2025 marks my very first year of having a garden of my own—the first time our soil has been asked to do more than just grow grass. It hasn’t been easy. A long, cold, and soaking spring suddenly flipped into a summer of record-breaking heat, humidity, and drought. The garden tested me at every turn, demanding more work than I ever imagined. But in between the struggles came rewarding moments and lessons I’ll carry into future seasons.
This page is my garden journal—part diary, part notebook, part guide. It’s a place to capture my experiences so I don’t forget them, and maybe even offer a little advice to others who are just starting out.
Garden General
Rent a Rear-Tine Tiller (Save your Back)
When we chose the spot for our garden, it happened to be the nicest patch of lawn on our property—lush grass covering about three inches of beautiful, rich soil. Sounds perfect, right? Unfortunately, that’s where the easy part ended.
Beneath that gorgeous topsoil was a nightmare: dense clay, fill dirt, and more rocks than we knew what to do with. We’re talking serious rocks. We spent the first two weekends breaking up and turning the soil by hand—exhausting, back-breaking work.
After that, we brought in the heavy hitters: our STIHL MM 55 C-E Yard Boss, a tiller, and our trusty Toyota 4Runner acting as a makeshift tractor. For five or six more weekends, we pulled boulders from the ground—some so big they needed a demolition hammer just to break them free or into manageable chunks.
Looking back, a rear-tined tiller wouldn’t have helped much with the rocks, but it definitely would’ve saved our poor Stihl M55 and turned that grueling tilling job into a one-weekend task.
Lesson learned: save your tools—and your back—by renting the right equipment from the start!
Get the Soil Tested
MySoil Test Kit
I made my soil amendments based on last year’s lawn test results. In hindsight, a smarter move would have been to send out fresh samples after the tilling was complete. The reason? My topsoil was only 4–5 inches deep, and we ended up tilling nearly a foot down. Beneath that topsoil was mostly clay and rocks with very little organic matter.
For the most part, fertilizing made up for the nutrient deficiencies, but there was one exception—calcium. Some of the early tomatoes showed signs of blossom end rot. A calcium treatment quickly solved the problem, but it was definitely a close call.
Tip: Many states offer soil testing services, and you can also find kits at Amazon, Home Depot, or Lowe’s. I used the MySoil kit from Amazon, which includes step-by-step instructions and a prepaid mailer to send your sample to their lab. I like this company because it saves your test history in your account for easy reference, and the turnaround time is very fast. Amazon also sells a soil sampling tool that ensures you collect the right amount of soil for accurate results.
Natural pest control as early as possible
Next season, I’m doubling down on natural pest control by inviting more beneficial insects into my vegetable beds. Connecticut’s growing zone gives me a solid window to work with, and I’ve learned that the right plants can turn a garden into a magnet for nature’s best helpers. Ladybugs, lacewings, parasitic wasps, and hoverflies are just a few of the tiny warriors I want patrolling my tomatoes, squash, and beans. They feast on aphids, caterpillars, and mites—no sprays required.
To attract them, I’m planting a mix of flowering herbs and native blooms. Dill, fennel, and cilantro are great when allowed to bolt, and they fit right into my garden’s rhythm. I’m also adding yarrow, cosmos, and sweet alyssum between rows to keep the nectar flowing. These plants don’t just look good—they feed the insects that protect my crops. I’m even considering a small patch of milkweed and goldenrod to support pollinators and predatory bugs alike. Bonus: many of these plants reseed themselves, so they’ll keep working year after year.
From AI:
Beneficial insects are some of the hardest-working allies you can have in your garden, helping control pests while boosting pollination. In Connecticut, attracting ladybugs, lacewings, hoverflies, and parasitic wasps can make a huge difference in keeping aphids, caterpillars, and other common pests under control. To invite them in, focus on planting a variety of nectar- and pollen-rich flowers. Some of the best options include dill, fennel, cilantro, yarrow, coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, and sunflowers. These plants not only provide food for beneficial insects but also add beauty and biodiversity to your vegetable beds.
For pollinators like bees and butterflies, consider planting bee balm, lavender, and native wildflowers alongside your vegetables. Interplanting these with crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash can improve fruit set and overall yield. The key is diversity—mixing flowers with vegetables to keep beneficial insects well-fed throughout the growing season while they work to protect and pollinate your garden.
The Biggest Lesson in the Garden: Watering: Install Drip Irrigation
When I first started gardening, I thought watering would be the easy part. After all, how hard could it be to keep plants hydrated? As it turns out, it became one of the biggest lessons learned.
Every book, blog, and gardening expert repeats the same mantra: “Don’t water from the top. Water in the morning. If you absolutely must water from above, do it early.” I thought I could outsmart the rule with a few simple tricks—watering cans for precision or carefully dragging a hose through the rows. Silly me. The watering can meant endless back-and-forth trips, and the hose, no matter how cautious I was, always managed to snap stems and crush tender plants.
By midsummer, when the garden really took off, those methods were downright impossible. I gave in, watered from the top, and in doing so proved the experts right—disease showed up, uninvited and relentless.
The real kicker was my schedule. I leave for work at 5 a.m. and don’t get home until 6 p.m. That makes morning watering a fantasy. Evenings were all I had, and soon our nights were swallowed up by the garden. At 7 p.m. we’d head outside, spend two hours lugging water and pulling weeds, then head back in for a shower and straight to bed. That was our summer routine. No evenings out. No free time. Just watering.
Something had to give.
I turned to the internet, Reddit, even Microsoft Copilot for advice, and the answer was unanimous: drip irrigation. Less water, less work, healthier plants. Up to 75% less water, in fact. Add a timer, and the system takes care of the daily chore automatically. Throw in the right attachment, and it even handles fertilization. It felt like the clouds had parted and the solution was clear.
So, I ordered about $400 worth of drip irrigation supplies from Drip Depot. It was too late to install for the 2025 season, but 2026 will be a different story. We’ll design the garden around it from the start.
And not just the vegetable beds—our flower beds are getting the upgrade too. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: watering shouldn’t take over your life.
Soil: Breaking Through Clay and Rocks (Add Organic Material to the Soil)
One of the first challenges I faced in the garden wasn’t pests or watering—it was the soil itself. Beneath a thin layer of rich topsoil, I hit hard clay and more rocks than I care to remember. Every shovel felt like a battle, and planting was exhausting. Even when I managed to get seeds or seedlings in, the dense soil made it hard for roots to spread and held too much water after rain.
That’s when I learned the importance of organic matter. Adding compost, leaves, and other natural materials slowly started to change everything. The soil became looser, easier to work, and far better at holding the right balance of air and moisture. More importantly, it gave my plants a fighting chance—roots could breathe, nutrients became available, and life began to return underground in the form of earthworms and microbes.
The lesson was clear: if you want healthy plants, you need healthy soil. And in a garden full of clay and rocks, organic matter isn’t optional—it’s the key to turning a stubborn patch of ground into a place where things can actually grow.
Weeds: The Battle I underestimated
If watering was my first big lesson, weeds came in a close second. I thought I could manage them with a little extra effort and skipped using weed blocker in parts of the garden. Big mistake.
Where the fabric went down, my plants had room to grow without competition. But in the uncovered sections, weeds moved in fast. They stole water, nutrients, and sunlight from the crops I worked so hard to nurture. No matter how often I pulled them, they seemed to come back twice as strong.
What started as a few sprouts quickly turned into a full-on invasion. Instead of spending evenings tending vegetables, I was on my knees yanking weeds, and still losing ground. The contrast was crystal clear—weed blocker saved time, protected plants, and kept the garden looking manageable, while the uncovered areas became a constant battle.
Lesson learned: prevention beats pulling every time.
Plan for a Sun Shade
Centered Garden Path
Better Ground Cover
Premium Cages
Cages at the time of planting.
Stake the cages
Use Quality Plant Stakes
Don’t use round stakes. Find another shape and avoid soft plastic. If possible grow tomatoes supported overhead with paracord or rope.
Plan and prepare for destructive weather.
Buy weed blocker with pre-cut holes
Consider using frames to contain the beds
Build a proper fence and include provisions for overhead supports.
Use heavy flower pots
Using a fence as a trellis is an all you can eat buffet for rabbits.
Don’t grow more than you can eat/give away
Weather, Plan for the Worst
During hot humid weather regularly pre-treat for disease
look at harvest times so all the produce doesn’t land at the same time. Maybe plant rows of tomatoes a few weeks apart. Plant the earliest in the rear as not not block sunlight from later plantings
Common to all Plants
- Larger seedling planters
- No coconut fiber based seedling soil
- Longer hardening period
- Fan in the grow tents
- Second layer in the grow tent
- Look at the number of days until harvest.
- Plant in a couple waves to spread out harvests into the fall.
- Fish based fertilizer was a success
Beans
- The beans started great but struggled to thrive. Why?
Cucumbers
- Grow less
- Trellis’s
- All the English cucumbers failed.
- The heatwave deformed the cucumbers. Drip irrigation should solve this.
Peas
- The Peas started great but struggled to thrive. Why?
Pepper Plants
- Set the heating mat to 76 degrees
- Plant the pepper plants and seedlings when the soil reaches 70 degrees
- Prune lower leaves
- Use cages
- Make sure the soil is consistently warm enough
Sunflowers
- Insects love to eat them and lay eggs on them.
- Two of the varieties from Burpee did great.
- Provide more clearance from the fence.
Squash
- Plan for 8x more space than you think you need.
- Read the above over and over.
Tomato Plants
- Plant tomato plants 36″ apart
- Install tomato cages at time of planting
- Better Tomato Cages (Square)
- Prune more frequently
