Your 2014 garden - what are you doing new or differently from last year? [View all]

One of the garden talks I like to give each fall, and repeat in early spring, is on evaluating how things went, why they may have gone that way, and planning for more success the next time around.

Last year (my 33rd garden) was one of my worst, when I needed it to be one of my best (photos for my upcoming book). It was a cornucopia of all things damaging - the weather pattern, the density of my plantings, critters and disease. Never have I achieved so little with so much effort.

Some of my changes for this year: simplify (grow less plants, less varieties), spread them out (more room for air circulation), stagger plant (so that there are plants reaching maturity at different times during the season), and carry out more thorough disinfection (I typically bleach my pots and grow bags, but end up sticking the same poles/stakes/cages around the plant).

More details to follow - but here's a thread to share anything new that we are going to try this year, as far as a technique (we can start a thread on new varieties or crops separate from this).

I've got lettuce, greens, herbs and beets germinating, and just planted eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes (in progress)!.