Your 2025 Garden

[AGeese]

Signing up with this topic.

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

*me staring at the Seed Savers website watching the inventory plummet wondering if I should take the plunge*

 

[NanaK]

I need to go through my seed box. I think I have all I need for the coming year. Of course there will be something that catches my eye in this stack of seed catalogs I've recieved.

The collards I planted early fall did just great through the freeze we had. I think it got down to around 18f. I have a garden full of them. The chickens are also be happy about that.

The broccoli did not fair as well but I did get to harvest many full size heads.
Carrots and garlic growing but won't be ready for some time.

First thing I'll plant in the garden for the new year will be sweet peas. I usually plant them early Feb but thinking about doing these a couple weeks early in Jan. Hopefully get to harvest more before the heat sets in.

In the mean time, garden clean up, moving leaves to the veg garden and raking pine straw for flower beds. Seems there is always something to do!

 

[Sally PB]

In the mean time, garden clean up, moving leaves to the veg garden and raking pine straw for flower beds. Seems there is always something to do!

Oh, I wish! Mine is under 4-5" of snow. Not a thing I can do for weeks, except think and dream.

So anyone who is planting? Please keep posting and I will garden vicariously through you.

 

[NanaK]

Mine is under 4-5" of snow.

4-5" of snow would shut everything down here.

We have not seen much snow in quite a few years. I think it is beautiful but here it only lasts a day or so. It quickly turns into a muddy mess.

Some of my chickens have never seen snow. The few that have wanted nothing to do with it.
I had to spread leaves and straw to get them to come outside. DH and I had a good laugh. The chickens didn't think it was funny.

If your garden is under snow, just think "Die bad bugs die!"

 

[Sally PB]

If your garden is under snow, just think "Die bad bugs die!"

Oh, believe me! I've been thinking that a LOT!

 

[Nomadicus]

I need to go through my seed box tonight and start to formulate a plan. Major changes this year that I don't want to make but these old bones are going to insist. We will still manage a few long rows of Roma II beans and several of a "Top Pick" type of summer field peas but that is about all that we will plant that requires much bending. Those we both can and freeze in bulk. I have a stash of some old 2x10 or maybe even 2x12 lumber that I will make a few raised beds out of for beets to pickle. Not planting sweet onions. Our goal is to still grow what is expensive or simply not available as a quality product. Kentucky Wonder and two varieties of pole Lima beans will be on a trellis. That's 300' of good food that is good for the body too. One think that grows extremely well here is okra. That is tall and easy on the back to pick and is easy to barter with at the farmers market. Cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower is better as a fall crop and will follow beets in the raised beds. I got into trouble as a young kid when I would dig into the bottom of my mom's jar of sweet pickles and get that only piece of pickled cauliflower. I don't think we will wait until fall to try and pickle some cauliflower once we can get some cukes coming in. This year cukes will be planted on cattle panels along with some vining yellow summer squash.

 

[Sally PB]

I put some black raspberries in a raised bed in fall of 2023. I had no idea they would get so tall or dense. They're in raised bed (RB) 5. They will shade RB4 next year to the point that nothing will do well there. So, I'm going to dig up RB3 and RB4 and turn it into a flat area for ... squash? Potatoes? Not sure.

I should have started this project this fall, but didn't. I might change my mind and do something different.

My raised beds are just long rows of mounded dirt. The sides are bolstered with rocks, cinder blocks, pavers, and whatever I could find to try to hold in the dirt. It will be a workout to redo that area.

What I need is a vegetable that grows in the shade! Ah! Anyone know of one?

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

What I need is a vegetable that grows in the shade! Ah! Anyone know of one?

My snow peas did okay in my shady boxes, other than that I’m still looking. I’ve heard carrots do reasonably well but mine were in the shade this year and turned out tiny. Potatoes were sadly small too but I’m not sure if that was the shade or the critters munching the leaves (…which actually applies to the carrots too). I’m going to try lettuce, spinach and other leafy greens in the shade next year, and see if the shade keeps them from bolting so quickly.

 

[Sally PB]

@CatInTheHenHouse, where are you located? You can add that to your profile.

I'm in zone 5, or 6a if we should believe the "rezoning" that was done a couple years ago.