Your 2026 Garden

[Debbie292d]

 

[DemeterAD9]

I ordered seeds before Christmas, the first two were freebies!

Also saved seeds from last summer so I’ve got beans, scalloped summer squash, and cucumbers that I quite liked. I tried saving the candy roaster seeds as well but all the blooms I hand pollinated aborted as a lot of fruit had already set on the vines. I’ll have to keep that in mind for this season. I’ve also got leftover seeds from last year I’ll see about using up. All depends on garden space of course.

The tomatoes did really well last year but once it came time to ripen a lot of them got blight really bad. Not sure if it was just because of the varieties they were or what. I’ll try again with some of the same but I certainly won’t be doing quite as many plants seeing as we hardly got to the ones we did get before they rotted.

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

I looked online and it said it was banned in alot of states to protect the timber industry because currants carry a disease that isnt good for pine trees. Was so bummed!

I am reminded I was going to write to my local government to complain that that law is dumb and needs to be repealed.

For context:
Currants aren’t the only host for the White Pine Blister Rust, so are snapdragons and the Indian Paintbrush.

The Indian Paintbrush is a native plant, and its range looks like this:


New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts are all in there! And as far as I can tell snapdragons have no restrictions on importing them. So why single out currants?

Add to that, there now exist rust-resistant varieties of BOTH white pines (‘Paton's Silver Splendor‘) and currants (the list of those is long enough I will just link the site here).

In short, the restriction was never going to work and we are way past the point where it should have been struck from the books.

 

[Echelontheory101]

I am reminded I was going to write to my local government to complain that that law is dumb and needs to be repealed.

For context:
Currants aren’t the only host for the White Pine Blister Rust, so are snapdragons and the Indian Paintbrush.

The Indian Paintbrush is a native plant, and its range looks like this:


New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts are all in there! And as far as I can tell snapdragons have no restrictions on importing them. So why single out currants?

Add to that, there now exist rust-resistant varieties of BOTH white pines (‘Paton's Silver Splendor‘) and currants (the list of those is long enough I will just link the site here).

In short, the restriction was never going to work and we are way past the point where it should have been struck from the books.

Plus Vermont is that only white spot on the entire eastern half of the country on that map and I live less than 10 minutes from the VT border and have zero pine on my property its all eastern hemlock so, I'm just having my crowns shipped there instead lol and yes most of the varieties are F1s with resistance now anyway!

 

[Cherilanet]

Gardening for the 5th year and trying to improve every year. I have to plant in 2ft by 4ft planters and 5 gal pails, and the planters are on concrete so I think a lot of my nutrients wash out.... I've not had the best of luck anyhow... still, I'm gonna try again. How soon can I plant seeds in a greenhouse outside as opposed to inside on heat mats? I live in Oregon near Eugene. Thanks for any help. Cheri

 

[Justagalwithchicks]

I would fertilize on a regular basis if nutrients were being lost. That may depend on type of plant you are growing. Example, you wouldnt want high nitrogen fertilizer repeatedly given to tomatoes. Also, use some type of mulch to retain moisture on top of soil like straw or leaves if the buckets are on concrete. Look up the Farmer's Almanac planting website. You can put your zip code in and it tells when to plant seeds, starts and your frost dates.

 

[pollipazzi]

I think I've already shared about the wood in my raised beds rotting away after two years. I started rebuilding them with "cinder" blocks.
View attachment 4280415
But I ran out of blocks, and didn't want to put wear & tear on my little SUV.

When I retired I received my accrued PTO (vacation/sick time) in my last paycheck. I decided to invest it in my garden rebuilds.

The blocks were delivered today.
View attachment 4280419

could you update on how you find the cinder blocks vs. the wood beds? i used old scaffolding boards for mine. in fairness, they lasted a pretty long time, but it's time to switch them out. they're getting bad. i do like the wood because i put cup hooks on the outside all around to attach bird netting (mostly to keep out the neighbours' cats. and now chickens) but i'm wondering if blocks or concrete curbing would be better and not have to replace again.