You’re never too old to learn something new—and gardening has taught me that in the most hands-on way possible.
I started my gardening adventure later in life, and I’ll be honest:
I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way.
But each minor failure teaches a valuable lesson that will increase my chance for future success.
This is my third season of gardening. The first two years I planted a tower garden.
This year, I’m planting in a Vego raised garden bed and a Vego elevated planter. I’m falling in love with Vego….
When Your Tower Garden Takes a Tumble
My first foray into gardening started with a tower garden that became the talk of the neighborhood. Family and friends were fascinated by this vertical growing system, and honestly, it was pretty impressive.
That first year delivered a fantastic harvest:
- juicy tomatoes,
- prolific zucchini,
- fragrant herbs like basil, parsley, mint, and thyme,
- plus plenty of green beans.
But the second year … my tower came tumbling down.
It wasn’t the tower’s fault. The corner of our brick patio, where the tower was placed, had sunk a bit and was uneven, making the surface beneath the tower unlevel.
Consequently, when a raging thunderstorm with massive winds hit, the lack of a level surface was more than the tower could withstand.
It tipped over and crashed onto our lawn….
That was the bad news—but there was good news too!
When we carefully separated the tumbled tower sections, we found that only a few tomato branches had broken. Even better, once the plants had more space to spread out, they actually started thriving.
Making the Switch to Vego Raised Beds
That tower garden crash convinced me to try a different approach for year three. I’ve heard great things about raised beds, so I decided to try a raised garden bed from Vego.
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These beds are genuinely beautiful—so much so that they actually improve your landscape. The construction quality impressed me too, with thoughtful details like vinyl strips that cover the raw edges and cap nuts that hide screw ends.
It’s clear someone put real thought into both function and appearance.
After a couple weeks of deliberation (and measuring, and remeasuring), we finally picked the perfect spot to place it. By then, however, it was too late for spring seeds yet too early for most stores to stock seedlings.
Timing, as they say, is everything in gardening!
Rookie Mistakes with the Raised Bed
The Cantaloupe Experiment
With limited seedling options available, my beginner’s enthusiasm got the better of me. I spotted cantaloupe seedlings and thought, “Why not?” I also grabbed a few more standard garden vegetables.
The cantaloupe vines loved the rich soil in the Vego bed and took off like they were trying to colonize the entire yard.
The vines spilled out onto our lawn and produced ten beautiful melons, which I carefully supported with plastic stands to keep them off the ground.
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The harvest results were mixed. I lost two melons to critters, and the remaining ones ranged from incredibly sweet and flavorful to disappointingly bland.
Apparently, factors like watering consistency, soil nutrients, and harvest timing all play crucial roles in melon flavor—knowledge I wish I’d had beforehand.
The Overcrowding Crisis
In my excitement and enthusiasm, I planted way too much in too little space.
Fortunately, the incredibly fertile FoxFarm Ocean soil and strategic pruning saved the day. The plants managed to thrive despite my overzealous planting approach—thankful!
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Although tomato plants and basil are great companion plants, the overcrowding caused the tomato plants to shade the basil plants, and the basil plants suffered for lack of sunshine.
On the brighter side (pun intended), when I started watering the basil plants directly (which they loved), it also provided indirect watering to the tomato roots nearby. That proved to be a winning combination.
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The Late-Staking Lesson
I waited too long to stake my indeterminate tomato plants. When I finally got around to it, though, I discovered these fantastic Lego-like staking systems that made the job almost fun:
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They’re modular, adjustable, and honestly kind of fun to work with!
Strawberry Discovery
The strawberry section became my granddaughter’s favorite part of the garden. She loved hunting for the tiny berries that were perfectly sized for her little hands.
While watching her enjoy the fresh strawberries was priceless, I learned that everbearing varieties tend to produce smaller fruit.
Next season, I’ll choose a variety that produces larger berries.
Great Expectations for the Elevated Bed
Based on my positive experience with the raised bed, I was excited to try Vego’s elevated bed for our fall garden.
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The added height means no more bending and straining during planting and maintenance—a feature my back definitely appreciates.
We hit a snag when the elevated bed arrived damaged during shipping, but Vego’s customer service impressed me by quickly sending replacement parts.
Once we finished building and filling it using the Hugelkultur method (layering organic materials for long-term soil health), we were ready to go.
The timing pushed our fall planting to late August, so I’ll have more to share about the elevated bed’s performance in a future update.
For now, it’s sitting ready with its protective frost cloth, waiting for the perfect planting window!
What I’ve Learned
Three seasons of gardening have taught me that mistakes aren’t failures—they’re education. Each mishap has improved my understanding of plant spacing, timing, support systems, and the importance of proper site preparation.
The transition from tower gardening to raised beds has been eye-opening.
While the tower garden was impressive and space-efficient, the Vego raised beds offer more growing room, easier maintenance, and better long-term stability.
Plus, they’re attractive enough that even non-gardeners appreciate them.
Most importantly, I’ve learned that gardening isn’t about perfection—it’s about adaptation, patience, and enjoying the process.
Whether you’re dealing with tumbling towers, overcrowded plants, or cantaloupe vines taking over your lawn, each season brings new challenges and opportunities to grow (pun intended … again 😉).
The journey continues, and I’m looking forward to seeing what lessons the elevated bed will teach me this fall!
