants were "planted" by birds via their poop. We have several papaya trees and tomato plants that were planted in this manner and they are strong and healthy.

Lesson #5 - Embrace the random

Along the lines of Lesson #4, in some cases we let nature tell us where and what it wants to grow.

For the first couple of years, I had beautiful diagrams of what I was going to plant in every inch of the garden. But, at least for me, seeds and plants didn't always do what I wanted them to do. Things didn't grow where I wanted them to grow or didn't even grow at all.

But between the birds making deposits, the wind blowing seeds around, and my inability to kill things that have decided to grow where they are, we now have plants growing in unplanned areas. In addition to papaya trees and tomato plants, we have large and healthy lemongrass and Thai basil plants growing throughout the yard.

In another bed, we've had varied success with different plants but only the Okinawan sweet potato plant thrives. Since it requires very little maintenance and is a great ground cover, we let it go and don't try planting anything else in that bed.

We have dedicated trellises for our lilikoi vines and they grew but didn't produce any fruit. We let them grow beyond their designated area, intertwining with the dragon fruit plants, and they have started producing. (Our theory on this is the flowers are more obvious to bees and they are now getting pollinated.)

And there you have our top five lessons learned in the Little Red Dirt Garden.