Your 2025 Garden

[CatInTheHenHouse]

@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.

New England area. I keep it off on purpose because of rampant paranoia and also my grow zone is usually sufficient.

I’m in 5b, and am likewise ignoring the rezoning.

 

[Nomadicus]

My 2025 garden prep is underway. I'm about done with a frame to suspend grow lights from over a banquet table out in the sun room were we start seedlings. Need to drill 8 pilot holes and put in screws and part one is done. I have two banks of LED grow lights that will cover one end or about 1/4 of the table. I'll be shopping now for a long style fixture for the rest of the table. A tray on the short end can have grow lights down close and the rest of the table a longer stronger light up higher to accommodate growth. Trays are ready to fill with seed starting mix. I'm going to try and grow tomatoes in a semi shaded area in a 10" deep raised bed fill with sterile soil and see if I can get around the virus problem here. If this doesn't work I use a tunnel structure made with cattle panels and the fabric like covers the tunnels that big ag uses. Citrus is being grown in them to prevent the new diseased that have struck producers hard. Both canker and greening.

 

[Nomadicus]

New England area. I keep it off on purpose because of rampant paranoia and also my grow zone is usually sufficient.

I’m in 5b, and am likewise ignoring the rezoning.

I would too. The cold temps are what cause problems. Plant to early in the spring based on a false zoning or to late in the summer can spell disaster. I don't know what they currently say I'm in now and don't care. I'm sticking with 8b.

 

[Nomadicus]

I got a scoop of All Season cabbage seed to day and want to start 18 plants today. I don't know if this is a mix of varieties for if it is a variety. It was just bulk seed out of a bin at our local Farm Co-op.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I had a really bad garden year last year. It was partially due to our 2-week vacation in June, which either left some young plants neglected or caused me to plant things late (and for the weeds to start taking root unchecked). I also had too many "experiments" going on - one of which was letting some clover be a natural, living mulch in one of the beds. Well, turns out I had the wrong kind of clover (red, needs to be white) so it just choked all my peppers out.

Needless to say, next year I am going for simplicity. I already filled one of my three beds with garlic and onions only, so there's an easy crop. I'm going to do my usual tomatoes and peppers, but do a better job mulching and weeding. I was also going to try potatoes (I'm thinkin Yukon Gold) this year since I heard they are easy. Other plants I'll have going are tomatillos, ground cherries, strawberries, and some perennial berry bushes.

I am open to any suggestions for easy to maintain (and well producing!) crops. I am zone 6b.

 

[Sally PB]

I found cucamelons to be really easy. I had to start them about 6 weeks ahead of planting them in the garden. They climbed a fence and did their thing.

They taste like cucumber, with a bit of lemon. The skin is crunchy, which hubby didn't like. He liked them better as pickles.

 

[Sally PB]

I liked my July sowing of Swiss chard better than the spring sowing. I'll probably plant it in the spring again anyway, but the July planting grew MUCH better and tasted better too. It survived a fair number of frosts, and was the last thing I had alive in the garden.

 

[NanaK]

I got a scoop of All Season cabbage seed to day and want to start 18 plants today. I don't know if this is a mix of varieties for if it is a variety. It was just bulk seed out of a bin at our local Farm Co-op.

A small harware store near me sells some seed in bulk bins. They are always things that tend to grow well here. You get way more seed for your money. My favorite way to buy seed!

I think All Season cabbage is a variety.
I've not grown it but did a google search and found this.

"90 days — Also known as 'Vandergaw', this variety is heat resistant, fine-flavored and produces good, hard heads that are ten inches in diameter, average about twelve pounds in weight, and are round but flattened on the top. As its name implies, it is an all purpose variety useful for early, intermediate and late season harvests."

https://victoryseeds.com/products/a...DoU14t2N6p8Ag1HNMTbtos-Ma9qNNk4YmyWN_uSrZ8OEB

 

[Nomadicus]

I am glad I bought those cabbage seed. A dollar well spent. We eat so much cabbage now more than ever as Ma needs the vitamin K extra. We just plain love cabbage. When living in MI one of my aunts got us into cabbage rolls. These extra large heads will be ideal for cabbage rolls. The indoor green house should be complete Thursday if the lighting arrives as scheduled. I intend on planting the seeds in trays today and get them on the heating unit. I got the fever bad and it's not even spring yet.

 

[Sally PB]

I don't dare think about gardening. I'd get "the fever" and then we'd get 6" of snow.

But we do have a high of 50° forecast for Saturday. Along with possibly heavy rain. Hubby would prefer all that rain be snow, I'm sure.