What are your 2021 garden ideas?

[Bird_Lover_17]

Hello Everyone! I am already planning my 2021 garden! I created this thread so that anyone who contributes can get some ideas/ share some ideas on their 2021 garden. Personally, I had a rough gardening year. For some reason my little currant (like cherry tomatoes) tomatoes didn't produce as much as last year. Although, I do have a nice bush pickle stock, which is good because I can make pickles. In 2021 I would like to try little currants again. I was also looking into Indian paintbrush flowers, that I saw on my trip to Montana in 2019.

 

[Callender Girl]

Anything I do in 2021 will probably be better than this year -- although it's been raining for two days, we've been in a drought for months. I haven't mowed my yard since June 29, and I likely won't have to again until spring.

I am planning to cover more ground this fall to smother weeds so I can expand my veggie garden. Yellow pear tomatoes did great this year, but my full sixed -- mostly Rutgers -- struggled. I want to relocate my strawberry bed, which barely produced, and get the netting up over my peach tree (Yes, a Reliance peach does fine in northern Iowa) so I don't have to race with the wild birds to harvest.

Right before the rains started, I harvested some milkweed seeds -- a first for me -- and am hoping to provide feeding grounds for more monarch butterflies next year.

 

[SheriD]

Yellow squash and zuchinni did very well this year, in fact they are still producing. Tomatoes did well, corn was wonderful. The birds got more Peaches and Grapes than we did. Had an issue with gophers this year, took all of our green peppers and hot peppers this year. Pumpkin harvest will be small compared to last year. We relocated our strawberry bed early spring-wow- they really took off and produced lots of berries. It was alot of work but worth it.

 

[Bird_Lover_17]

Yellow squash and zuchinni did very well this year, in fact they are still producing. Tomatoes did well, corn was wonderful. The birds got more Peaches and Grapes than we did. Had an issue with gophers this year, took all of our green peppers and hot peppers this year. Pumpkin harvest will be small compared to last year. We relocated our strawberry bed early spring-wow- they really took off and produced lots of berries. It was alot of work but worth it.

I also had a good zucchini year. My pumpkins (even the sugars) just started turning into actual pumpkins but they are like 1 inch big.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I plan to clean out part of a bed for asparagus next year.

And I'm still trying to learn just how much of everything I should plant, because I overdo it with certain things, and then I'm scrambling to figure out how 2 people can eat 10 lbs of wax beans or collards or turnips.

Past that, just plan on trying a few new varieties - still looking for a good dark tomato, maybe some different lettuces, beets, Asian greens. Might try broccoli, haven't really given that a go yet.

 

[Sally PB]

I saved the seeds from my biggest ever Amish Paste tomato, a first time saving tomato seeds for me. I also got 5 (!) seed balls from my potato plants, so I plan to play with those too.

I think I have all the seeds for 2021; just ordered some new varieties of tomatoes. I want to try some determinate types, to see if I can get enough to can so I don't have to buy any at all. I get enough to can, but 3-4 quarts at a time, and my canner holds 7.

Had my best ever tomatoes and green beans. Melons were pretty much a total bust. It was very hot and dry. I watered, but they just didn't do well. They never slipped, they looked ripe-ish, then they were rotting. I'm gonna show them: I'll just plant more tomatoes in their place. Ha!

If the first hill of potatoes that I dug is any indication, we are going to have LOTS of taters this year! My onions and garlic did very well too.

Asparagus was a disappointment. Sigh. Can't have it all, I suppose.

I'm hoping that my wealth of compost this year helps the soil for next year. Thank you chickens! Poop: The other chicken gift.

 

[Bird_Lover_17]

I saved the seeds from my biggest ever Amish Paste tomato, a first time saving tomato seeds for me. I also got 5 (!) seed balls from my potato plants, so I plan to play with those too.

I think I have all the seeds for 2021; just ordered some new varieties of tomatoes. I want to try some determinate types, to see if I can get enough to can so I don't have to buy any at all. I get enough to can, but 3-4 quarts at a time, and my canner holds 7.

Had my best ever tomatoes and green beans. Melons were pretty much a total bust. It was very hot and dry. I watered, but they just didn't do well. They never slipped, they looked ripe-ish, then they were rotting. I'm gonna show them: I'll just plant more tomatoes in their place. Ha!

If the first hill of potatoes that I dug is any indication, we are going to have LOTS of taters this year! My onions and garlic did very well too.

Asparagus was a disappointment. Sigh. Can't have it all, I suppose.

I'm hoping that my wealth of compost this year helps the soil for next year. Thank you chickens! Poop: The other chicken gift.

Congrats on your successful tomatoes and potatoes! Lol, chickens do give many gifts!

 

[SheriD]

I saved the seeds from my biggest ever Amish Paste tomato, a first time saving tomato seeds for me. I also got 5 (!) seed balls from my potato plants, so I plan to play with those too.

I think I have all the seeds for 2021; just ordered some new varieties of tomatoes. I want to try some determinate types, to see if I can get enough to can so I don't have to buy any at all. I get enough to can, but 3-4 quarts at a time, and my canner holds 7.

Had my best ever tomatoes and green beans. Melons were pretty much a total bust. It was very hot and dry. I watered, but they just didn't do well. They never slipped, they looked ripe-ish, then they were rotting. I'm gonna show them: I'll just plant more tomatoes in their place. Ha!

If the first hill of potatoes that I dug is any indication, we are going to have LOTS of taters this year! My onions and garlic did very well too.

Asparagus was a disappointment. Sigh. Can't have it all, I suppose.

I'm hoping that my wealth of compost this year helps the soil for next year. Thank you chickens! Poop: The other chicken gift.

Our asparagus was a bust also, not sure why. The year before we had so much we gave some away. Our potatoes were amazing!! We ended up with four 5 gallon buckets overflowing.

 

[GemmaGA]

Man do I have garden plans for 2021!!!

I have planted 3 raised bed, square foot garden plots the last couple of years and some things did ok, other things...not so much.

Late this summer, I planted the following:

• Blueberry bushes (3 varieties)
• Raspberry bush
• Blackberry Bushes (2 varieties)
• I have two fig trees, one Miss Figgy dwarf fig tree that I got this year, and a Brown Turkey Fig tree (that I thought I killed last year but came back this year very vivacious and looks like it might still actually set fruit for the first time this year!!!).
• I also bought some elderberry seeds online, Red (not edible), Blue, and Black that I am looking forward to planting in the ground in the fall.

My big plan for 2021 is to have the mister build me a greenhouse/shed and expand our raised beds so we can focus on lots of varieties of a few good producing plants, rather than trying to have a bunch of different plants that don't really produce much of anything. I want to focus on

• Heirloom tomatoes
• Okra
• Peppers
• Cucumbers
• Squash

And of course, hopefully have good production from my bramble bushes, blueberries and fig trees. I want to start canning and I feel like all of these would be great for canning (pickled Okra anyone?? Fig jam?? Yum)

I planted pumpkins and squash but the chickens got to them... Oh well, better make for some yummy eggs!!

 

[Sally PB]

Here are some things I did this year that may have worked really well. I say "may have" because I don't know for sure.

1) I heard that marigolds deter soldier bugs around tomatoes. I planted the marigolds and haven't seen a single bug! Will definitely do that next year.

2) I planted lots of onions interspersed with my potatoes. NO potato bugs this year at all! I did see some bug larvae on the wild ground cherry weeds, but they didn't bother my taters.

3) I planted a red onion this year: Red Baron. I'll plant that next year too. Just FYI, it grew HOT onions. Also, the red skin stained my counter top.

Garden clean up has begun, but I'm already thinking about next year.