2026 Gardens!

[CH4Ohio]

You guys are all WAY ahead of me. Only thing I got planted was 5 rows of corn. It's been chilly here at night but the corn is finally up about 2" tall.

 

[DJ54]

I prefer Romas for eating and for sauces. They are technically best for paste, but the sweetness is a good offset for the heat of peppers on salsa. I don't like thin sauces or juice, so these work perfect for me.

And yes, the t posts will go in as needed.

More than several years ago I experimented with straining off the watery juice through a colander after cooking tomatoes before running through the Squeezo. Basically, just running the pulp through, what I got was a super thick juice. It literally peaked up in the 4 cup measuring cup I catch it in like a milkshake.

I don't care for a thin juice, sauce, or salsa. I gave some to a buddy and his wife to try and they loved it and wanted to know how I made it. I grow WAY more tomatoes than really needed so there was no problem straining off that thinner juice. I prefer the heat of salsa without the sweet, but everyone is different.

You might try a batch and see what you think. Then again, not everyone cooks down their tomatoes before processing. I use the Mrs. Wages Chili base for making chili. Pic below is a bean less chili, only using a pint of the base, thick juice and some spicy sausage, onions etc. Thick enough the spoon stood up in it, just the way I like it..!!

 

[DJ54]

You guys are all WAY ahead of me. Only thing I got planted was 5 rows of corn. It's been chilly here at night but the corn is finally up about 2" tall.

I see they are debating about a freeze Tuesday night, weather service says no for central Ohio predicting a low of 39º. I'm still 2 weeks out from setting plants for that reason I started them a little later.

I did pick up 5 lbs. of Sudan grass/Sorghum yesterday for an experimental organic hedge fence to keep the Deer out. Not sure how much it will take to do multiple rows so got plenty. According to the seed plate chart for my Brinly planter, I have the correct plate to plant it. So will plant that during the next dry spell which may be towards the weekend.

Tomato, cabbage, pepper, and brussels sprouts plants can go in the heated shop if they decide we will get a freeze Tue. night.

 

[CH4Ohio]

I see they are debating about a freeze Tuesday night, weather service says no for central Ohio predicting a low of 39º. I'm still 2 weeks out from setting plants for that reason I started them a little later.

I did pick up 5 lbs. of Sudan grass/Sorghum yesterday for an experimental organic hedge fence to keep the Deer out. Not sure how much it will take to do multiple rows so got plenty. According to the seed plate chart for my Brinly planter, I have the correct plate to plant it. So will plant that during the next dry spell which may be towards the weekend.

Tomato, cabbage, pepper, and brussels sprouts plants can go in the heated shop if they decide we will get a freeze Tue. night.

I'm getting pretty lazy with my gardening. I never was very good about weeding.

I've got one of those Earthway planters, so I use the 5' tiller and then plant corn or beans as fast as you can walk down the row. Got the corn in and I'm going to plant a few more rows here in the next few days to stretch out the harvest.

Haven't even bought any plants yet. I quit starting my own a few years ago too.

We used to juice a LOT of tomatoes with a juicemaster. Haven't done that for a few years now either.

Probably will just plant corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and whatever my wife surprises me with.

 

[jyoutz]

I see they are debating about a freeze Tuesday night, weather service says no for central Ohio predicting a low of 39º. I'm still 2 weeks out from setting plants for that reason I started them a little later.

I did pick up 5 lbs. of Sudan grass/Sorghum yesterday for an experimental organic hedge fence to keep the Deer out. Not sure how much it will take to do multiple rows so got plenty. According to the seed plate chart for my Brinly planter, I have the correct plate to plant it. So will plant that during the next dry spell which may be towards the weekend.

Tomato, cabbage, pepper, and brussels sprouts plants can go in the heated shop if they decide we will get a freeze Tue. night.

I use walls of water and set my tomatoes out early. With the walls they survive lows down to 20 degrees F. And when I remove them after Memorial Day, the plants are sturdy and well rooted. They are a little pricey but I use them year after year, sometimes as long as 10 years.

Amazon.com

 

[rswyan]

28 Burpee "Super Beefsteaks" planted so far over the last week to ten days, using cloches to fend off the cold temps:

Have a similar number of Roma VF tomatoes still to plant, plus a few Sunny Boys.

Had previously planted around 400 peas, 7.5' of arugula and 7.5' of red velvet lettuce. Still need to get the spinach in.

Also planted around 8 bags of Detroit Red beets, 3 bags of carrots (of different types), and 1 bag with icicle radishes ... which are doing reasonably well:

Got a bunch of work done on the blueberry bushes and rhubarb:

... including moving 2 smaller ones outside of what will probably be the fenced area ... since nothing eats them.

Planted a new "Bluejay" blueberry bush yesterday back near where I removed the 2 rhubarb:

Have 2 blackberry, 2 raspberry, and 2 boysenberry plants to get in the ground as soon as I can get the area where they are going prepped. Probably will re-pot those for the time being.

Have broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, and sweet bell peppers waiting that need put out as well.

Waiting until it warms up a little further to get the peppers and eggplant set out.

Has been a good year as far as the warm weather warming the ground up early ... but the subsequent unusually cold temps have been a challenge ... and it's been really wet ...

 

[jyoutz]

28 Burpee "Super Beefsteaks" planted so far over the last week to ten days, using cloches to fend off the cold temps:

View attachment 5714370​

Have a similar number of Roma VF tomatoes still to plant, plus a few Sunny Boys.

Had previously planted around 400 peas, 7.5' of arugula and 7.5' of red velvet lettuce. Still need to get the spinach in.

Also planted around 8 bags of Detroit Red beets, 3 bags of carrots (of different types), and 1 bag with icicle radishes ... which are doing reasonably well:

View attachment 5714372​

Got a bunch of work done on the blueberry bushes and rhubarb:

View attachment 5714373​

... including moving 2 smaller ones outside of what will probably be the fenced area ... since nothing eats them.

Planted a new "Bluejay" blueberry bush yesterday back near where I removed the 2 rhubarb:

View attachment 5714374​

Have 2 blackberry, 2 raspberry, and 2 boysenberry plants to get in the ground as soon as I can get the area where they are going prepped. Probably will re-pot those for the time being.

Have broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, and sweet bell peppers waiting that need put out as well.

Waiting until it warms up a little further to get the peppers and eggplant set out.

Has been a good year as far as the warm weather warming the ground up early ... but the subsequent unusually cold temps have been a challenge ... and it's been really wet ...

You’re going to be very busy harvesting and processing.

 

[Engineer42]

I downsized the garden this year. Just tomato’s, peppers, cucumbers, peas, squash, zucchini, eggplant and corn.

Limas and String Beans didn’t do well last year so decided to skip a year.

 

[rswyan]

You’re going to be very busy harvesting and processing.

Hopefully so.

... assuming I can keep the four-legged pestilence at bay:

That's no easy feat around these parts.

There's probably an small herd of at least 15 - 20 of them in the immediate area.

Four that I can see in the picture above.

 

[jyoutz]

The only way I was able to keep deer from my garden was to build a 8.5’ fence. Nothing else worked.

 

[ultrarunner]

The only way I was able to keep deer from my garden was to build a 8.5’ fence. Nothing else worked.

Had to do the same…

 

[CH4Ohio]

The only way I was able to keep deer from my garden was to build a 8.5’ fence. Nothing else worked.

I just plant enough extra for deer and the rabbits, cause I know I can't keep them out.

 

[rswyan]

jyoutz,

I’m in the process of putting up an eight foot electric fence around the garden and main flower bed.

Started working on it last year, about halfway there.

Looking forward to when it warms back up and dries out some so I can finish it.

 

[jyoutz]

I just plant enough extra for deer and the rabbits, cause I know I can't keep them out.

I’m surprised that they leave any for you. Mine didn’t. That’s why I built the fence.

 

[jyoutz]

jyoutz,

I’m in the process of putting up an [emoji[emoji6]]’ electric fence around the garden and main flower bed.

Started working on it last year, about / way there.

Looking forward to when it warms back up and dries out some so I can finish it.

Good luck to you. All of my electric fences failed to keep out the deer, which is why I built the high fence.

 

[DJ54]

I'm getting pretty lazy with my gardening. I never was very good about weeding.

I've got one of those Earthway planters, so I use the 5' tiller and then plant corn or beans as fast as you can walk down the row. Got the corn in and I'm going to plant a few more rows here in the next few days to stretch out the harvest.

Haven't even bought any plants yet. I quit starting my own a few years ago too.

We used to juice a LOT of tomatoes with a juicemaster. Haven't done that for a few years now either.

Probably will just plant corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and whatever my wife surprises me with.

I've become even lazier planting row crops. I bought a Brinly seeder/planter several years back with numerous plates in near new condition for a great price. I use it when planting a large patch, for a smaller patch I get Dad's old corn jobber out. That old jobber has planted a LOT of corn in 72 years. Dad used to plant 6 lbs. every year with it for 35 years. Still works like a champ. Bought from Sears & Roebuck in 1953.

I used to get my plants from the Amish down at Bainbridge for 8 cents apiece. They've slightly increased their prices which is understandable, but with rising fuel prices I started experimenting with starting my own the last few years. I built a germination chamber out of an old freezer, heat mat thermostat, 2 qt slow cooker to provide heat and moisture, and a small grow light. Also built a small mini greenhouse out of stuff laying around.

I can germinate tomatoes and cabbage in 60 hours. From this stage they go into the greenhouse PDQ or they get leggy.

 

[DJ54]

I use walls of water and set my tomatoes out early. With the walls they survive lows down to 20 degrees F. And when I remove them after Memorial Day, the plants are sturdy and well rooted. They are a little pricey but I use them year after year, sometimes as long as 10 years.

Amazon.com

Looks great but totally un-affordable for me setting out 12-14 dozen plants. I'll just wait, ground temps are still cool here, so they will just set there until the ground warms up.

 

[jyoutz]

Looks great but totally un-affordable for me setting out 12-14 dozen plants. I'll just wait, ground temps are still cool here, so they will just set there until the ground warms up.

Wow. That’s a lot of tomatoes. Do you have a roadside market?

 

[DJ54]

No, I can a lot of tomato products and have several friends that do too, and either live in town with no space for a garden or live out but soil is so poor they can't seem to raise anything. They do have chickens, so we trade eggs for produce. Beyond that I'll donate to a food kitchen that prepares daily meals for those down on their luck, or just plain poor. I have friends that volunteer their time there to cook meals.

Last year I set 12 dozen out and never got 1 tomato with all the heat here, they simply went dormant. I did have one ripen towards the end of Summer. Kept my eye one it, and one evening I guessed it would be ready the next evening. Walked out the row after chores to where it was supposed to be and didn't see it. Looked around and finally saw the stem laying on the ground, a Deer had eaten it.

 

[jyoutz]

No, I can a lot of tomato products and have several friends that do too, and either live in town with no space for a garden or live out but soil is so poor they can't seem to raise anything. They do have chickens, so we trade eggs for produce. Beyond that I'll donate to a food kitchen that prepares daily meals for those down on their luck, or just plain poor. I have friends that volunteer their time there to cook meals.

Last year I set 12 dozen out and never got 1 tomato with all the heat here, they simply went dormant. I did have one ripen towards the end of Summer. Kept my eye one it, and one evening I guessed it would be ready the next evening. Walked out the row after chores to where it was supposed to be and didn't see it. Looked around and finally saw the stem laying on the ground, a Deer had eaten it.

Last year I planted 4 tomatoes and every week I picked a 5 gallon bucket full. I peeled and processed them into paste, then froze the paste. Come winter I thawed the paste and made marinara sauce to can. I had over 150 pounds of paste. I don’t know how I could have handled 12 dozen plants. Good for you.